Fantasizing...

[Dai Perk]

OK. Let's say, somehow, you came into a HUGE ton of money. Let's say it was like $200 million.

You decide you will take $100 million and buy everything you've ever wanted or will ever need.

You decide, with the other $100 million, you are going to take a national rugby team that always seems to struggle - Italy, France, Scotland, you pick - and turn them into an international powerhouse over the next, say, 10 years.

The question is, how do you spend that money? Do you build the best facility humanity has ever seen for training? Do you spend whatever it takes to lure all the best coaches from around the world? Do you invest in research into sports science/medicine?

I know it's a waste of time, but I have been hugely enjoying playing with this idea. It makes me wonder - is there an amount of money that could turn any nation into the world's best? Or are there mitigating factors that, say, New Zealand will always have that you just can't replicate in, say, Georgia?

Also, if any of you have $200 million to share, I'm happy to do this plan.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Georgian rugby are reportedly backed by their current / former PM who is I believe the richest man in their country (a billionaire). They are meant to have great facilities and are clearly making progress when you look at their youth team. They have a similar population to NZ and if their benefactor can stay healthy and interested and Georgia could get access to say the World League, then interesting things could happen.

As for my financial priorities, if starting from scratch in say Tier 3 - off the top of my head I'd say:

i) 7s programme targeting exposure in Olympics

ii) a financial bung to World Rugby to get a seat at the top table (it works for dictators everywhere in Formula 1!). This is to reach an understanding that if I plough my fortune into rugby they will remove some of the obstacles on the way to Tier1

iii) a scouting programme at a very young age for talent across all schools systems piggybacking on a 7s programme and touch rugby (might need a bung for the education department here too to ensure my sport is prioritiised )

iv) head hunt top international youth coaches for different age grades, plus strenghth and confiditioning and nutrition experts to ensure my boys develop into strong and tall athletes.

v) pay the Maori ABs to come for an invitational game to generate interest like in Brazil. Baabaas instead if I'm running out of money as they drew a £7k crowd in Czech Rep.

vi) get at least one fully professional team in a league to start generating project players to lead my country to the top of the ARC or REC structure and start knocking on the door of the World League.

vii) subsidise broadcasting so it remains FTA so that my fellow citizens find the sport easily accessible.

ix) hire a top legal team incase World Rugby try to shaft me over player eligibility matters and treat me different to Tier1.

x) facilities (I think they are overrated, coaching is way more important than a shiny gymnasium. Grade A facilities might spoil the players. I want them hungry and desperate to make a name for themselves damn it!)

I think I need way more than $200 million...

 

[Dai Perk]

This is awesome, by the way. And thanks for indirectly letting me know that other people also actually spend time thinking about sh*t like this...

7s programme targeting exposure in Olympics

It's funny, because people keep saying this works, and even point to the US as an example... "Oh, look how great the US is at 7's, that will be great for MLR!" But I can't fathom why? I don't watch 7's, mostly because it's so completely different. And I have never met even one single person who watches 7's, though to be fair, I'm the only person I know who watches rugby, period... Is this really such a good idea? Not disagreeing, just curious...

pay the Maori ABs to come for an invitational game to generate interest like in Brazil. Baabaas instead if I'm running out of money as they drew a £7k crowd in Czech Rep.

That's an effing GREAT idea - I wish the Maori AB's would come to Boston!

subsidise broadcasting so it remains FTA so that my fellow citizens find the sport easily accessible

Maybe even find a way to make it available to stream for free?

hire a top legal team in case World Rugby try to shaft me over player eligibility matters and treat me different to Tier1.

Oh yeah, crap - we'd need at least the full $200 million just for the damn lawyers...

I think I need way more than $200 million...

Yeah, you're right. I give up, I guess I'll just spend my money on beer, like always. lol

 

[Scotty]

If say you choose Georgia, they are a decent second tier team and knowing very little about their current set up or if they even say if they have a proffesional club game.

But with no knowledge then grass roots is where to start for me, make sure people know how to get into rugby make sure schools and academies work hard to push rugby. Without grassroots and the pathways there will be no chance of being becoming any form powerhouse in rugby as it wont be sustainable.

The strongest countries compete at under 20s level as they always have a new generation coming through to sustain an international team.

When you have the flow pf players coming through then work on bringing in coaches at club and country level to improve the level of the top league.


Scotland and italy struggle more than ireland and wales because of the nunber of professional teams feeding the international team. So id pile alot of money into a premiership in the country to have multiple teams and a large player pool, this is where you bring in the top coaches to improve the skill and level across the board.

Workinh from the top down wont work in my opinion. If we were to pile the whole 100 million into the Georgian international team with state of the art training and facilities, top coaches and anything they needed then yes they would improve slightly, becausr the players dony play at that level week in week out, they dony have strong under 20s teams coming through the ranks to replace the older players and they dont have the pathways for kids to get into rugby as easily as other countries.

Strengthen the roots and everything will fall into place so much easier.

Just my opinion.

 

[die_mole]

from an american point of view

get flag rugby into every gym class in the country and lobbying for state's to make rugby a varsity sport with high school championships

also money for inner city rugby teams to go on tour to proper rugby nations

we already have high performance athletic centers no need to spend money on them

set up some type of fund so that the money could gain interest and use the interest to help set off youth registration fees forever

 

[Dai Perk]

get flag rugby into every gym class in the country and lobbying for state's to make rugby a varsity sport with high school championships

That's a great idea, lord knows people would even watch it on, like, ESPN5 if their kids were playing...

 

[Dai Perk]

Strengthen the roots and everything will fall into place so much easier.

Great stuff, I love it!

Now I'm wondering, if this scenario were possible - i.e., somebody handed me $200 million - what program would I choose to bestow this unforeseen windfall?... Brazil would be good (great beaches) but I fear the infrastructure...