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Doug Crosse from the Canadian Rugby Union has kindly given his time to chat to us here at heavensgame.
How are you? Things are fine - the stress of the World Cup has receded nicely and we are now planning for 2008. What is your official role in Rugby Canada? I am the communications manager - dealing with all levels of media requests as well as day to day operations of the website and production of video broadcasts of matches. Is it fair to say that with each passing year Canadian rugby is getting a stronger foothold in the country? I would say we are getting stronger in the organization of the game, but we have seen some shrinkage in terms of senior players at the club rugby level.This is being countered with a real push at the school level to introduce rugby into basic physical education curriculum. In four to five years I think we will see a real surge in interest once again at the club level, with teams putting out four and five sides. The other big growth area in this country is the women's game, and I don't see that slowing any time soon. Do you expect an increase in player numbers on the back of the RWC? I think we always see a slight upturn, but this has been the first World Cup since 1987 that wasn't widely available on basic levels of cable television. All of Canada's games were broadcast on one of the national sports networks, but most of the games required an additional pay per view component that the casual fan was in most cases not prepared to invest in. This makes it hard for new people to the game to see it played at its highest level, and maybe get excited enough to try the game at their local club. How would you describe the National teams performances at the RWC, in particular given the first 50 minutes of the Wales match? If we were to measure the team by that opening 50 minutes you would have to say it was an A plus effort, but once Wales came back, it really illustrated some of the areas we tend to lack when playing teams in the top 10. Overall I think every player would say they were disappointed not to get a win, and the comeback by Japan really stung, having the lead at full time only to settle for the draw once extra time had expired. There are good things to build from, and the interest and money is there to grow this team and make it ready for the challenge of 2011. It will be key for us to be able to have a 20 team World Cup in New Zealand - otherwise it could be a tougher road to the World Cup through a smaller qualification round. Given the recent discussion around reducing the RWC to a 16 team format, do you believe that this is a backward step for the development of the game? From Canada's perspective any move that would possibly exclude us or at least make the road to the World Cup a much longer one, is of great concern. The World Cup is our time every four years the media, sponsors and fans get interested and excited in the team, and usually sees an upsurge in interest in the game overall. If we have to miss a four year cycle due to limited numbers of teams getting in it will be tough indeed to maintain the positive momentum we have been building at a domestic level. There is a lot of conjecture about admitting Argentina into the Tri Nations, do you see merit in a competition between Uruguay, Argentina, Canada and the US being given the full backing of the irb to create a top tier competition for these countries in place of the Churchill cup? We had a competition involving these four nations as recently as 2001, called the Pan American Rugby Association championship, but for a variety of reasons it was dropped in favour of the Churchill Cup, and other initiatives. It might be time to revisit it, but frankly I think Argentina are waiting for a call from a hotter date than what we might have to offer. Finally, who do you think will win the RWC in 2007? Based on the match-up at hand - I think South Africa will have no problem doing the double on England. As much as I would like 'Bill' to stay north, I don't think that will happen. Doug, Thanks very much for your time. |
