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On comparing professionalism and 7s

The official delirium that greeted 7-a-side's admission to the Olympics matches the hysteria accompanying rugby's transition to professionalism. Why?

In the nearly 15 years since union shed its antiquated precept barring compensation, tens of thousands of players and coaches have newly made a decent living while virtually every major competition has grown. Not least to gain has been the World Cup, which has bankrolled the International Rugby Board's vaunted development grant program as well as the decade-long 7s lobbying blitz.

Yet professionalism -- more properly, market dynamics operating transparently -- remains the game's bogey. In America, for example, it is said to preclude our elites from catching up to developed nations. That is a tired thesis: Since 1995, amateurs from Argentina, Canada, and the Polynesian islands have routinely proven good enough to compete in European pro leagues, and despite the Argentine union's notorious penury, the Spanish-speaking Pumas have become a world power.

Meanwhile, IRB grants and direct sponsorship have made it possible for USARFU to hire more staff, at higher salaries, than would have been possible in the days when dues alone fueled the organization. To wit, Boulder's 2007 payroll expenses equated to 73% of that year's CIPP dues. (2008 tax filings are not yet available.)

Conversely, Olympic 7s has been lauded for promising to bring the game to many new countries. But in fact only a dozen of the usual suspects will reach Rio de Janeiro in 2016. It remains unclear whether the also-ran unions will obtain significant funding and management assistance from their respective Olympic committees, which are notoriously byzantine (if not plain corrupt).

The expectation of quasi-government funding is familiar to Commonwealth countries, with their history of formally constituted sports departments (ministries), and stands in contrast to the really new source of money that will come into the game. More than 60 percent of International Olympic Committee revenue comes from US sources; more than 60 national Olympic committees have revenue-sharing agreements with the IOC; therefore world rugby has for the first time achieved its cherished goal of tapping the American commercial market. Which is of course what USARFU's board has been charged to do.

Ontario 27 USA 'A' 24 (halftime: Ontario 18-10)

Ontario scalped USA 'A' 27-24 Saturday in Toronto to end the shadow Eagles' short, winless Americas Rugby Championship, an outcome that is as revealing of the planning as the playing of the first-year tournament.

As it did over the brief life of the North American 4, Rugby Canada's management of the IRB-sponsored development competition looked the nimbler of the two hemispheric rivals. Where the CRU recast its Premier League as a feeder, USARFU contented itself with spending Dublin's $150,000 to prepare for November's Uruguay qualifiers, a one-time event.

Beyond failing to reactivate the dormant territorial sides or include college standouts, USARFU's ARC approach left the players with no match practice. Every American got one start. The Canuck sides played three games in September alone, while the coaching staff looked looked over three to four times as many players.

In other words, our archrival put its best and most promising youngsters into a growth environment, while America focused on marginal selections. The story was the same in 2007, when USARFU subordinated the NA4 campaign to the World Cup; but how to explain the lack of up-and-comers from the 2006 and 2008 tournaments?

In a related matter, the Mid-Atlantic territory Sunday announced reviving its senior program on its own initiative. 'While the [National All-Star Championship] no longer exists for the men, we still believe that giving the best players in MARFU a high level rugby experience is good for the whole territory,' president Kris Kabza said in a press release.

Saturday in Toronto, 2008 All American-turned-2009 7s standout and Eagle debutant Kevin Swiryn scored a hat trick as Paul Keeler's XV twice made up double-digit deficits. But Ontario flyhalf Steve Piatek's fifth penalty goal won the match for the Blues.

Argentina's Jaguars defeated British Columbia for the championship by 35-11.

Ontario Blues 27 USA 'A' 24 (halftime: Ontario 18-10)

USA 'A'
Tries: Kevin Swiryn (3)
Conversions: Volney Rouse (2), Malenese Malifa
Penalties: Malenese Malifa

Nicholas Edwards; Dallas Robinson (Corey Blair), Kevin Swiryn (captain),  Milemoti Pulu,  Leonard Peters; Malenese Malifa (Volney Rouse), Benny Mateialona; Jim Jewison (Jamie Hugh), Brian McClenahan, Tony Lewis (Phil Thiel), Ryan McTiernan, Kevin Erskine (Brian Doyle), Dan LaPrevotte, Peter Dahl, Patrick Danahy

Ontario
Tries: Mike Scholz, Mark MacSween
Conversions: Steve Piatek
Penalties: Steve Piatek (2)

Dan Gordon; Colin Brown (Ryan MacSween), Mike Scholz, Derek Daypuck (Steve Shortlly), Dan West; Steve Piatek, Adam Schouten; Doug Wooldridge (Thomas Dolezel), Mike Pletch, Dan Pletch, Brett Beukeboom (Haddon Murray), Scott Dunham, Keegan Selby, Alistair Clark, Mark MacSween

Referee: not available
Attendance: not available

Dartmouth, Brown vie for regular-season Ivy title

Unbeaten Dartmouth travels to 5-1 Brown Saturday to determine the Ivy League's first fall, regular-season title.

The Providence, Rhode Island, game pits the 2 schools which have dominated the traditional springtime tournament. Dartmouth has captured 12 crowns, while Brown has earned 11, according to Ivy League Rugby's web site.

The contest will also determine seedings for a four-team Ivy playoff set for October 24. 5-1 Harvard and 4-2 Yale, which clash this weekend in New Haven, Connecticut, join Dartmouth and Brown in having already qualified for the knockout round, but home-field advantage is at stake. Next week's pair of winners gain berths in the eight-team Northeast union playoffs, which begin on November 7 and conclude a week later.

If the knockout matches are an unwieldy finish, the league's launch is notable for both self-initiative and the potential of a collegiate conference with a brand like no other.

Having gotten underway at a time when varsity sports at the elite Eastern schools are suffering significant budget cuts (see Bloomberg report), IVR legitimizes rugby within the athletic department because the essentially predefined match schedule mirrors the varsity. The same effect holds with sportswriters and even commercial interests.

The conference upends conventional union structures, however, in that Penn and Princeton are historically Mid-Atlantic schools while Cornell and Columbia have been outside the Northeast union's New England region. Additionally, the round-robin schedule has to be played in the fall. There aren't enough springtime weekends to contest a 7-game season as well as territorial playoffs before USARFU's title chase begins in mid-April.

Dartmouth, which has scored 400 points this fall while allowing just 17, is expected to prevail. The Big Green toppled Harvard 31-0 on October 3, a week after the Crimson downed Brown 69-11.

Belmont's RSL exit an economics lesson

With Belmont Shore's surprise withdrawal from Rugby Super League, practical economics again trumps Commonwealth models.

The RSL founding member, whose multiseason unbeaten streak and 3 championships from 7 consecutive finals appearances qualify the Long Beach, California, club as America's team of the decade, Saturday became the latest to back away from the nationwide competition's heavy spending requirements and opportunity costs to reserve and youth sides. No less than 3 different titlists, with a collective 8 championships under their belts, have left since the league got underway 13 years ago.

The takeaway is not that America's top clubs are badly run. It is that the game's competitive aspirations are finely balanced with its economic structure. Lose a key benefactor or two, and even the most successful outfit is forced to retrench.

This delicacy stands at odds with USARFU's supposition that representative candidates should be playing in the Super League. Though the idea appears sensible and works well enough in 'developed' rugby countries, it doesn't account for RSL's fluidity, combined with the union's own lack of financial support for elite players or clubs.

Strategically, it is not given that Boulder should underwrite the RSL; however, if you are not paying the piper, you should not expect to call the tune. Thus it is rational for athletes to consider their test ambitions in light of their personal well-being. That often means playing for a nearby Division 1 team.

Belmont won its premier 7s title this summer, and several of its players were subsequently invited to an Eagle trials camp. Their prowess did not degrade the moment management decided to leave RSL. Similarly, Aspen, Life, and the Olympic Club snapped back to national stature within a season or two after departing.

But it is perhaps most interesting that college teams, the third major source of Eagles, are inherently more stable than clubs, better resourced, and comprise younger athletes without professional and family obligations.

RSL is expected to consider replacement candidates, accord to people familiar with the matter.

Separately, the league elected two new managing directors in Sean Kelly and incoming president Tony Nash. Greg Rocca continues as the third member of the key steering committee. The transition concludes the tenure of Keith Englebrecht, whose long service established the Dallas-based businessman as a pivotal figure rivaling the stature of Bob Watkins.

On team managers

Rome was neither built in one day, nor constructed by one man. But 20 collegiate titles, 10-plus All-American campaigns, 9 Pacific Rim or Pan American championships, more than a half dozen international 7s seasons, and 3 World Cup cycles merits mention.

Jerry Figone's many decades in American rugby, punctuated by the recent announcement of his going part-time at Cal, can be summarized as doing the right things well. On his watch, team affairs are efficient and effective, from scouting and travel to equipment quality and the daily itinerary. No dirty gear, no bad meals, no confusion in the ranks.

Watching American playoff and representative teams, it is evident that his craft -- managing the player, equipment, and logistical matters at the heart of a rugby team -- remains poorly understood. Spend an hour with the man to learn whether and when to use conventional rugby or organic American practices, or how to blend innovation with the thoughtful touches that improve focus and reduce friction, in order to increase a XV's chances of competitive success.

Figone's year-after-year-after-year attention to detail has inevitably created a wealth of knowledge and how to use it. A dozen years ago it was Figone, not longtime Bear mentor Jack Clark, who first showed me the contours of northern California's high school scene -- about a decade after Figone had managed the Pacific Coast's Under 19 side.

At the other end of the spectrum, in 1996, when the Pentagon called Clark with special thanks for fulfilling the Japanese Defense Command's diplomatic-level request for a USA jersey, it was Figone's last-minute wizardry that had delivered the goods.

There are many such stories, some more ribald and others which Figone has forgotten but the players have not, that distinguish the Cal and USA man and underline the importance of seasoned manager.

On 7s admission to the Olympic Games

7-a-side rugby's becoming an Olympic sport, expected to be confirmed tomorrow, promises to reshape the American game. One can expect three significant changes:

• 7s will become the most recognized form of the sport

Within 10 years, more Americans will have seen the abbreviated game than the 15s version. Like many Olympic disciplines, it will be a once-every-four-years sport on network TV, but there is no reason to expect that 15s will achieve higher visibility.

This may impact the push to break into public schools and particularly the varsity sports system. For example, administrators may ask: Are gym classes teaching the 'Olympic version' of rugby? Why are scholastic teams competing in 15s, with its more dangerous scrums?

• Government, not pro leagues, will call the shots

When it comes to sports, Americans tend to think of franchise owners and league officials, such as the NFL commissioner, as ne plus ultra. But rugby's farther-reaching decisions will turn on plans for winning medals because US Olympic Committee-blessed blueprints will bring reliable funding and the media exposure that drives business opportunity.

Even if USARFU can effect oft-delayed plans for a MLS-style single-entity pro league, it will not likely outstrip the network that builds up around identifying and training 7s athletes. Indeed, a semi-professional 15s competition will look to leverage the 'high performance' athletes that emerge from the 7s system.

Put another way, it is telling that rugby investors have been drawn to 7s.

• The center of gravity will continue shifting away from senior clubs

Even as the direction of Boulder's top-level objectives is shared with or predicated on Colorado Springs (headquarters of the USOC), the states that run high school leagues (the so-called state-based rugby organizations, or SBROs) will gain influence because there will be demand for athletes that project to the medal track. College programs should gain profile for the same reason, and if a player hasn't entered the Olympic pool by 23 years of age, chances are good he won't.

Thus, most post-college players will be competing for their own ends, not because they have a shot at the Eagles. In turn, that may spur clubs to view their mission as running a multitude of teams, not just at the senior level.

7s admission to the Olympics will play out differently across the rugby world. Initially, it should favor the traditional powers by enhancing their established athletic and commercial network with the Games' prestige. Meanwhile, none of the anticipable changes to the US environment necessarily creates competitive advantage. Over time, however, the new dynamics may spur more disciplined (if not to say bureaucratic) decision making over the allocation of American resources.

Fiji match cancelled

USARFU has quietly canceled its November 28 match against Fiji, unable to arrange funding for the friendly.

Boulder had been looking for England or perhaps the International Rugby Board, which helped engineer England's shunting Fiji aside in order to play Australia next month at Twickenham, to assist with event costs. The game was announced in June but not budgeted by USARFU, according to people familiar with the matter.

The cancellation is America's first since 1992, when for lack of funds it declined a match with touring England, already in Vancouver, Canada. The embarrassment produced a new approach to national team operations, beginning 1993, under which the team could not draw upon general union funds but had to pay for itself.

The Fijian union has already communicated the contest is off. Boulder yesterday confirmed next month's World Cup qualifying dates and venues for the pair of matches against Uruguay, but said nothing of Fiji. 'We are delighted to host a great rugby nation like Fiji. The Pacific Coast has a strong rugby following and there is no doubt that the community will get behind this match and make it a success,' chief executive Nigel Melville previously said in announcing the match.

Test matches typically require the host union to look after the visiting team's in-country expenses (e.g., ground transportation, meals, and lodging) in addition to event costs. The upside is the host keeps all of the event revenue.

The IRB pays hosting costs for World Cup matches, meaning the expenses of November 21's match at Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida, will be covered by Dublin. The cost of Feburary's USA 7s, which hosts 16 teams plus officials (approximately 4 to 5 times the size of a 15s tour party), are borne by the tournament.

Fiji are ranked 9th in the IRB standings, so the cancellation is a missed opportunity for the 18th-ranked Eagles to regain ground. However, the players will be released to go home for Thanksgiving.

7s: Did USARFU sell too cheaply?

7s, at last on the verge of the Olympics, may hold limited commercial potential for USARFU.

Becoming a 'medal sport' is expected to create new revenue opportunities for the abbreviated game, but the union has already sold key rights to the club and territorial championships to a private investor, including title sponsorship, TV and online broadcast rights, and rights to a new collegiate 7s championship. The winter 2008 pact with Bill Tatham also encompasses right of first refusal to exclusive sponsorship of the 7s Eagles, according to a draft of the agreement.

Boulder could thus find itself saddled with the operating costs of running national title competitions and developing an Olympic team, but its upside will be tied to the value of a pact struck before the sport's game-changing admittance to the Summer Olympics. In as much as the International Rugby Board has made admittance one of its foremost objectives, the board's decision could well prove short-sighted.

In an email, a USARFU official described the pact as 'a sponsorship agreement of two events at which [Tatham] wants to promote his company'. But the March 2008 press release also highlights the 'to be announced' college 7s tournament as well as 'title and presenting sponsorship to the above [3] events, and ... becom[ing] an official sponsor of USA Rugby across the board.'

The pact is worth $900,000 over 4 years, according to the draft agreement. 'Not only do these exclusive broadcast and sanctioning agreements provide unheard of protections for our business launch, but it also gives us added credibility in the world of rugby union,' Tatham said in the press release.

USARFU previously sold Tatham exclusive rights to a 7s pro league in 2005, in the midst of a severe cash crunch. The 2008 move was more an attempt to increase revenue, an executive said at the time.

The 2008 deal can be compared to the 'covered call' investment strategy, in which you own a certain stock and sell the right for someone to 'call it away' from you at a defined (typically higher) price, in return for a premium that you keep whether or not the call is exercised. It's a good move if the stock (or product) is not likely to rise much in value, as is normally seen to be the case with American rugby. But if the stock goes up significantly, your gains are limited and most of the upside is pocketed by the buyer of the call.

Olympic 7s has been one of the IRB's priorities for at least half a decade: Since 7s' failure to win admission in 2006, Dublin has lobbied all the more diligently and, apparently, effectively. In August, 7s was recommended for inclusion by a key steering committee, and Friday the International Olympic Committee could formally approve it as a medal sport in the 2016 games, newly awarded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The contents of the 2008 pact came up at last month's Congress meeting. The board failed to specify the business terms but said it would provide follow-up information, which it has not yet done.

Refs in jersey pact

A British sportswear maker has agreed to supply match jerseys for America's leading referees, in a bit of good news for USARFU on the equipment front.

Akuma, one of a newer breed of vendors that specializes in made-to-order kit which buyers design online, will underwrite the union's 'national panel' referees and be the exclusive supplier to other officials in Super League matches during the 2010 season, Boulder said last week in a press release. Top officials contract with the club competition to cover the slate of 63 matches.

Though one could argue pact is a splinter deal that complicates the overall apparel strategy, arrangements for national team gear have not well at all. USARFU has been sued by Kooga, its partner from 2004-06. Then, having jumped to Canterbury, the union found its supplier declared bankruptcy this summer; in August Canterbury was purchased for $11 million by a British clothing and footwear retailer, which ironically had earlier snapped up Kooga. Meanwhile, 2007 jersey sponsor Bravia did not renew.

National team equipment is considered one of the easiest categories of inventory that sports organizations have to sell, and also one of the most lucrative. Beyond fees for licensing the mark, agreements usually include a percentage of gear sales, which means the manufacturer is using its distribution channels to market one's brand and products.

Akuma's North American operations are managed by Steve Winyard, once a prop second row in England's premiership competition.

On Beckham and rugby

My desk is piled high with books to be read, so why pick up the Beckham Experiment?

Initially because author Grant Wahl, a senior writer with Sports Illustrated, branched out from soccer to rugby to follow the US national team around the time of the 1999 World Cup. He is an excellent journalist who regularly gets cover stories.

Grant also writes NCAA basketball for SI, which underscores his ability to shift between major domestic and overseas sports. That is meaningful to Beckham Experiment, subtitled 'How the world's most famous athlete tried to conquer America'.

The plotline could be relevant to US rugby: Much of USARFU's current strategy was shaped by IRB consultants whose understanding of the American society may not be much more sophisticated than that of Beckham, who at the start of the year left the Los Angeles Galaxy for Milan. Of course, the approach was blessed by the folks who led the transition to the union's then-new government structure.

If you have not re-read the 2006 plan, it is worth doing so. (PDF version downloadable here, web version here) One's opinion of the forthcoming blueprint should be grounded in an evaluation of how the last version grades out.