Sharks opening warm up games

It is obvious that a type open communication between different rugby unions is taking taking place in world rugby.

Sharks play the Russian Bears in their 2 opening warm ups. one in Durban and another in Cape Town.

Quite sensible to both sides..."killing 2 birds with one stone" so to speak. A preliminary game that suits 2 sides in the Super series and the other in European Nations Cup.

It is indeed a good thing that this wonderful game is being shared with quite different bodies and in the long run will open the world rugby bigger picture for the betterment of the game itself.

Those with a bigger vision will see this but you will also get the narrow-minded with smaller selfish vision who will be skeptical.

"but you will also get the "narrow-minded with smaller selfish vision" who will be skeptical.

You clearly have a bias for Russia - and anyone that does not agree is "skeptical" sic. 

The one question mark is why is the game in Capetown, given the Sharks play half their games in Durban.

There are 2 games, one is in Durban and the other in Cape Town. No, I don't have any bias for any team...just interested in rugby development globally...I follow minnow rugby and have followed Japan and Georgia rugby for quite some time now and Russia has still a long way to go but like the USA has huge potential...Sean Fitzpatrick visited both Georgia and Russia (St Petersburg) promoting rugby as he saw the huge potential in both countries.

Skeptical is the correct spelling and is not spelt incorrectly.

Skeptical is American/Canadian spelling - not what other countries use. 

Yes you are right in English English...my laptop is American...must change it. But you are wrong on other assumptions, I guess you cannot help being contentious.

You initiated an argument by making a statement and then saying anyone who does not agree with you is small-minded. You also complimented yourself saying you have a bigger vision. 

.

No that is not what I was inferring to. It was that world rugby is at last "cross pollinating" the game for the future growth of the game and the results are obviously good and that is obvious for all to see.

Hence the growth in Japan, Georgia and hopefully others as well...even Argentina has improved...since joining the Super Series.

I see this as positive and so do most people who love the game and prepared to accommodate other developing nations instead of coveting the game for selfish reasons. Weaker nations can only improve when they are exposed to the stronger nations and teams...in simple terms,you only learn to swim if you are thrown in the deep end.

That's all I meant...it's sad that you saw it differently.

Argentina had a difficult pool of death and we know WC's are sudden death and they were burnt out as well as a bit unlucky with Tomas Lavanini's red card offence signing a death warrant for them...14 men against an English side that put NZ to rest.  They were runners up in Supers against Saders in NZ too, a milestone that never happened before.

Ofcourse I don't know how the Sharks and Russian rugby union communicated but it certainly never happened before and one can only surmise World Rugby (ex IRB) must  had something to do with it...the Sharks are not the only one's...there have been a few others. It's a very small issue and not the point...the point is things that never happened before are taking place and there's communication and interaction that's positive.

Yes, it is a very slow process but it's starting to bud and some fruit is showing...one can only conclude that some steps taken to achieve World Rugby's goal of promoting the game overall are in the right direction.

GOVERNANCE

Council

The World Rugby Council meets twice a year and manages and controls the affairs of World Rugby.[31] The Council formulates and oversees the implementation of World Rugby's strategic plan and application of policy decisions, and selects the host nation(s) for the Rugby World Cup. The Council considers recommendations of the General Assembly. The Council may admit or expel member nations. The Council is also the supreme legislative authority of World Rugby. Most Council decisions require approval of simple majority, but to amend the World Rugby's by-laws, regulations, or the Laws of the Game requires approval of three quarters of the Council.

Prior to 2016, the Council had 28 members. In November 2015, World Rugby announced that they would be adding more unions to the voting council and giving the regional associations two votes each on the council.[32][33]

As of November 2018,[34] the council is composed of 33 delegates with a total of 50 votes, allocated as follows:[clarification needed]

• (30) Ten unions each have three votes and two delegates: Argentina, Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales.[clarification needed]
• (2) One union has two votes and one delegate: Japan.
• (6) Six unions each have one vote and one delegate: Canada, Georgia, Fiji, Samoa, Romania, and the United States.
• (12) The six regional associations representing Europe, South America, Americas North, Africa, Asia and Oceania each have two votes and one delegate.

In total, Europe has 22 votes; Oceania 10 votes; South America 5 votes; Africa 5 votes; North America 4 votes and Asia 4 votes.

A Chairman and Vice Chairman are elected from among the delegates and these positions are held by Bill Beaumont of England and Agustín Pichot of Argentina, respectively, as of May 2017.[34][35]

Funding

World Rugby have recently[when?] released £18.6 million of funding over three years for developing rugby nations Canada, the USA, Japan, Romania, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. Argentina will also receive additional support to enable it to retain its tier one status. The money, built up from successful World Cups, was released following a report commissioned by World Rugby highlighting the growing disparity between tier one and tier two nations. (see IRB statement). This is in addition to the £10–12 million it normally gives out grants and tournament costs. The emphasis is on three areas infrastructure, high performance units and cross border competitions.

It was announced in April 2006 that tier-3 rugby nations Georgia, Portugal, Tunisia and Russia were identified as the key investment nations over the next three years. The program is designed to increase the competitiveness of international rugby union.

IRB Statement 14 years ago...see link below

IRB