Rugby Expo hits home
Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:37
The 2008 Rugby Expo - Something there for everyone!
With all the focus on Saturday's England-South Africa Test match at Twickenham, the inaugural Rugby Expo almost went unnoticed at the start of this week. Well, almost...
The first-ever Rugby Expo took place at London's Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on Monday and Tuesday of this week, with the event organisers declaring it an instant success, with 1,000 delegates making their way through the turnstiles.
Ex-England international Stuart Abbott, a World Cup winner in 2003, served as one of the Rugby Expo consultants, whilst rugby365 columnist and former Springbok centre Robbie Fleck was an event ambassador, despite not being able to attend the two-day summit.
"I really would've liked to have been there, but the World Classics in Bermuda finished on Sunday only and we got back to Cape Town on Tuesday only," said Fleck to rugby365.com.
"But I've been in regular touch with Stuart and the rest of the guys and, by all accounts, it was a resounding success. Like any former international player, rugby is and will always be dear to me, and it's great to see so many role-players in the game today getting together and trying to make a difference!"
Fleck added: "Having, myself, moved from rugby into the business world, I have no doubt there will be plenty commercial benefits for rugby through the networking of businessman and rugby personnel and that's just one of the benefits of the Rugby Expo.
"I'm also involved with the hosting of the first-ever Cape Town Tens next year and we even had our Tournament Director, Ron Rutland, attend the event and he spoke very highly of what was on offer. Of course, it was a great networking opportunity for the Tens, but also for anybody involved in this great game of ours.
For Abbott, the two-day Rugby Expo was a culmination of lots of hard work paying off, but also a promise of what is in store for 2009.
"This year the three key discussion points were professionalism, grass-roots rugby and developing the emerging nations," said Abbott to rugby365.com, "but next year we'll be looking to make an even bigger difference and attract even more people.
"Of course, there was plenty of talk at the Expo about this weekend's game and I did a Sky interview about the Rugby Expo - an interview which very quickly regressed into a chat about who would win on Saturday; England or the Boks!"
Aside from the various topics up for discussion, Abbott was quick to point out just who in the rugby world was involved in these various discussions.
Said Abbott: "We had the likes of Peter Wheeler from Leicester Tigers, Mark Evans from Harlequins and Nigel Melville from USA Rugby attending and also various people from Premier Rugby, the IRB and Saru, not to mention key rugby sponsors and various other role players from the rugby and business world.
"It was especially nice for us having rugby's governing body, the IRB as one of the exhibitors at the conference - as it gave them an opportunity to show to everyone just what goes into the running of this great game, what they're looking to do to keep rugby evolving and how they are looking to make a difference with the SOS IRB Kit Aid.
"Another exciting aspect," added Abbott, "was the IRB explaining why they would like rugby to become an Olympic sport. The IRB's Greg Thomas was involved in a lively debate about rugby's involvement in the Olympics, and that, in itself, was great to witness."
Thomas, the IRB's Head of Communications, told irb.com: "What I got out of it was a huge sense of support now for our campaign.
"I think in the past there's been debate on the relevance of Sevens in the Olympics, people questioning whether we need the Olympics. This time there is huge support for this campaign and I think it bodes well for next October, when big decisions will be made."
And on the Rugby Expo itself, Thomas added: "It's the first time that rugby as an industry has had a business-to-business conference and exhibition and I think that was lacking.
"There's Soccerex, which is hugely successful in the football industry, and this is a chance now for anybody involved in the business of rugby to get together, network and do business."
By Howard Kahn
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