The Rugby World Cup tournament structure results in too few competitive matches between top teams and many lopsided games between top and developing teams. The author proposes a "Super Pools" structure that splits the 20 teams into two pools of top 10 teams and two pools of next 10 teams, ensuring more competitive games between similar-level opponents over fewer days with balanced rest periods. This would make the Rugby World Cup a truly competitive tournament that is better for players, fans, and the sport.
2024 State of Marketing Report – by HubspotMarius Sescu
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
· Seeking: A single source of truth
· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts
The realm of product design is a constantly changing environment where technology and style intersect. Every year introduces fresh challenges and exciting trends that mold the future of this captivating art form. In this piece, we delve into the significant trends set to influence the look and functionality of product design in the year 2024.
How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow
Mental health has been in the news quite a bit lately. Dozens of U.S. states are currently suing Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by inserting addictive features into their products, while the U.S. Surgeon General is touring the nation to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The country has endured periods of low national morale, such as in the 1970s when high inflation and the energy crisis worsened public sentiment following the Vietnam War. The current mood, however, feels different. Gallup recently reported that national mental health is at an all-time low, with few bright spots to lift spirits.
To better understand how Americans are feeling and their attitudes towards mental health in general, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey of 1,500 respondents and found some interesting differences among ethnic, age and gender groups.
Technology
For example, 52% agree that technology and social media have a negative impact on mental health, but when broken out by race, 61% of Whites felt technology had a negative effect, and only 48% of Hispanics thought it did.
While technology has helped us keep in touch with friends and family in faraway places, it appears to have degraded our ability to connect in person. Staying connected online is a double-edged sword since the same news feed that brings us pictures of the grandkids and fluffy kittens also feeds us news about the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the dysfunction in Washington, the latest mass shooting and the climate crisis.
Hispanics may have a built-in defense against the isolation technology breeds, owing to their large, multigenerational households, strong social support systems, and tendency to use social media to stay connected with relatives abroad.
Age and Gender
When asked how individuals rate their mental health, men rate it higher than women by 11 percentage points, and Baby Boomers rank it highest at 83%, saying it’s good or excellent vs. 57% of Gen Z saying the same.
Gen Z spends the most amount of time on social media, so the notion that social media negatively affects mental health appears to be correlated. Unfortunately, Gen Z is also the generation that’s least comfortable discussing mental health concerns with healthcare professionals. Only 40% of them state they’re comfortable discussing their issues with a professional compared to 60% of Millennials and 65% of Boomers.
Race Affects Attitudes
As seen in previous research conducted by ThinkNow, Asian Americans lag other groups when it comes to awareness of mental health issues. Twenty-four percent of Asian Americans believe that having a mental health issue is a sign of weakness compared to the 16% average for all groups. Asians are also considerably less likely to be aware of mental health services in their communities (42% vs. 55%) and most likely to seek out information on social media (51% vs. 35%).
AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork
This article is all about what AI trends will emerge in the field of creative operations in 2024. All the marketers and brand builders should be aware of these trends for their further use and save themselves some time!
A report by thenetworkone and Kurio.
The contributing experts and agencies are (in an alphabetical order): Sylwia Rytel, Social Media Supervisor, 180heartbeats + JUNG v MATT (PL), Sharlene Jenner, Vice President - Director of Engagement Strategy, Abelson Taylor (USA), Alex Casanovas, Digital Director, Atrevia (ES), Dora Beilin, Senior Social Strategist, Barrett Hoffher (USA), Min Seo, Campaign Director, Brand New Agency (KR), Deshé M. Gully, Associate Strategist, Day One Agency (USA), Francesca Trevisan, Strategist, Different (IT), Trevor Crossman, CX and Digital Transformation Director; Olivia Hussey, Strategic Planner; Simi Srinarula, Social Media Manager, The Hallway (AUS), James Hebbert, Managing Director, Hylink (CN / UK), Mundy Álvarez, Planning Director; Pedro Rojas, Social Media Manager; Pancho González, CCO, Inbrax (CH), Oana Oprea, Head of Digital Planning, Jam Session Agency (RO), Amy Bottrill, Social Account Director, Launch (UK), Gaby Arriaga, Founder, Leonardo1452 (MX), Shantesh S Row, Creative Director, Liwa (UAE), Rajesh Mehta, Chief Strategy Officer; Dhruv Gaur, Digital Planning Lead; Leonie Mergulhao, Account Supervisor - Social Media & PR, Medulla (IN), Aurelija Plioplytė, Head of Digital & Social, Not Perfect (LI), Daiana Khaidargaliyeva, Account Manager, Osaka Labs (UK / USA), Stefanie Söhnchen, Vice President Digital, PIABO Communications (DE), Elisabeth Winiartati, Managing Consultant, Head of Global Integrated Communications; Lydia Aprina, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Nita Prabowo, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Okhi, Web Developer, PNTR Group (ID), Kei Obusan, Insights Director; Daffi Ranandi, Insights Manager, Radarr (SG), Gautam Reghunath, Co-founder & CEO, Talented (IN), Donagh Humphreys, Head of Social and Digital Innovation, THINKHOUSE (IRE), Sarah Yim, Strategy Director, Zulu Alpha Kilo (CA).
Trends In Paid Search: Navigating The Digital Landscape In 2024Search Engine Journal
The search marketing landscape is evolving rapidly with new technologies, and professionals, like you, rely on innovative paid search strategies to meet changing demands.
It’s important that you’re ready to implement new strategies in 2024.
Check this out and learn the top trends in paid search advertising that are expected to gain traction, so you can drive higher ROI more efficiently in 2024.
You’ll learn:
- The latest trends in AI and automation, and what this means for an evolving paid search ecosystem.
- New developments in privacy and data regulation.
- Emerging ad formats that are expected to make an impact next year.
Watch Sreekant Lanka from iQuanti and Irina Klein from OneMain Financial as they dive into the future of paid search and explore the trends, strategies, and technologies that will shape the search marketing landscape.
If you’re looking to assess your paid search strategy and design an industry-aligned plan for 2024, then this webinar is for you.
5 Public speaking tips from TED - Visualized summarySpeakerHub
From their humble beginnings in 1984, TED has grown into the world’s most powerful amplifier for speakers and thought-leaders to share their ideas. They have over 2,400 filmed talks (not including the 30,000+ TEDx videos) freely available online, and have hosted over 17,500 events around the world.
With over one billion views in a year, it’s no wonder that so many speakers are looking to TED for ideas on how to share their message more effectively.
The article “5 Public-Speaking Tips TED Gives Its Speakers”, by Carmine Gallo for Forbes, gives speakers five practical ways to connect with their audience, and effectively share their ideas on stage.
Whether you are gearing up to get on a TED stage yourself, or just want to master the skills that so many of their speakers possess, these tips and quotes from Chris Anderson, the TED Talks Curator, will encourage you to make the most impactful impression on your audience.
See the full article and more summaries like this on SpeakerHub here: https://speakerhub.com/blog/5-presentation-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers
See the original article on Forbes here:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/05/06/5-public-speaking-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers/&refURL=&referrer=#5c07a8221d9b
ChatGPT and the Future of Work - Clark Boyd Clark Boyd
Everyone is in agreement that ChatGPT (and other generative AI tools) will shape the future of work. Yet there is little consensus on exactly how, when, and to what extent this technology will change our world.
Businesses that extract maximum value from ChatGPT will use it as a collaborative tool for everything from brainstorming to technical maintenance.
For individuals, now is the time to pinpoint the skills the future professional will need to thrive in the AI age.
Check out this presentation to understand what ChatGPT is, how it will shape the future of work, and how you can prepare to take advantage.
A brief introduction to DataScience with explaining of the concepts, algorithms, machine learning, supervised and unsupervised learning, clustering, statistics, data preprocessing, real-world applications etc.
It's part of a Data Science Corner Campaign where I will be discussing the fundamentals of DataScience, AIML, Statistics etc.
Time Management & Productivity - Best PracticesVit Horky
Here's my presentation on by proven best practices how to manage your work time effectively and how to improve your productivity. It includes practical tips and how to use tools such as Slack, Google Apps, Hubspot, Google Calendar, Gmail and others.
The six step guide to practical project managementMindGenius
The six step guide to practical project management
If you think managing projects is too difficult, think again.
We’ve stripped back project management processes to the
basics – to make it quicker and easier, without sacrificing
the vital ingredients for success.
“If you’re looking for some real-world guidance, then The Six Step Guide to Practical Project Management will help.”
Dr Andrew Makar, Tactical Project Management
2024 State of Marketing Report – by HubspotMarius Sescu
https://www.hubspot.com/state-of-marketing
· Scaling relationships and proving ROI
· Social media is the place for search, sales, and service
· Authentic influencer partnerships fuel brand growth
· The strongest connections happen via call, click, chat, and camera.
· Time saved with AI leads to more creative work
· Seeking: A single source of truth
· TLDR; Get on social, try AI, and align your systems.
· More human marketing, powered by robots
ChatGPT is a revolutionary addition to the world since its introduction in 2022. A big shift in the sector of information gathering and processing happened because of this chatbot. What is the story of ChatGPT? How is the bot responding to prompts and generating contents? Swipe through these slides prepared by Expeed Software, a web development company regarding the development and technical intricacies of ChatGPT!
Product Design Trends in 2024 | Teenage EngineeringsPixeldarts
The realm of product design is a constantly changing environment where technology and style intersect. Every year introduces fresh challenges and exciting trends that mold the future of this captivating art form. In this piece, we delve into the significant trends set to influence the look and functionality of product design in the year 2024.
How Race, Age and Gender Shape Attitudes Towards Mental HealthThinkNow
Mental health has been in the news quite a bit lately. Dozens of U.S. states are currently suing Meta for contributing to the youth mental health crisis by inserting addictive features into their products, while the U.S. Surgeon General is touring the nation to bring awareness to the growing epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The country has endured periods of low national morale, such as in the 1970s when high inflation and the energy crisis worsened public sentiment following the Vietnam War. The current mood, however, feels different. Gallup recently reported that national mental health is at an all-time low, with few bright spots to lift spirits.
To better understand how Americans are feeling and their attitudes towards mental health in general, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey of 1,500 respondents and found some interesting differences among ethnic, age and gender groups.
Technology
For example, 52% agree that technology and social media have a negative impact on mental health, but when broken out by race, 61% of Whites felt technology had a negative effect, and only 48% of Hispanics thought it did.
While technology has helped us keep in touch with friends and family in faraway places, it appears to have degraded our ability to connect in person. Staying connected online is a double-edged sword since the same news feed that brings us pictures of the grandkids and fluffy kittens also feeds us news about the wars in Israel and Ukraine, the dysfunction in Washington, the latest mass shooting and the climate crisis.
Hispanics may have a built-in defense against the isolation technology breeds, owing to their large, multigenerational households, strong social support systems, and tendency to use social media to stay connected with relatives abroad.
Age and Gender
When asked how individuals rate their mental health, men rate it higher than women by 11 percentage points, and Baby Boomers rank it highest at 83%, saying it’s good or excellent vs. 57% of Gen Z saying the same.
Gen Z spends the most amount of time on social media, so the notion that social media negatively affects mental health appears to be correlated. Unfortunately, Gen Z is also the generation that’s least comfortable discussing mental health concerns with healthcare professionals. Only 40% of them state they’re comfortable discussing their issues with a professional compared to 60% of Millennials and 65% of Boomers.
Race Affects Attitudes
As seen in previous research conducted by ThinkNow, Asian Americans lag other groups when it comes to awareness of mental health issues. Twenty-four percent of Asian Americans believe that having a mental health issue is a sign of weakness compared to the 16% average for all groups. Asians are also considerably less likely to be aware of mental health services in their communities (42% vs. 55%) and most likely to seek out information on social media (51% vs. 35%).
AI Trends in Creative Operations 2024 by Artwork Flow.pdfmarketingartwork
This article is all about what AI trends will emerge in the field of creative operations in 2024. All the marketers and brand builders should be aware of these trends for their further use and save themselves some time!
A report by thenetworkone and Kurio.
The contributing experts and agencies are (in an alphabetical order): Sylwia Rytel, Social Media Supervisor, 180heartbeats + JUNG v MATT (PL), Sharlene Jenner, Vice President - Director of Engagement Strategy, Abelson Taylor (USA), Alex Casanovas, Digital Director, Atrevia (ES), Dora Beilin, Senior Social Strategist, Barrett Hoffher (USA), Min Seo, Campaign Director, Brand New Agency (KR), Deshé M. Gully, Associate Strategist, Day One Agency (USA), Francesca Trevisan, Strategist, Different (IT), Trevor Crossman, CX and Digital Transformation Director; Olivia Hussey, Strategic Planner; Simi Srinarula, Social Media Manager, The Hallway (AUS), James Hebbert, Managing Director, Hylink (CN / UK), Mundy Álvarez, Planning Director; Pedro Rojas, Social Media Manager; Pancho González, CCO, Inbrax (CH), Oana Oprea, Head of Digital Planning, Jam Session Agency (RO), Amy Bottrill, Social Account Director, Launch (UK), Gaby Arriaga, Founder, Leonardo1452 (MX), Shantesh S Row, Creative Director, Liwa (UAE), Rajesh Mehta, Chief Strategy Officer; Dhruv Gaur, Digital Planning Lead; Leonie Mergulhao, Account Supervisor - Social Media & PR, Medulla (IN), Aurelija Plioplytė, Head of Digital & Social, Not Perfect (LI), Daiana Khaidargaliyeva, Account Manager, Osaka Labs (UK / USA), Stefanie Söhnchen, Vice President Digital, PIABO Communications (DE), Elisabeth Winiartati, Managing Consultant, Head of Global Integrated Communications; Lydia Aprina, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Nita Prabowo, Account Manager, Integrated Marketing and Communications; Okhi, Web Developer, PNTR Group (ID), Kei Obusan, Insights Director; Daffi Ranandi, Insights Manager, Radarr (SG), Gautam Reghunath, Co-founder & CEO, Talented (IN), Donagh Humphreys, Head of Social and Digital Innovation, THINKHOUSE (IRE), Sarah Yim, Strategy Director, Zulu Alpha Kilo (CA).
Trends In Paid Search: Navigating The Digital Landscape In 2024Search Engine Journal
The search marketing landscape is evolving rapidly with new technologies, and professionals, like you, rely on innovative paid search strategies to meet changing demands.
It’s important that you’re ready to implement new strategies in 2024.
Check this out and learn the top trends in paid search advertising that are expected to gain traction, so you can drive higher ROI more efficiently in 2024.
You’ll learn:
- The latest trends in AI and automation, and what this means for an evolving paid search ecosystem.
- New developments in privacy and data regulation.
- Emerging ad formats that are expected to make an impact next year.
Watch Sreekant Lanka from iQuanti and Irina Klein from OneMain Financial as they dive into the future of paid search and explore the trends, strategies, and technologies that will shape the search marketing landscape.
If you’re looking to assess your paid search strategy and design an industry-aligned plan for 2024, then this webinar is for you.
5 Public speaking tips from TED - Visualized summarySpeakerHub
From their humble beginnings in 1984, TED has grown into the world’s most powerful amplifier for speakers and thought-leaders to share their ideas. They have over 2,400 filmed talks (not including the 30,000+ TEDx videos) freely available online, and have hosted over 17,500 events around the world.
With over one billion views in a year, it’s no wonder that so many speakers are looking to TED for ideas on how to share their message more effectively.
The article “5 Public-Speaking Tips TED Gives Its Speakers”, by Carmine Gallo for Forbes, gives speakers five practical ways to connect with their audience, and effectively share their ideas on stage.
Whether you are gearing up to get on a TED stage yourself, or just want to master the skills that so many of their speakers possess, these tips and quotes from Chris Anderson, the TED Talks Curator, will encourage you to make the most impactful impression on your audience.
See the full article and more summaries like this on SpeakerHub here: https://speakerhub.com/blog/5-presentation-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers
See the original article on Forbes here:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2016/05/06/5-public-speaking-tips-ted-gives-its-speakers/&refURL=&referrer=#5c07a8221d9b
ChatGPT and the Future of Work - Clark Boyd Clark Boyd
Everyone is in agreement that ChatGPT (and other generative AI tools) will shape the future of work. Yet there is little consensus on exactly how, when, and to what extent this technology will change our world.
Businesses that extract maximum value from ChatGPT will use it as a collaborative tool for everything from brainstorming to technical maintenance.
For individuals, now is the time to pinpoint the skills the future professional will need to thrive in the AI age.
Check out this presentation to understand what ChatGPT is, how it will shape the future of work, and how you can prepare to take advantage.
A brief introduction to DataScience with explaining of the concepts, algorithms, machine learning, supervised and unsupervised learning, clustering, statistics, data preprocessing, real-world applications etc.
It's part of a Data Science Corner Campaign where I will be discussing the fundamentals of DataScience, AIML, Statistics etc.
Time Management & Productivity - Best PracticesVit Horky
Here's my presentation on by proven best practices how to manage your work time effectively and how to improve your productivity. It includes practical tips and how to use tools such as Slack, Google Apps, Hubspot, Google Calendar, Gmail and others.
The six step guide to practical project managementMindGenius
The six step guide to practical project management
If you think managing projects is too difficult, think again.
We’ve stripped back project management processes to the
basics – to make it quicker and easier, without sacrificing
the vital ingredients for success.
“If you’re looking for some real-world guidance, then The Six Step Guide to Practical Project Management will help.”
Dr Andrew Makar, Tactical Project Management
Beginners Guide to TikTok for Search - Rachel Pearson - We are Tilt __ Bright...
Rugby World Cup 2011 Preview
1. RWC 2011 Preview robmumford@challengeeverything.com.ar Page 1 of 5
Rugby World Cup 2011 Preview – RWC Should be Better
The Rugby World Cup tournament is not as good as it should be. Existing 20
team structure means not enough games between top sides and too many
meaningless and non competitive games between top sides and developing
nations. In this article Rob Mumford looks at why RWC should be better and
how a Super Pools structure could make it so.
Like millions of rugby fans around the world I’m looking forward very much to the
upcoming World Cup. Of course I’m hoping that my beloved All Blacks can break their
24 year duck but I’m also excited about the prospect of a banquet of thrilling and highly
competitive rugby as world rugby’s four year cycle reaches its climax. I’m hoping too
that this time round the All Blacks get at least one tough pool match as in 2007 the only
potentially competitive match was ruined by Scotland fielding a B team and going down
40-0.
While I’m confident that the All Blacks have a great chance of lifting the cup the
chances of seeing a feast of compelling and competitive rugby are not quite so good
and France coach Marc Lievremont has already hinted he could put out a ‘B’ team
against the All Blacks in their Pool A clash. Even Japan coach John Kirwin admits that
the Cherry Blossoms’ match against the All Blacks is not the team’s priority, and then
there is the small matter of 170,000 unsold tickets just 4 days out from kickoff. It seems
something is not quite right in the RWC kitchen!
Sadly it seems that like in previous cups RWC 2011 will just not be as good as it should
be. This wonderful moment and opportunity in the sporting world’s spotlight will be
good but will leave a somewhat bitter taste in their mouths of many as a result of too
few games between the top sides and too many meaningless and non competitive
games between top tier teams and developing nations. Worse still is that many
developing nations will have only 3 days rest between games while top sides will get all
the rest they need! This hardly seems like the recipe for a highly competitive and
sporting Rugby World Cup. Rugby could and should do better.
Not all rugby stakeholders share this view however. The IRB’s press release called the
2007 tournament “The most successful in the tournament’s 20-year history. Attracting
record attendances, broadcast coverage and generating a festival atmosphere, the
tournament also proved to be incredibly competitive”. I have no doubt that revenue and
attendances were higher than in previous cups, I don’t believe though that they were
maximised, but to say that the tournament was “incredibly competitive” is at best a
great exaggeration, at worst a downright lie! Let’s look at the facts.
Not Enough Competitive Matches
The IRB in its explanation of the world rankings calculation states “It is significant
whether sides win relatively comfortably - with something to spare” A relatively
comfortable win according to the IRB is one with a margin of victory of 16 points or
more. By extension we can consider a match with a margin of up to 15 points to be a
competitive game and one with a margin of 16 or over would be considered non
competitive. Of course there will be exceptions to this general rule (Fiji Vs SA 2007).
During the pool phase of the 2007 tournament 40 matches were played. Of these 40
matches only 15, or 38%, resulted in full time margins of up to 15 points. From a
2. RWC 2011 Preview robmumford@challengeeverything.com.ar Page 2 of 5
statistical point of view it’s hard to classify a return of 38% competitive matches as
being “incredibly competitive” Watching fans know very well what they saw!
RWC - Number of Competitive Pool Games (Margin of 15 points or under)
1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Total
Pool Matches 24 24 24 30 40 40 182
Competitive Games 8 11 8 8 10 15 60
Competitive % 33% 46% 33% 27% 25% 38% 33%
Looking slightly deeper we find that only 36 (20%) of the 182 pool matches played to
date have resulted in a “bonus point” winning margin of 7 points or less. (Compared
with 43% in Super Rugby 2011, and 37% in NPC 2010)
RWC - Number of Bonus Point Pool Games (Margin of 7 points or under)
1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Total
Pool Matches 24 24 24 30 40 40 182
Bonus Point Games 5 5 6 4 6 10 36
Competitive % 21% 21% 25% 13% 15% 25% 20%
If anyone is still unconvinced about RWC’s uncompetitive nature they should know that
the average points difference in pool matches is a whopping 30 points! Twice that of
what the IRB considers to be a competitive game!
RWC - Average winning margin for Pool games
1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Total
Pool Matches 24 24 24 30 40 40 182
Average winning margin 27 20 27 33 36 31 30
It’s clear that the RWC cup in its current structure is far from highly competitive and
that something must be done to make it a better tournament for all stakeholders.
World Rugby’s Great Divide - Top 12 Vs Next Tier
The composition of the World’s Top 12 sides as per the IRB rankings has hardly
changed since the rankings started in 2003. These Top 12 are Argentina, Australia,
England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Samoa, Scotland, and
Wales. Samoa, Fiji, and Italy have sometimes slipped to 13th in the rankings, while Next
Tier nations Japan and Tonga have on occasion scrapped their way into 12th, but
basically the Top 12 is as consolidated as it could be. It is very rare for a team outside
the Top 12 to beat one of the “established order” and only once has a Next Tier team
made it to the quarter finals of a RWC (Canada in 1991). Despite this clear divide and
the high improbability of an “upset” the current RWC format sees a majority of games
played between Top 12 and Next Tier teams. The results are predictable.
During RWC 2007 24 of 40 pool games were played between Top 12 sides and Next
Tier sides. Only one, that between 15th ranked Tonga and 11th ranked Samoa, resulted
in a next tier win. Of 100 RWC pool games from 1987 to 2007 just four times has a Next
Tier team upset a team in the Top 12! How long will fans continue to turn up and turn
on for these mismatches? In RWC 2011 22 of 40 scheduled pool matches will be played
between Top 12 sides and Next Tier nations and 170,000 tickets remain unsold!
3. RWC 2011 Preview robmumford@challengeeverything.com.ar Page 3 of 5
RWC - Top 12 Vs Next Tier games
1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 Total
Number of games 12 11 11 18 24 24 100
Top 12 wins 12 9 11 17 24 23 96
Next Tier wins 0 2 0 1 0 1 4
Next Tier Wins % 0% 18% 0% 6% 0% 4% 4%
A popular result tipping competition in New Zealand had to be completely revamped
from its Super 12 format for the RWC 2007. It was no use asking fans to just predict
winners of games as any mildly interested observer knew who would win most of them!
Little Rest for Developing Nations
In the IRB’s strategic plan of 2004 it states one of the goals of the RWC tournament as
being to “Deliver a highly competitive and sporting World Cup”. We have seen already
that the 2007 cup, as well as its predecessors, was a long way from being “highly
competitive” Lets now look at just how sporting a tournament 2007 was.
Rugby is a contact sport and its demands physically are immense, after 80 minutes
players are exhausted mentally and physically. In order to perform at peak level it is
essential that players get a chance to fully recover between games. At RWC due to
scheduling requirements and the need to complete pool games over a fixed period of
time this will always be difficult.
At RWC 2007 the schedule was organized to ensure that the games biggest eight teams
(Home nations, France, and Tri Nations countries) would not be required to play again
without at least four full rest days between games. The remaining 12 teams all had to
play after only three days rest. In 2011 not only do developing nations have to backup
after just 3 or 4 days rest they also have to get through their 4 pool games in a
significantly shorter time span than favoured top nations. So the countries generally
considered to be better prepared physically are given a further leg up over the
developing nations. How sporting is that?
RWC 2011 - Minimum Rest Days between Pool matches
(3 or 4 days rest is pretty tough at this level!)
Canada
Romania
Scotland
Georgia
USA
Namibia
Samoa
Japan
Tonga
Russia
Italy
SouthAfrica
France
England
Australia
Ireland
Wales
NewZealand
Argentina
Fiji
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Days
4. RWC 2011 Preview robmumford@challengeeverything.com.ar Page 4 of 5
RWC 2011 - Days between First and Last Pool match by team
(More days = better recovery and training)
USA
Namibia
Samoa
Russia
Japan
Canada
Romania
Georgia
SouthAfrica
Australia
Scotland
Italy
France
England
Ireland
Wales
Tonga
Argentina
Fiji
NewZealand
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Days
Spare a thought for:
Namibia – In 11 RWC games played and lost to date Namibia has an average losing margin of
55 points. In 2011 they play 4 Top 12 teams in just 16 days! Fat chance they have!
USA - Play 4 games in only 16 days and 2 games after only 3 days rest.
Georgia - 4 games in 18 days, 2 games after only 3 days rest.
Samoa – Giant killers a month ago they will soon find out how tough they are when they play 4
games in 16 days in 2011’s toughest pool!
Take a breather guys:
New Zealand - 23 days to play 4 pool games, minimum of 6 days rest between games
Argentina, Fiji – 22 days for 4 pool games, minimum of 6 days between games
Tonga, Wales, Ireland, England, France – 5 days minimum rest and 4 games in 21 days.
If developing nations thought getting to the Cup was tough they will be thinking again
after seeing the schedule! While it’s certainly good to see teams like Fiji, Tonga, and
Argentina getting a better deal this time round its sad to see qualifiers whose losing
performances were so highly praised in 2007 continuing to get such a raw deal.
Super Pools the Way Forward
It sounds like a massive project to overhaul the World Cup but actually it may not be all
that difficult. I feel that a small change to the World Cup format and the creation of
Super Pools would provide a huge boost to the tournament.
The Super Pools structure would be achieved by splitting the 20 qualifiers into top 10
and next 10 teams based on a simplified qualifying system and geographical split from
existing IRB tournaments. The top 10 are split into 2 Super Pools of 5 teams to play for
the World Cup, and the next 10 qualifiers are also split into 2 Super Pools and would
play for the RWC Trophy. This would give these exciting Super pools:
World Cup Super Pool 1 New Zealand South Africa France Wales Scotland
World Cup Super Pool 2 Australia Argentina England Ireland Samoa
RWC Trophy Super Pool 3 Italy Tonga Russia Canada Namibia
RWC Trophy Super Pool 4 Georgia Fiji Romania USA Japan
5. RWC 2011 Preview robmumford@challengeeverything.com.ar Page 5 of 5
Each team would play the 4 other teams in its pool with the top 2 in each pool
qualifying for semi finals. (Quarter finals would be eliminated) All teams get 4
meaningful games against similar level opposition and finalists would play 6 games.
There would be 20 pool games played between the top 10 teams and 20 between next
10. World Cup would run for 6 weeks as it does currently and qualifying would get a
boost as established nations want to ensure they make the Top 10.
Super Pool structure would enable a level playing field as World Cup games could be
played on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, while RWC Trophy games would take place
on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Minimum rest period between games would
be increased to 5 days and a more sporting tournament would be the result.
Super Pools would provide:
More matches between Top 12 sides
More competitive matches. (I estimate around 70% Vs 38% in 2007)
Better way to decide World Champion as luck of pool draw is reduced to almost nil.
Meaningful goal and competition for Next Tier teams – not just target practice.
Reduction in points difference
Eliminate uneven and unfair differences in rest periods
I’m convinced that the Super Pool concept would make for a very competitive
tournament that would be great for players, supporters, and administrators of all
participating countries. I’m also certain that this format would stoke the fire of the IRB’s
financial engine and provide increased revenues for world-wide game development.
Now with just days to go until RWC 2011 kicks off I’m very much looking forward to the
action getting underway. I can’t say however that I’m looking forward to seeing the All
Blacks again get through their pool matches without a scratch or seeing Namibia losing
another 4 matches by 55 points each.
Rugby fans around the world know what they saw in 2007 and don’t want any more of
that unappetizing fare. They want meaningful competitive games, they want to see the
top sides in action against each other. The RWC should be the pinnacle of rugby
achievement and organization but right now it’s not nearly as good as it could be.
“In seeing clearly begins real responsibility”, Ben Okri (winner of 1991 Booker prize)
Rob Mumford is a New Zealand Chartered Accountant, specialist in performance measurement
and occasional rugby writer. He has been living in Argentina for the last 10 years and is tired of
having to explain to Argentine taxi drivers that the All Blacks are not the World Champions and in
fact haven’t won the cup for 24 years!