IRB World Junior Rugby Trophy: A How-To Guide

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 16, 2013

commentComment        



In 2012, the USA Rugby AIG Men's Junior All-Americans won the IRB World Junior Rugby Trophy in a competition designed as a development tool for the world's tier 2 rugby nations. 

As a reward for their first-ever tournament victory—and the first by any North American nation—the Americans were promoted to the IRB's Junior World Championships, where, in a few weeks' time, they will compete against the very best under-20 teams on the planet.

The victory on home soil, in Salt Lake City, Utah, represented what USA Rugby's high performance player development manager Luke Gross called "one of the finest performances by a USA Rugby national team, at any level."



That accomplishment has now earned America the right to send 30 of its brightest rugby prospects to compete against the best on an annual basis. If this year's version of the Junior All-Americans can avoid relegation and continue the positive trend, this type of world-class exposure could have a huge impact on the future of the American men's national team.

But how was this all accomplished? Other developing rugby nations with big dreams of their own would do well to study the American experience.

The IRB World Junior Trophy has been around since 2008, and—other than Uruguay's victory at the inaugural tournament—no team from the Americas has managed to win promotion.

Gross believes that the answer lies in their system of talent identification and team preparation, which is now beginning to harness America's wealth of athletic talent in ever-increasing numbers.

"Our Coach last year was Scott Lawrence from Life University, who did an outstanding job. We started with two talent identification camps; one in the East of the country and one in the West. Those camps allowed us to take a really good look at over 100 players, all of whom had been previously scouted by our talent identification tea...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!