Most recent season 2020 Global Rapid Rugby season | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Formerly known as | World Series Rugby (2018) |
| Instituted | 2018; 7 years ago (2018) |
| Inaugural season | 2018 |
| Ceased | 2020 |
| Chair | Mark Evans |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Country | Australia China Fiji Hong Kong Malaysia Samoa |
| Holders | Western Force (2019) |
| Most titles | Western Force(1 title) |
| Website | www.rapidrugby.com |
Global Rapid Rugby was an internationalrugby union competition that launched a showcase series for six professional teams in 2019, played in locations across theAsia-Pacific region.[1] Rapid Rugby matches are slightly shorter than the traditional 80 minutes and have other variations from standard rugby laws that are intended to increase the speed of the game.[1]
The 2020 Global Rapid Rugby season was cancelled due to thecoronavirus pandemic after only one completed round of competition.[2]
The competition was conceived and is supported by theAustralian billionaireAndrew Forrest.[3] It was devised after theWestern Force rugby team based inPerth, Western Australia was unilaterally dropped from the AustralianSuper Rugby Conference.[4]
FollowingSANZAAR's decision to reduce the number ofSuper Rugby teams for2018, the Australian Rugby Union (nowRugby Australia) announced in August 2017 that the Western Force would be one of the teams cut from the 2018 competition. In the following month, Perth-based businessman Andrew Forrest announced that he would create a new tournament called the Indo-Pacific Rugby Championship which would include the Western Force and five other teams from theIndo-Pacific region.[5]
For the 2018 season, the competition was launched asWorld Series Rugby, played as a series of exhibition matches as the precursor to a wider Asia-Pacific competition planned for 2019.[6] The newly reformedWestern Force played international teams fromHong Kong,Samoa, andTonga along with Super Rugby teams theCrusaders andMelbourne Rebels, JapaneseTop League teamPanasonic Wild Knights, and theFiji Warriors, the second-tier national side. The series began on 4 May 2018.[6][7][8]
The competition was re-branded in November 2018 as Global Rapid Rugby,[9] and theHong Kong Rugby Union was appointed the governing body for the competition ahead of the 2019 season.[10] A season of fourteen matches was played in 2019,[11] featuring theWestern Force playing a Pacific Showcase Series in a round-robin format with teams fromFiji andSamoa, as well as an Asian Showcase Series in a round-robin format with teams based out ofHong Kong andSingapore. One-off matches were also played against aWorld XV coached byRobbie Deans,[12] and theMalaysia Valke.[13] The Singapore-based team, theAsia Pacific Dragons, did not continue in Rapid Rugby after the 2019 season [14] and was replaced by theChina Lions in 2020.[15]
Six teams compete in Rapid Rugby: [16]
| No. | Season | Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2019 |  Western Force |
| 2 | 2020 | Cancelled due toCOVID-19 pandemic |
In 2019, 5 teams played in 2 conferences. With teams playing each team in their own conference twice (home and away) except Western Force played teams in both conferences. The winner of each conference is awarded a home final.
| Year | Asia Showcase Series | Pacific Showcase Series |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Western Force | Western Force |
Law variations for Rapid Rugby included:[18][19][20]
Super Rugby in Australia averages around 30 minutes of ‘ball-in-play’ per match. However, the matches in 2018 World Series Rugby – the precursor to Rapid Rugby – had a comparable 'ball-in-play' time almost 30% greater.[21]
Global Rapid Rugby had intended to attract about 20 of the world's top 100 rugby players withmarquee contracts to be spread across the eight franchises and had nosalary cap.[22]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: details for 2020. You can help byadding to it.(March 2020) |
Rapid Rugby currently has live broadcast television coverage in 18 countries across Asia and Oceania.[23] Livestreaming andvideo on demand services reach additional viewers within some Asia-Pacific countries, while Rapid Rugby's own website provides live streams and highlight packages to other regions worldwide.[23]
For the2019 showcase series, nine of the fourteen matches over the season were televised.[24]Fox Sports in Australia and related companiesStar Sports andFox Sports Asia will provide the live coverage.[23]
National broadcasterSBS showed all nine of these matches live on free-to-air television across Australia via itsSBS Viceland channel and also streamed throughSBS on Demand.[23][24] Other Rapid Rugby media partners includedKayo Sports in Australia,Sky Sport in New Zealand andFiji TV.[23]
The 2019 showcase series did not currently have a principal naming rights partner, but major official partners includeIHG Hotels & Resorts,K&L Gates andHarvey Beef.[25]
Their officialrugby ball supplier was Rhino Sport.[25][26]
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