December 27, 2024 • 15 mins
A promise to protect rugby's match officials from online abuse.
It comes after a World Rugby report found referees were the fourth most targeted group at last year's Rugby World Cup.
Prominent official Wayne Barnes picked up a third of vitriol aimed at individuals by the end of the 2023 event.
World Rugby boss Alan Gilpin says protecting match officials from online abuse is crucial towards keeping and maintaining top talent.
"We need to reassure them that the sport's taking their own protection seriously, so that's absolutely important."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
World Rugby is taking legal action over the online abuse
of players and match officials at last year's Rugby World Cup.
During the tournament, more than nine hundred social media accounts,
including those belonging to all match officials, were monitored by
digital experts Signify Group. They flagged more than sixteen hundred
abusive accounts, resulting in ninety percent of the most serious
(00:36):
content being removed from online Signified Group also passed more
than two hundred alleged incidents across seven countries to law
enforcement and government agencies for their investigation, and those investigations
have progressed to the prosecution of one person in Australia
who will appear in court this week to face a
(00:58):
charge of online abuse. There are also multiple pending prosecutions
here in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, France and the U.
And this comes as World Rugby released the groundbreaking film Whistleblowers,
which you can watch on Rugby Past TV stream at Live.
It's an access all areas documentary following the match officials
(01:19):
journey to and through the rugby World Cup, which also
highlights the scale of online abuse that they faced. World
Rugby Chief Executive is Allen Gilpin, who joins us now
on Weekend Sport. Ellen, thanks for the time you've taken
to join us. Can you please outline first of all
for us, what Signify group we're engaged to do for
(01:39):
World Rugby during the Rugby World Cup.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Absolutely, and pleasure to be speaking, Jason. We contracted Signify.
You know, we obviously coming into the tournament, knew that
there'd be a number of online episodes and issues that
we'd need to address, you know, and particularly that is
obviously addressing online abuse towards our match officials, particular referees.
You know, we've all seen it. Online trolling in sport
(02:05):
is sadly a reflection of a much deeper societal trend.
We need to make sure that we were doing all
we could to protect those match officials, you know, in
the most high profile event in rugby. Signifier important to
us because they actually go beyond modifying content, which a
number of other partners in that space do, where they
might just have content removed. They go they go deeper
(02:27):
than that. They're very actional or into them what they've
allowed us or enabled us to do, is get content
removed so that that content is taken and taken down
from the platforms fully. And in some cases where that content,
you know, ends up ultimately being crossing the line into
criminal activity, then prosecutions potentially follow, and there's some ongoing
(02:47):
activity in that regard.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Just on that, then, Ellen, is the strength of the
action you're taking here, you know, referring the worst stuff
to law enforcement authorities. Has it aimed more at being
a deterrent to online abusers or is it to provide
reassurance for your own match officials.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Yeah, look, I think it's both, Jason, to be honest,
I mean, you know, it's obviously really important that we
make these match officials feel and believe and it is
the case that we that we are protecting them.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
So that reassurance piece is really is really important.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
If we're going to keep attracting brilliant match officials to
the sport, and we need brilliant match officials for a
growing sport, then we need to be reassuring them that
sport's taking their own protection seriously.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
So that's absolutely important.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
But as you say, there's a de terror part of
this we've got to really make people understand that hiding
behind an anonymous handle or a social media platform, you know,
being some kind of keyboard warrior in the heat of
the moment is not acceptable, and the abuse that's being
that's being kind of proliferated, is non acceptable. So if
we can get obviously some prosecutions behind this, I think
(03:51):
that sends an incredibly strong message to people that we will,
you know, we take this seriously and we will continue to.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Push forward on that.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
And you know, as we sit here now, there are
kind of four active investigations in this space across Australia,
New Zealand, France, South Africa, and there are thirty plus
you know, further investigations being being pursued, So you know,
we want to take it seriously, want to create that
deterrent and make people understand that the worst types of
behavior have no place in our game.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
How bad here's the online hate directed at match officials
become Well.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Look and we've seen it and we've released as you know,
this film Whistleblow is in the Last Week, which is
a brilliant documentary film that follows a group of match
officials through the pinnacle of their careers, because the Rugby
World Cups not just a pinnacle for a coach or
a player, it's a pinnacle for a match official. You know,
many of many of whom have been match officials from
from a very young age and come right through the
community game, so you know, they're in their pinnacle moment.
(04:48):
We've had this, say brilliant documentary film following them, and
one theme of that film is the abuse that match
officials are receiving as part of what they do. And
you know, in that film, you know, it confirms that
match officials are receiving death threats, threats to their families,
you know, abuse towards their their children. So you know,
it's really really bad in some cases. And again that's
(05:13):
a reflection of a deeper societal issue. We know that,
but we want to make sure that we are deterring
that activity in rugby for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Something else that came out of your report and your
findings was evidence of a clear correlation between comments from
players and coaches after a game triggering abuse of those
metch officials from the wider section of the rugby community.
We had the case of Antoine du Pont, for example,
making comments about new Zealand referee Bin O'Keeffe after the
semi final rather quarter final loss at the Rugby World
(05:43):
Cup last year. Are the conversations that need to be
had with players and coaches as well to ensure that
they're not fanning the flames of this.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
Absolutely, I think there's a you know, again, we've highlighted
the severity of the issues that are occurring, and I
think now there's a really important ongoing education piece with
coaches and players to have them, exactly as you suggest,
understand that when they comment on referee performance, that gives
permission to this type of abuse.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
And you know, therefore, you know.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
We want to make sure that those coaches and players
understand that that's not appropriate and that the implications of
those actions. So absolutely there's a piece of work to
do there.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
On the flip side of that, though, Ell, And there
is a perception, I guess there any comments about met
officials made by players and coaches afterwards as a bad thing.
But do you encourage and welcome constructive critiquing of your
mech officials by players and coaches.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Absolutely, and in no way is any of this work
about suppression of appropriate dialogue between coaches players you know,
match officials and you know, all of those discussions with
our sport, and we have some protocols around our coaches
in particular, can can get feedback from match officials on
why certain decisions were made and that allows obviously coaches
(07:01):
to understand and coach accordingly. So you know, it's not
about trying to suppress those conversations. It's about trying to
make sure those conversations happen in an appropriate way, you know,
ideally away from the heat of the moment of immediate
reaction and making sure that again we address the kind
of worst types of these behaviors in terms of online
(07:22):
abuse in particular. So yeah, we want, we want coaches
and players to be involved in a constructive dialogue with
our referees. That's good for everybody, but we want that
to happen in a way that that's more appropriate than
maybe it's happened in the past.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
What about the players, ellen in terms of the abuse
they receive. What's your perception of the abuse directed at
players compared to that received by mitch officials.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Look again, you know, and sadly we've seen it again
through Rugby World Cup twenty twenty three in fronts, you know,
players receiving you know again, incredible online abuse around you,
any range of issues, performance related and non performance related.
And again whilst we you know, we fully understand that
again is part of a broader societal trend of kind
(08:08):
of online trolling and hatred, we don't want that in rugby.
So you know, again, the action that we took with
Signify throughout the tournament wasn't just about removing and taking
down and following up on the worst of that abuse
as it was directed to match officials, but that covered
all the players in the tournament as well, making sure
again that players families aren't being subjected to the type
(08:30):
of abuse and we're seeing it, aren't. We were seeing
it not just in rugby, but in other sports, the
kind of mental health issues that's greater for players, which
is which is totally understandable. So I think we as
a community in the sport have a responsibility to try
and address that.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Just picking up on that point regarding other sports anecdotally,
do you think the situation is better or worse in
rugby than other sports? And I guess I'll use football
as a comparison. We're this sort of thing just just
seems to be absolutely rife. Do you think rugby is
better or worse than other sports?
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Yeah, I think exactly that is clearly, you know, a
factor in other sports. We talked to colleagues, you know,
working in other sports. It's certainly aimed at match officials
in other sports. And you mentioned football there, and we
absolutely see that, and I think other sports are following
the example of working with partners like Signify to try
and address that. You know, we've taken that action around
(09:24):
the pinnacle of our sport. The Rugby World Cup Men's
and Women's obviously are the big moments where the sport's
on its biggest global stage with the most people engaged
with a tournament. Other sports will see that in different ways,
whether it's on a more annualized basis or again, big moments,
and we want to make sure now having I guess
slightly uncovered some of this but also found some avenues
(09:47):
to start to deal with it and to create that
deterrent and that reassurance that we talked about, we've got
to continue to do that. That just can't start, start
and stop now around world clubs. We've got to protect
these match officials are ongoing basis.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
We had been o'keith on the show yesterday talking about
his experiences in this area, and it kind of leads
or wider discussion. I get that. I guess that match
officials really are just bound by the rules of the game.
They are handed the rules of the game and have
to officiate accordingly, and I guess there's sometimes frustration around
the way they do that. But it's not as though
(10:20):
they can do a hic of a lot because the
rules are, as I say, handed to them. What do
you make of the current rules of the game of
rugby as they pertain to making it an entertaining spectacle
for fans.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
It's difficult, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I mean that rugby is a complex sport with a
complex set of laws, and you know, some of those
laws are easy for a match official to apply and interpret,
and others you know very much, you know the other
end of that spectrum, and there's complexity, you know, in
what is an incredibly impact for fast moving, fast paced sports,
So there's always a degree of interpretation and shades of gray,
(10:58):
if we can describe it as that. And of course,
the biggest spotlight in the biggest moments like world Cups,
So we're always in trusted in evolving the way that
rugby is played and officiated because we want a sport
that is brilliant to play, that is entertaining to watch,
that is as safe as it can possibly be, understanding
(11:18):
that it's a physical game by its very inherent nature.
So that's a continual process we have, as you can imagine,
a period of review after each Men's and Women's Rugby
World Cup to understand a bit more about that will
bring coaches, match officials, player groups, fan groups together in
the next month a month or so and start to
(11:40):
review that inttle bit more detail and what can we
evolve that again makes the game a better spectacle and
a safer game to play.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
I guess you do have a lot of stakeholders as
you've outlined their players, coaches, met officials, but fans. I
mean you're in a bettle for eyeballs at you well,
and you know there are a lot of other options
for people, both in the sporting landscape and outside of
it as well. Is it your desire to make the
game as entertaining as possible for those who pay them
money to watch it?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Absolutely? I think you're absolutely right.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
We're we're in an attention economy now and that landscape
is changing all the time. You know, consumer behaviors around
sport are changing all the time. Sport provides something very unique.
We know that it's that sports only live wants you.
You can't time shift sport or record sport in the
way that you can other forms of entertainment. That's fantastic
and we're seeing people engage with that across all forms
(12:32):
of sport and in our case, across all forms.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Of rugby brilliantly.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
But we've got to entertain those people if we want
them coming back, if we want them bringing their friends
and word of mouth and the job that that does
for growing a sport. So we've got to make sure
the sport's entertaining, and that means increasingly the emphasis is
looking at the sport through the eyes of the fan.
So how again, how can we make the sport more
entertaining to watch so it's more relevant to more people
(12:59):
more of the time. That's that's the kind of ongoing challenge.
At the same time, we've got to make sure that
the sport is safe as it can be, So how
do we evolve the laws and again the interpretation of
the laws and the way the game is officiated at
every level, whether that's a community game, people need to
be able to love playing that game.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
They're going to continue to come back.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Right through to you know, to Rugby World Cups, where
you know, we drive massive global audiences and we need
to entertain those people so that they're watching rugby in
between those big pinnacle events.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
It's a tricky balance to try and strike, isn't it.
If we just finished Ellen By looking forward, I guess
the style of a year is an opportunity to look
at what the year might hold. What are the big
challenges you're facing as twenty twenty four gets underway.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
Yeah, Look, we've got a sport that in many parts
of the world, and in many places and in many
ways is thriving and growing, and that's fantastic. Exactly as
we've said, We've got to make sure that the sport
is relevant and accessible for people, those who want to
play and those who want to watch. There's an entertainment
part of that. There's a making sure that we're doing
all of the hard work we need to be doing
around the world to coach, the coaches, get rugby in
(14:05):
place for the people who want to play it.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
So those challenges are year to year.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
I think when we look ahead at what we've got
in store in twenty twenty four, We've got some new
competitions coming up. We've got Olympic Games for sevens, which
is a huge moment for sevens. We know that sevens
again in many parts of the world is driving the
growth of rugby. Sevens on the Olympic stage will be
huge opportunity, as it always is for the sport. Brilliant
(14:31):
Olympics in Paris. We obviously know that venue quite well
from the event we had their last year, so you know,
we're really looking forward to that. We're looking forward to
the continuation of WXV, the women's competition that we started
last year that's really building women's fifteens. We're looking forward
to introducing later this year a revamped specific nations cut
that's giving a real opportunity to a number of a
(14:52):
number of nations. So yeah, a lot, as always a
lot going on, but some really exciting times for the sport,
and you know, rugby is a growing sport and we
want to make sure it continues to thrive.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yeah, busy old time. I get the feeling it always
has a busy time for you.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Llen.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Thanks for taking some of your time for a chat
to us this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Thanks Jason, good to speak.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Good to speak to you too, Allen. That is chief
executive of World Rugby Allan Gilpin with us on Weekend Sport.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk zed B weekends from midday or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from newstalk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
World Rugby is taking legal action over the online abuse
of players and match officials at last year's Rugby World Cup.
During the tournament, more than nine hundred social media accounts,
including those belonging to all match officials, were monitored by
digital experts Signify Group. They flagged more than sixteen hundred
abusive accounts, resulting in ninety percent of the most serious
(00:36):
content being removed from online Signified Group also passed more
than two hundred alleged incidents across seven countries to law
enforcement and government agencies for their investigation, and those investigations
have progressed to the prosecution of one person in Australia
who will appear in court this week to face a
(00:58):
charge of online abuse. There are also multiple pending prosecutions
here in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, France and the U.
And this comes as World Rugby released the groundbreaking film Whistleblowers,
which you can watch on Rugby Past TV stream at Live.
It's an access all areas documentary following the match officials
(01:19):
journey to and through the rugby World Cup, which also
highlights the scale of online abuse that they faced. World
Rugby Chief Executive is Allen Gilpin, who joins us now
on Weekend Sport. Ellen, thanks for the time you've taken
to join us. Can you please outline first of all
for us, what Signify group we're engaged to do for
(01:39):
World Rugby during the Rugby World Cup.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
Absolutely, and pleasure to be speaking, Jason. We contracted Signify.
You know, we obviously coming into the tournament, knew that
there'd be a number of online episodes and issues that
we'd need to address, you know, and particularly that is
obviously addressing online abuse towards our match officials, particular referees.
You know, we've all seen it. Online trolling in sport
(02:05):
is sadly a reflection of a much deeper societal trend.
We need to make sure that we were doing all
we could to protect those match officials, you know, in
the most high profile event in rugby. Signifier important to
us because they actually go beyond modifying content, which a
number of other partners in that space do, where they
might just have content removed. They go they go deeper
(02:27):
than that. They're very actional or into them what they've
allowed us or enabled us to do, is get content
removed so that that content is taken and taken down
from the platforms fully. And in some cases where that content,
you know, ends up ultimately being crossing the line into
criminal activity, then prosecutions potentially follow, and there's some ongoing
(02:47):
activity in that regard.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Just on that, then, Ellen, is the strength of the
action you're taking here, you know, referring the worst stuff
to law enforcement authorities. Has it aimed more at being
a deterrent to online abusers or is it to provide
reassurance for your own match officials.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
Yeah, look, I think it's both, Jason, to be honest,
I mean, you know, it's obviously really important that we
make these match officials feel and believe and it is
the case that we that we are protecting them.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
So that reassurance piece is really is really important.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
If we're going to keep attracting brilliant match officials to
the sport, and we need brilliant match officials for a
growing sport, then we need to be reassuring them that
sport's taking their own protection seriously.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
So that's absolutely important.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
But as you say, there's a de terror part of
this we've got to really make people understand that hiding
behind an anonymous handle or a social media platform, you know,
being some kind of keyboard warrior in the heat of
the moment is not acceptable, and the abuse that's being
that's being kind of proliferated, is non acceptable. So if
we can get obviously some prosecutions behind this, I think
(03:51):
that sends an incredibly strong message to people that we will,
you know, we take this seriously and we will continue to.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
Push forward on that.
Speaker 4 (03:58):
And you know, as we sit here now, there are
kind of four active investigations in this space across Australia,
New Zealand, France, South Africa, and there are thirty plus
you know, further investigations being being pursued, So you know,
we want to take it seriously, want to create that
deterrent and make people understand that the worst types of
behavior have no place in our game.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
How bad here's the online hate directed at match officials
become Well.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Look and we've seen it and we've released as you know,
this film Whistleblow is in the Last Week, which is
a brilliant documentary film that follows a group of match
officials through the pinnacle of their careers, because the Rugby
World Cups not just a pinnacle for a coach or
a player, it's a pinnacle for a match official. You know,
many of many of whom have been match officials from
from a very young age and come right through the
community game, so you know, they're in their pinnacle moment.
(04:48):
We've had this, say brilliant documentary film following them, and
one theme of that film is the abuse that match
officials are receiving as part of what they do. And
you know, in that film, you know, it confirms that
match officials are receiving death threats, threats to their families,
you know, abuse towards their their children. So you know,
it's really really bad in some cases. And again that's
(05:13):
a reflection of a deeper societal issue. We know that,
but we want to make sure that we are deterring
that activity in rugby for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Something else that came out of your report and your
findings was evidence of a clear correlation between comments from
players and coaches after a game triggering abuse of those
metch officials from the wider section of the rugby community.
We had the case of Antoine du Pont, for example,
making comments about new Zealand referee Bin O'Keeffe after the
semi final rather quarter final loss at the Rugby World
(05:43):
Cup last year. Are the conversations that need to be
had with players and coaches as well to ensure that
they're not fanning the flames of this.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
Absolutely, I think there's a you know, again, we've highlighted
the severity of the issues that are occurring, and I
think now there's a really important ongoing education piece with
coaches and players to have them, exactly as you suggest,
understand that when they comment on referee performance, that gives
permission to this type of abuse.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
And you know, therefore, you know.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
We want to make sure that those coaches and players
understand that that's not appropriate and that the implications of
those actions. So absolutely there's a piece of work to
do there.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
On the flip side of that, though, Ell, And there
is a perception, I guess there any comments about met
officials made by players and coaches afterwards as a bad thing.
But do you encourage and welcome constructive critiquing of your
mech officials by players and coaches.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Absolutely, and in no way is any of this work
about suppression of appropriate dialogue between coaches players you know,
match officials and you know, all of those discussions with
our sport, and we have some protocols around our coaches
in particular, can can get feedback from match officials on
why certain decisions were made and that allows obviously coaches
(07:01):
to understand and coach accordingly. So you know, it's not
about trying to suppress those conversations. It's about trying to
make sure those conversations happen in an appropriate way, you know,
ideally away from the heat of the moment of immediate
reaction and making sure that again we address the kind
of worst types of these behaviors in terms of online
(07:22):
abuse in particular. So yeah, we want, we want coaches
and players to be involved in a constructive dialogue with
our referees. That's good for everybody, but we want that
to happen in a way that that's more appropriate than
maybe it's happened in the past.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
What about the players, ellen in terms of the abuse
they receive. What's your perception of the abuse directed at
players compared to that received by mitch officials.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Look again, you know, and sadly we've seen it again
through Rugby World Cup twenty twenty three in fronts, you know,
players receiving you know again, incredible online abuse around you,
any range of issues, performance related and non performance related.
And again whilst we you know, we fully understand that
again is part of a broader societal trend of kind
(08:08):
of online trolling and hatred, we don't want that in rugby.
So you know, again, the action that we took with
Signify throughout the tournament wasn't just about removing and taking
down and following up on the worst of that abuse
as it was directed to match officials, but that covered
all the players in the tournament as well, making sure
again that players families aren't being subjected to the type
(08:30):
of abuse and we're seeing it, aren't. We were seeing
it not just in rugby, but in other sports, the
kind of mental health issues that's greater for players, which
is which is totally understandable. So I think we as
a community in the sport have a responsibility to try
and address that.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Just picking up on that point regarding other sports anecdotally,
do you think the situation is better or worse in
rugby than other sports? And I guess I'll use football
as a comparison. We're this sort of thing just just
seems to be absolutely rife. Do you think rugby is
better or worse than other sports?
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Yeah, I think exactly that is clearly, you know, a
factor in other sports. We talked to colleagues, you know,
working in other sports. It's certainly aimed at match officials
in other sports. And you mentioned football there, and we
absolutely see that, and I think other sports are following
the example of working with partners like Signify to try
and address that. You know, we've taken that action around
(09:24):
the pinnacle of our sport. The Rugby World Cup Men's
and Women's obviously are the big moments where the sport's
on its biggest global stage with the most people engaged
with a tournament. Other sports will see that in different ways,
whether it's on a more annualized basis or again, big moments,
and we want to make sure now having I guess
slightly uncovered some of this but also found some avenues
(09:47):
to start to deal with it and to create that
deterrent and that reassurance that we talked about, we've got
to continue to do that. That just can't start, start
and stop now around world clubs. We've got to protect
these match officials are ongoing basis.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
We had been o'keith on the show yesterday talking about
his experiences in this area, and it kind of leads
or wider discussion. I get that. I guess that match
officials really are just bound by the rules of the game.
They are handed the rules of the game and have
to officiate accordingly, and I guess there's sometimes frustration around
the way they do that. But it's not as though
(10:20):
they can do a hic of a lot because the
rules are, as I say, handed to them. What do
you make of the current rules of the game of
rugby as they pertain to making it an entertaining spectacle
for fans.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
It's difficult, isn't it.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I mean that rugby is a complex sport with a
complex set of laws, and you know, some of those
laws are easy for a match official to apply and interpret,
and others you know very much, you know the other
end of that spectrum, and there's complexity, you know, in
what is an incredibly impact for fast moving, fast paced sports,
So there's always a degree of interpretation and shades of gray,
(10:58):
if we can describe it as that. And of course,
the biggest spotlight in the biggest moments like world Cups,
So we're always in trusted in evolving the way that
rugby is played and officiated because we want a sport
that is brilliant to play, that is entertaining to watch,
that is as safe as it can possibly be, understanding
(11:18):
that it's a physical game by its very inherent nature.
So that's a continual process we have, as you can imagine,
a period of review after each Men's and Women's Rugby
World Cup to understand a bit more about that will
bring coaches, match officials, player groups, fan groups together in
the next month a month or so and start to
(11:40):
review that inttle bit more detail and what can we
evolve that again makes the game a better spectacle and
a safer game to play.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
I guess you do have a lot of stakeholders as
you've outlined their players, coaches, met officials, but fans. I
mean you're in a bettle for eyeballs at you well,
and you know there are a lot of other options
for people, both in the sporting landscape and outside of
it as well. Is it your desire to make the
game as entertaining as possible for those who pay them
money to watch it?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
Absolutely? I think you're absolutely right.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
We're we're in an attention economy now and that landscape
is changing all the time. You know, consumer behaviors around
sport are changing all the time. Sport provides something very unique.
We know that it's that sports only live wants you.
You can't time shift sport or record sport in the
way that you can other forms of entertainment. That's fantastic
and we're seeing people engage with that across all forms
(12:32):
of sport and in our case, across all forms.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
Of rugby brilliantly.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
But we've got to entertain those people if we want
them coming back, if we want them bringing their friends
and word of mouth and the job that that does
for growing a sport. So we've got to make sure
the sport's entertaining, and that means increasingly the emphasis is
looking at the sport through the eyes of the fan.
So how again, how can we make the sport more
entertaining to watch so it's more relevant to more people
(12:59):
more of the time. That's that's the kind of ongoing challenge.
At the same time, we've got to make sure that
the sport is safe as it can be, So how
do we evolve the laws and again the interpretation of
the laws and the way the game is officiated at
every level, whether that's a community game, people need to
be able to love playing that game.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
They're going to continue to come back.
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Right through to you know, to Rugby World Cups, where
you know, we drive massive global audiences and we need
to entertain those people so that they're watching rugby in
between those big pinnacle events.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
It's a tricky balance to try and strike, isn't it.
If we just finished Ellen By looking forward, I guess
the style of a year is an opportunity to look
at what the year might hold. What are the big
challenges you're facing as twenty twenty four gets underway.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
Yeah, Look, we've got a sport that in many parts
of the world, and in many places and in many
ways is thriving and growing, and that's fantastic. Exactly as
we've said, We've got to make sure that the sport
is relevant and accessible for people, those who want to
play and those who want to watch. There's an entertainment
part of that. There's a making sure that we're doing
all of the hard work we need to be doing
around the world to coach, the coaches, get rugby in
(14:05):
place for the people who want to play it.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
So those challenges are year to year.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
I think when we look ahead at what we've got
in store in twenty twenty four, We've got some new
competitions coming up. We've got Olympic Games for sevens, which
is a huge moment for sevens. We know that sevens
again in many parts of the world is driving the
growth of rugby. Sevens on the Olympic stage will be
huge opportunity, as it always is for the sport. Brilliant
(14:31):
Olympics in Paris. We obviously know that venue quite well
from the event we had their last year, so you know,
we're really looking forward to that. We're looking forward to
the continuation of WXV, the women's competition that we started
last year that's really building women's fifteens. We're looking forward
to introducing later this year a revamped specific nations cut
that's giving a real opportunity to a number of a
(14:52):
number of nations. So yeah, a lot, as always a
lot going on, but some really exciting times for the sport,
and you know, rugby is a growing sport and we
want to make sure it continues to thrive.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Yeah, busy old time. I get the feeling it always
has a busy time for you.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
Llen.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Thanks for taking some of your time for a chat
to us this afternoon.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Thanks Jason, good to speak.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Good to speak to you too, Allen. That is chief
executive of World Rugby Allan Gilpin with us on Weekend Sport.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live
to News Talk zed B weekends from midday or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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