Season One Global Rapid Rugby and participating teams

It would be interesting to learn a bit more about Global Rapid Rugby and the 6 teams participating this season with 2 days to the kickoff season one and a million dollars on the line. 

Global Rapid Rugby was set up by Billionaire magnet Andrew Forrest after Western Force team from Perth, Australia was axed from Super Rugby in 2017. 

Western Force started the competition with a few exhibition matches in 2018 while last year the Rapid Rugby Showcase Series went on the way for the Asia and Pacific region. 

Rapid Rugby is extending the exposure of rugby to the Asia region, something World Rugby is also trying to push forward. 

This year Rapid Rugby will officially launch the competition which kicks off in just 2 days to go with 6 participating team from the Asia Pacific region.  

Western Force comprises of home grown talent from Perth Western Australia, the Force used to play in Super Rugby and National Rugby Championship in Australia.  

The Force has been a catalyst for the development of the Global Rapid Rugby tournament. They launch their campaign against the Malaysian Valke in Perth on March 14. 

South China Tigers are based in Hong Kong with their squad drawn from the Hong Kong ERP programme, National 15s & 7s teams, domestic league and the Greater Bay Area. 

The Tigers have a tough start with five games on the road, starting against Manuma Samoa in Perth on March 14. They will finish the campaign with five home matches during April and May. 

The Malaysia Valke are based in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and feature top local talent from Malaysia and majority are players from South Africa playing in the Currie Cup Competition on of the top competition in South Africa. 

Manuma Samoa is based in Apia at the Samoa Rugby Union headquarters. Its squad predominantly includes players based in Samoa and Samoan-eligible players based in Australia and New Zealand. The team is separate from the team that participated as Kagifa Samoa in the Pacific Showcase in 2019. 

The China Lions is a joint venture between the China Rugby Football Association and the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union in New Zealand and they will open round one against our Fijian Latui this Saturday at the ANZ Stadium. 

Our Fijian Latui comprises of local talents drawn from Provincial competition, a mixture of experience and young players with a few from overseas. Latui participated in four Pacific Showcase matches in 2019, which were a precursor to them joining Global Rapid Rugby in 2020.  

Latui open their campaign against the China Lions in Suva this Saturday at the ANZ Stadium at 6.15pm