Outside Centre: Rugby's new territories Jonathan Corbett

Ahead of RWC 2023, we take a closer look at the teams you won’t know so much about.
Our second episode focuses on rugby in Africa, which will be represented by defending champions and direct qualifiers, South Africa, as well as their neighbours Namibia, who won the 8-team qualification tournament last year.
Our guests today are the captain of the Ugandan national team, Magomu Ivan, and Harry Jones, who talks us through Namibian rugby, as well as what is holding the rest of the continent back when it comes to qualifying for rugby world cups.
Special shout-outs from our chat with Magomu go to Namilyango College, St Marys College Kisubi (aka SMACK) and Pirates Rugby club, as well as his fierce opponents, Heathens and KOBs Rugby Club.
NOTE: Outside Centre Enterprises will be in France for part of the tournament, so if you are looking to create or partner up for audio content around the event, get in touch via one of the below methods.
Episode highlights:
[2:00] Magomu Ivan, Captain – Uganda mens’ XVs national team
[20:00] Harry Jones, contributor – The Roar
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Follow Magomu on Twitter/X: @ivan_magomu
Follow Harry on Twitter/X: @haribaldijones

We’re back!
Ahead of RWC 2023, we take a closer look at the teams you won’t know so much about.
Our first episode focuses on rugby in South America, which has exploded in this World Cup cycle, despite all the challenges of COVID-19. The establishment of the first franchise-based, professional rugby competition in the region, Superliga Americana de Rugby, subsequently rebranded as Super Rugby Americas, directly led to the strengthening of Chile such they qualified for RWC 2023 directly.
This cycle also saw the emergence of Colombia as a force in women’s rugby by earning a place in the inaugural WXV competition whilst Brazil continued its status on the 7s circuit.
Our guests today are the CEO of the Brazilian Rugby Union (CBRu), Mariana Miné, and Paul Tait, co-founder of leading English-language digital publication, Americas Rugby News.
NOTE: Outside Centre Enterprises will be in France for part of the tournament, so if you are looking to create or partner up for audio content around the event, get in touch via one of the below methods.
Episode highlights:
[1:45] Mariana Miné, CEO of Brasil Rugby (CBRu)
[19:15] Paul Tait, co-founder, Americas Rugby News
 
Follow/connect with us on Instagram: @outsidectrpodcast
Follow/connect with us on Twitter/X: @outsidectrpod
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Email the show: outsidecentrepod@outlook.com
Brasil Rugby: https://brasilrugby.com.br/
Americas Rugby News: https://www.americasrugbynews.com/

This week we are fortunate to speak with leading global 7s referee Paulo Duarte just before his departure to Los Angeles for the final stop of the HSBC 7s World Series for 2021-22. Paulo’s face will be instantly recognisable to 7s fans, with career highlights including the 2020 Olympics held in Tokyo in July 2021, the world tour and many European events.
We speak to Paulo about life on the refereeing circuit, his experiences in dealing with less experienced players and countries, with referee criticism and his advice for aspiring referees too! And we de-bunk some of the myths and mysteries of the differences between 7s and XVs!
NOTE: Next week we are scheduled to speak with a prominent lawyer connected to rugby. Contact the show with any questions or suggested topics via the various handles below!
Key Segments:
[4:30] Getting his start in rugby
[7:15] Learning the rules of rugby and the differences across regions
[17:15] The refereeing fraternity and the challenges of criticism and feedback in the modern era
[25:00] The weird and wonderful differences of 7s and XVs
[34:45] Paulo’s career highlights including the Olympics and the world tour
[41:45] Some fun questions to get Paulo’s vision for the game
[52:00] Paulo’s advice for aspiring referees
 
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This week we complete our chat with Chilean-based rugby journalist and photographer, Matías Matus Acebo, who helped us preview their decisive RWC win over the United States. Three weeks on, ‘Matt’ tells us the impact the surprise victory has had on the ground in Chile, the opportunities stemming from it and the challenges which lie ahead.
We also check in with his preparations for the imminent World Rugby 7s Challenger series event in Santiago, get his perspective on the trajectory of Latin American rugby and close out with a vivid description of the famed URBA amateur club competition in Buenos Aires province that has produced so many Pumas over the years and where our ‘porteño’ heralds from.
Key Segments:
[4:00] The local impact of Chile’s surprise qualification for RWC 2023
[19:15] The upcoming World Rugby 7s Challenger Series event in Santiago
[22:45] The bigger picture of Latin American rugby at the moment
[36:45] URBA: the famed Buenos Aires club competition, Puma nursery and which Matt grew up following
 
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Email: outsidecentrepod@outlook.com

This week we venture to Hong Kong, catching up with Sports Editor of the South China Morning Post, Josh Ball, in the wake of their RWC 2023 qualifying defeat to Tonga which sent the Pacific Island nation through to the final tournament in France.
Luckily Hong Kong have another chance to qualify, but we don’t waste the chance to hear about the toll of COVID on professional sport on the island, learn more about what makes the famed HK 7s event tick and get the full picture on the rather impressive grassroots rugby structure they have in place.
Key Segments:
[3:00] Professional & semi-pro sporting landscape in Hong Kong
[5:15] The famed Hong Kong 7s
[12:30] COVID-19 and the full magnitude of it’s impact on sport on the island, and the full grassroots structure of rugby in Hong Kong, as well as the big clubs and the standard of facilities
[22:15] Women’s rugby in Hong Kong
[24:00] Hong Kong’s qualification campaign for RWC 2023, including the narrow defeat of South Korea and the competitive effort against Tonga last weekend
[35:30] Looking ahead to the final repechage competition, and Josh’s thoughts on global game development
 
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Connect with us on LinkedIn: “Outside Centre: Rugby’s new territories”
Email: outsidecentrepod@outlook.com

In a real treat for 7s fans, we get Dallen’s thoughts ahead of the upcoming HSBC series finale in Los Angeles, the RWC 7s World Cup in Cape Town and the Commonwealth.
Prior to that, we quiz our man on his experiences in Japan in 2019 as well as his thoughts on some other key structural issues in world rugby and some specific to the USA.
To close the show, our host downloads his observations after the European qualifiers for the RWC 7s were confirmed in a qualifying tournament in Bucharest last week.
Key Segments:
[1:15] Dallen’s reflections of calling matches at RWC 2019 in Japan, and we quiz him on some other vital structural issues affecting the game at the moment.
[16:30] Dallen tells us about the PR 7s circuit in the USA, and looks ahead to the HSBC Series final event in Los Angeles in August, as well as the RWC 7s in Cape Town and September and the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
[29:15] Stick around at the end, our host provides some reflections on the recent European RWC 7s qualifying series in Bucharest, and closes out with some shout-outs and previews next week episodes.
**In the show we reference Unofficial Parther, a sports B2B brand who produce some great content of their own and have been very supportive of the program. If you’re into Outside Centre, you’ll love the Unofficial Partner podcast series. We’ll circulate a couple of their rugby-focused interviews with the release of this episode on Twitter & Instagram, but you should also look at their website (https://www.unofficialpartner.com/)**
Follow us on Twitter: @OutsideCTRpod
Follow us on Instagram: @outsidectrpodcast
Connect with us on LinkedIn: “Outside Centre: Rugby’s new territories”
Email: outsidecentrepod@outlook.com