The VI Rugby Insight – Issue 5 – Collaboration

When this issue lands, there will be just 70 days until England VI Rugby flies to Japan.

With the countdown getting very real, August has provided another reminder that the story is about much more than one England squad heading overseas.

Our clubs have continued taking VI Rugby into new environments, the four nations heading to Japan have come together for the first time, and The VI Rugby Insight has reached a milestone of its own.

There is plenty happening.

Four Nations, One Conversation

For the first time, representatives from England, Japan, Ireland and France came together for an international meeting ahead of November’s Blind Rugby World Championship.

The meeting gave all four nations the opportunity to discuss the tournament, preparations and the continued development of VI Rugby internationally.

Perhaps more importantly, it was an opportunity to collaborate.

While we’ll be competitors when the rugby begins, we’re also four nations trying to grow the same sport. Sharing experiences, ideas and challenges can only help create a stronger international game.

There is still plenty to work through before November, but having England, Ireland, France and Japan around the same table felt like another important step forward.

In 70 days, we fly.

Bees Join VICTA

Northern Bees players Jack Pearce, Scott Wilson and Liam Offermanns recently joined VICTA to help introduce more visually impaired young people to rugby.

Opportunities like these are hugely important.

For someone experiencing VI Rugby for the first time, being able to learn from players who understand sight loss and have gone on to compete within the sport can make a real difference.

It also gives our existing players the opportunity to become ambassadors for the game and show younger visually impaired people what opportunities are available to them.

A massive thank you to Jack, Scott and Liam for representing VI Rugby and to VICTA for continuing to create opportunities for visually impaired young people to experience sport.

Spartans on the Road

Southern Spartans were also on their travels this month, joining Surbiton Decca for a training session at Tolworth Sports Club.

It was another opportunity to take VI Rugby outside of our regular training environment, work with a different group and introduce more people from the wider rugby community to the adapted game.

A massive thank you to everyone at Surbiton Decca for the invitation, hospitality and a brilliant training session.

Relationships with clubs willing to open their doors to VI Rugby are an important part of how we grow the game, and we hope this won’t be the last time our paths cross.

What Would You Like to Know About VI Rugby?

Over the first four issues of The VI Rugby Insight, we’ve tried to give an honest look behind the scenes at a sport that is still developing.

We’ve covered club rugby, England selection, international competition, player stories, sponsors and some of the people helping make everything happen.

But for Issue 5, we’d like to turn the question around:

What would you like to know about VI Rugby?

How does the ball work? How much can players see? How do you adapt the laws? How do you coach a team where every player’s vision is different? What does international VI Rugby look like? Where do we want the sport to be in five years?

Nothing is off limits.

Send us your questions and we’ll answer some of the best ones in future issues of The VI Rugby Insight.

200 Subscribers – Thank You

This month, The VI Rugby Insight also reached 200 subscribers.

For an emerging sport and a newsletter only five issues old, we’re incredibly grateful that so many people have chosen to follow the journey.

More importantly, those subscribers increasingly include people from across rugby, disability sport, business and the wider sporting community.

Every read, share, comment and conversation helps put VI Rugby in front of someone new.

So, to all 200+ of you: thank you.

We’re only getting started.

Player Spotlight – Tara Moore

There are plenty of ways to be a trailblazer.

For Tara Moore, simply stepping onto the pitch created a little piece of VI Rugby history.

Tara became the first female player to represent England VI Rugby, establishing a pathway we hope many more women and girls will follow in the years ahead.

A Northern Bees player and now part of the England programme, Tara has become an important member of the VI Rugby community both on and off the pitch.

And when she isn’t playing, there’s a good chance she’ll have a camera in her hands.

Tara regularly helps capture the moments that tell the story of VI Rugby, providing photography from training sessions and events whenever she can.

Player, trailblazer and unofficial team photographer – Tara represents exactly the kind of person who has helped this sport become what it is.

Hopefully, being England’s only female player is a distinction she won’t hold alone for too much longer.

Sponsor Spotlight – Fletchers Foundation

Pulling on an England shirt is special.

Making sure our players actually have one requires people willing to back the programme.

Fletchers Foundation provided the grant funding that helped ensure the England squad could receive its new playing kit and training wear ahead of Japan, becoming a key partner in establishing the new England VI Rugby identity.

Their contribution, however, has gone considerably further than funding.

A special thank you has to go to Reece Hobson-Adams , who has been incredible throughout the process.

From helping with kit design and supporting social media activity to offering advice and general support for the sport, Reece has genuinely embraced what VI Rugby is trying to build.

The best partnerships aren’t simply transactions. They’re built with people who become invested in the journey.

Fletchers Foundation and Reece have done exactly that, and we’re incredibly grateful to have them alongside us as England heads towards Japan.

Looking Ahead

70 days.

England’s departure for Japan is no longer something sitting on the distant horizon.

Preparations will continue to intensify, both clubs will keep building domestically, and collaboration between England, Ireland, France and Japan will continue as the Blind Rugby World Championship draws closer.

There is plenty still to do.

But there’s also plenty to be excited about.

And as The VI Rugby Insight passes 200 subscribers, we’d like you to be part of the conversation too.

What would you like to know about VI Rugby?

Send us your questions. You might just shape the next issue.

70 days. Four nations. One growing sport.

#SeeRugbyDifferently