Small is beautiful for Canterbury

Keeping things small and exclusive is the key to success for Canterbury Rugby Union’s John Haggart as he looks at ways of sharing his club’s expertise.

“Rugby is a business and I don’t think that there would be many rugby unions out there who would deny that and they would see this sort of thing as growing your business,” Haggart, who manages Canterbury’s International High Performance Unit (IHPU), told Reuters in an interview.

“In the past it may not be seen as part of our core business but it is seen as part of the way of growing the business.

“It has just grown out of the fact we know we have a fantastic brand and we believe there is a real opportunity to leverage off that brand.”

The IHPU principally caters for individual players, coaches and support staff, though they recently organised a three-week training camp for 43 players and coaches from the Russian club Krasny Yar.

“Currently we are resourced to (work with) five to seven people at any one time. Any more than that we have to find a way to resource it,” said Haggart, sitting in his mustard-coloured office on a small, modern industrial estate alongside one of the main thoroughfares leading to the centre of Christchurch.

The IHPU was established in 2008 as a revenue-generating offshoot from the union’s highly successful academy programme that had produced numerous All Blacks and seven Super rugby titles.

“Matt Sexton, who was running the union’s academy, was fielding a lot of calls (from players and coaches) about coming to visit and see what made Canterbury and the Crusaders so successful,” Haggart said.

“We were quite happy to share our knowledge but we needed to put a structure around what we wanted to offer and that’s when the IHPU was formed. Then we could say that we can offer some services and quality support to meet your needs.”

SELLING POINT

The Krasny Yar camp took several months to plan, and Haggart was mindful that taking on too much could not only stretch the resources of the IHPU but also impact on the Crusaders’ training.

“We don’t want to have everybody. We have a pretty small environment here and we don’t want everybody at once. We want them to come at a time when we can accommodate them.

“In terms of the selling point, as long as you’re successful and you make it exclusive then people will still demand (it).”

Individual players, normally aged 18-22, receive coaching with the academy and are assigned to play with a local club.

Visiting coaches and support staff attend Crusaders’ training sessions and have intensive discussions with the coaching staff.

Haggart, who would not disclose the fees charged by the IHPU, said they were tailored to what each potential client wanted, and in some cases what they could afford.

One of the spinoffs from the IHPU was the greater exposure to new markets and potential sponsors as well as the possibility of strategic partnerships which could generate even more revenue, something that had been highlighted by the Krasny Yar visit.

“We would prefer to form some strategic alliances around the world with a few groups,” Haggart said.

“There are real commercial opportunities here, because the teams and people who come here are supported by a whole range of businesses.

“I think that Canterbury have to look at it from a strategic perspective (and ask): ‘How can we look at other potential opportunities through our association with this organisation?’”

CHINA INTEREST

Krasny Yar signed a three-year agreement and Haggart said the Russian national team were making enquiries to hold a training camp in New Zealand before the World Cup in the country in September and October next year.

China’s national team had also made enquiries, he said, while the unit was also fielding calls from the United States, Japan, Europe and parts of Africa.

While “people were knocking on the door”, Haggart said the IHPU was not in danger of selling all its intellectual property due to protocols as to what could be shared.

“We are building this business unit slowly. We don’t want to let everything go as well in terms of our intellectual property,” he said.

“It would be arrogant if we thought what we know, we only know, but...there is some unique stuff that we want to keep to ourselves.

“With the modern game, with the technology and analysis and the way things are assessed, it’s very difficult now to keep things secret.

“Having said that, we have a philosophy in Canterbury where it’s not what you know, it’s how you use that information.

“There are a whole range of things, training, culture, the ability of the players, that contribute to the success on the field.

“The ability to use that information on the field is key to being successful.”