New Zealand rugby union to train China's Olympic dreamers

WELLINGTON - Aiming for gold at the Olympics usually inspires intense international rivalry, but the debut of seven-aside rugby in the Olympic arena in 2016 is driving collaboration between New Zealand and China.

Thirty-five of China's emerging rugby sevens players, 18 women and 17 men, will be among a 46-strong squad arriving in the western North Island region of Taranaki later this year for training with one of New Zealand's champion rugby unions.

Their arrival in the city of New Plymouth in late November will be the first major international contract for the Taranaki Rugby Football Union's (TRFU) immersion program, says TRFU chief executive Neil Pennington.

The month-long training program for the squad from Beijing's Xiannongtan Athletics School will see the players, coaches and trainers put through a "very, very full on schedule" to develop high-performance athletes who can compete at international level.

"One of their clear goals would be to have as many representatives in the Chinese team as they can and our role is to make sure that we give them all the tools and coach them at that high performance level," Pennington told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Sevens is going to be part of the 2016 Olympics and, like all their Olympic objectives, I'm sure the Chinese will be looking for medals."

The relationship with Xiannongtan, which has a reputation as a cradle of China's Olympic champions, was formed over more than a year by former TRFU chief executive Mark Robinson both in China and in New Zealand when the TRFU hosted a Beijing delegation during the Rugby World Cup.

In his office beneath New Plymouth's Yarrow Stadium, which was the center of international attention last year when it hosted the historic rugby clash between Russia and the United States, Pennington sees the China program as another step in the global growth of rugby.

"I just want this to be the absolute perfect experience for these athletes. It's a great opportunity for us as well in terms of learning a different culture, different perspectives, so the learning doesn't just go one way. We'll also learn from the Beijing sports people and I see that as a great opportunity," he said.

"To me it's a combination, a partnership of cultures, so we can give them the best of our culture and they can take something out of it, and we would also like to take something out of it from a cultural perspective as well."

The TRFU boasts an internationally respected team of coaches, including current New Zealand Sevens skills coach Clark Laidlaw and former Scotland Sevens head coach Jono Phillips.

"It's going to be very intensive training for 30 days and part of the whole process is not just flogging them. It's also managing the players and the coaches and the trainers as well to ensure that they're getting the best value out of it. That includes proper scheduling to ensure there are rest periods," says Pennington.

"Everything's covered. We take a holistic approach to their development so we cover everything, nutrition, video analysis, weights, conditioning, strength, speed work. At the end of the day Taranaki rugby is about people and we take our responsibility in that area very seriously."

"They're actually bringing their own chefs and we, in consultation with the chefs, will supply all the food and accommodation. But their chefs will work with our nutritionists because they're professional athletes and they will be pushed hard to achieve that high performance level," he said.

"It's just so important that they have the right nutritional requirements to keep their energy levels up and that's where we bring in the New Zealand nutritionist in rugby he'll work very closely with them to ensure that there's a right balance in what they're burning and their dietary intakes so it will be a combination of cultural dishes with high performance dietary requirements needed by the high performance athlete."

The Beijing squad's coaches will span a range of ages and professional levels, which would allow partnerships to continue into the future and expand into other parts of China, he said.

However, Pennington also jokingly admitted that while Olympic gold for China might be a testament to Taranaki's coaching skills, it would also be at the expense of his national team.

"To me the Chinese culture is very much about wanting to be the best and they just love that success. You see from what they invest into their sports, the Olympics is a great example and this is an Olympic sport now," he said.

"I love the attitude of the Chinese. It's 'We're not in this to participate, we're in this to win,' and it's a great attitude and one that really aligns with Taranaki rugby."