I am not very good at adjusting my body clock after a long flight and I usually only start to feel good again when its time to catch the flight home! Anyway one very small advantage of this is that it allows me some odd time to catch up on things I want to do which is why you are getting this blog from Vancouver which I am writing at 0350 in the morning having woken up! I am here of course for two things. The first is the IWRF General Assembly which starts 0900 in the morning and which lasts for two days. I did alert you to the resolutions being discussed and I have had one response on the Stickum proposal from Pirates so thank you to them. After the Assembly the Canada Cup starts and this will provide us with the very best performance opportunity ahead of London which is now rapidly closing up on us. The great thing about this tournament is that it is less about winning and more about using this as an opportunity to really put to the test much of what Tom and his team have been working on since the Test Event. It also provides the chance to compete against all of the teams we will meet in London.
Can I also remind you about the AGM which is ahead of the start of the National Championships on Friday 29th June at 7pm. We have arranged a buffet dinner at 6pm so hopefully you will be able to move from that straight into the meeting. Only Members can attend the AGM and the papers for the meeting have been posted on the site and you should also have received them. Opportunities for your own resolutions closed on Friday 15th with none received but there is still an opportunity to put forward AOB providing proposals are received by 1200 this coming Friday. Only AOB which has been received within this timeline can be considered at the AGM and this is in line with our Articles of Association. A printed copy of the Annual Report will be available at the AGM and this highlights the work of the past year as well as pointing to the key areas of attention for the current year. An electronic copy of this report is now on the website so if you want to have an early look it is there to see. Much of the content of this will be presented by the management team at the AGM and there will be an opportunity to ask questions about the report.
Finally, well done to Crash on winning SS3 and well done to the DMG who seem to have worked hard to agree the new competition structure for next season which is great news. If you want to see anything of the Canada Cup – all games will be webcast live with a link also from the canadacupwrugby.com website. GB opens the tournament on Thursday with the first match against Japan starting at 0930. Now back to bed for a couple of hours and hopefully some sleep…..
David Pond
