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Speaker 1: News talk z'b All right, let's talk rugby because the

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Speaker 1: great and good of rugby are in Paris now.

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Speaker 2: They're doing that for the sevens.

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Speaker 1: The Black Fern sevens, this is the women's side, have

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Speaker 1: got their Olympic campaign off to a strong start. They've

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Speaker 1: handledly beaten Canada and China. They have one more pool

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Speaker 1: match against Fiji overnight tonight out time. As we all

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Speaker 1: know just so well, things didn't go so well for

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Speaker 1: us on the men's side of the things. France beat

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Speaker 1: Fiji for the gold medal. South Africa took the bronze.

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Speaker 1: We beat South Africa once, but they beat us in

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Speaker 1: the quarter final. The All Backs ended out placing a

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Speaker 1: lowly fifth. Watching that game and every game that has

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Speaker 1: been played in the stud of franz as World Rugby

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Speaker 1: CEO Alan Gilpin, who joins me.

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Speaker 2: Now, Hello Allen, hi Andrew, how are you great? Having

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Speaker 2: a good time?

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Speaker 3: It's been fantastic. Yeah, I've really been some amazing sevens.

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Speaker 3: We've got amazing crowds, so that we're delighted.

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Speaker 1: I was obviously disappointed that the All Back sevens wasn't

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Speaker 1: in the final, but watching the final, I was amazed.

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Speaker 1: It was the French men's seven side playing a better

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Speaker 1: brand of rugby than I'd seen them earlier in the tournament.

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Speaker 1: They're in front of a massive sellout home crowd sixty

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Speaker 1: nine thousand people at the start to France. This is

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Speaker 1: the first gold middle of the whole Olympic Games. How

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Speaker 1: good an ad for rugby was that?

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Speaker 4: Look?

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Speaker 3: It was fantastic as you said it was. It was

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Speaker 3: a great final. A bit of a dream, I guess

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Speaker 3: in the Paras Olympics to have a home scene when

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Speaker 3: the first big gold for them, as you say, sixty

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Speaker 3: nine thousand when the stud to France. We've had that

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Speaker 3: every every day for the seven so it's a bit

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Speaker 3: of a coming of age moment I think for rugby

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Speaker 3: seven's and an.

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Speaker 4: Hour off to a great start as you said with

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Speaker 4: the women's.

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Speaker 1: Is that good for sevens? Or do we have too

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Speaker 1: many nations targeting the Olympic Games but not the yearly circuit?

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Speaker 2: Do you see what I mean?

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Speaker 1: For instance, DuPont was there for France, but will he

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Speaker 1: be there next seven the next season in the seven circuit?

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Speaker 1: You know, is this actually good for sevens or does

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Speaker 1: it detract from the circuit?

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Speaker 3: I think it's great for sevens and the annual seventh

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Speaker 3: circuit builds up to big moments like this. We've seen

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Speaker 3: DuPont playing a couple of those events this year. We've

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Speaker 3: got some other players here now and the women's who

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Speaker 3: you are normally fifteen aside players who are playing in

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Speaker 3: the sevens in a big Olympic year, we're going to

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Speaker 3: see some of those players return to the fifteens game

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Speaker 3: for a Women's World Cup in England next year. So look,

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Speaker 3: having the opportunity for players to move back and forward

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Speaker 3: between sevens and fifteens is important to us and hopefully

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Speaker 3: we can do more of that going forward.

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Speaker 1: Obviously there's a lot of networking happening at the moment

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Speaker 1: and lots of talking about the future. So what is

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Speaker 1: the single biggest challenge in your view for rugby today

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 3: I think, like a lot of sports, we want to

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Speaker 3: make sure we've got a sport that's successible, that's easy

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Speaker 3: for fans to access, to enjoy more people to play.

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Speaker 3: So being relevant, being accessible in a changing media landscape,

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Speaker 3: I think to fans is the big challenge and sevens

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Speaker 3: is a great product for that, particularly in markets where

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Speaker 3: maybe rugby is not as established as it is in

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Speaker 3: places like, for example, where you are in New Zealand,

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Speaker 3: so you know sevens is important in that shifting landscape

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Speaker 3: for us.

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Speaker 1: The speed change for fifteen is the rule changes. You've

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Speaker 1: got three new rule changes coming in. It's about to

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Speaker 1: make is trying to make the game faster, more free flying.

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Speaker 2: Is that working?

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Speaker 4: It is?

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Speaker 3: And again we're always trying different things, trying to make

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Speaker 3: sure again the game is as accessible as it can

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Speaker 3: be to fans, as enjoyable as it can be, as.

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Speaker 4: Safe as it can be for people to play.

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Speaker 3: So you know those law trials that are going on now,

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Speaker 3: those changes are about, as you say, making the game quicker,

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Speaker 3: keeping that continuity, making it exciting for the young fans.

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Speaker 1: I would have thought, this is my opinion that the

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Speaker 1: biggest challenge facing rugby right now is the battle against

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Speaker 1: head injuries and what that does to parents who then

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Speaker 1: decide whether the kids are going to play.

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Speaker 2: Would you agree with that? And how's that battle against

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Speaker 2: the head injuries going.

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Speaker 3: The welfare and safety players is always our number one priority,

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Speaker 3: and we're always looking to make the game safer but

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Speaker 3: keep all those inherent qualities of rugby all the things

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Speaker 3: that make rugby special, which is inherently a contact sport,

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Speaker 3: a sport that involves, you know, people tackling people, having

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Speaker 3: those those contact moments and those those collision moments, if

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Speaker 3: you like. And I think you know, I wouldn't say

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Speaker 3: we're winning that battle, because you never win that battle.

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Speaker 3: But we're making sure that we are improving in most

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Speaker 3: parts of the world. In the community game, the tackle

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Speaker 3: height now is lower than it's been before. That's certainly

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Speaker 3: having an impact and as you say, ultimately trying to

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Speaker 3: reassure parents that whilst there is contact in the game,

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Speaker 3: the games as safe as it can be for their

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Speaker 3: for their boys and girls to play.

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Speaker 2: Finally, well, the Black Ferns win the gold.

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Speaker 4: They started fantastically yesterday. They look in great shape.

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Speaker 3: You know, the women's Stevens will be as competitive as

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Speaker 3: the men's was. You've got obviously the Black Ferns, the Australians,

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Speaker 3: France again, USA, Canada all looking good.

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Speaker 4: So I think those are the sort of teams that

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Speaker 4: will be in the mix.

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Speaker 3: We'll see the quarter final matches here tonight after the

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Speaker 3: last round of pool matches. The Black Ferns have already

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Speaker 3: made it through to the quarter finals, going to avoid

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Speaker 3: what happened with their male colleagues and not lose that

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Speaker 3: quarter final. That's the key obviously then to getting into

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Speaker 3: a metal match. So I think they're in great shape.

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Speaker 1: Great stuf enjoys up and not too much. Alan gilpen

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Speaker 1: is the World Rugby CEO.

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Speaker 4: For more from Hither Dupless Ee Alan Drive, listen live

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Speaker 4: to news talks.

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Speaker 3: It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast

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