For SA Rugby’s high-powered bidding team, the hard work of making the case for the 2023 World Cup has almost paid off. As the preferred candidate to host the big event, South Africa still has to earn the most votes in London on November 15. Until then, what can the bidding team teach us about about winning off the field?
South Africa are now the preferred choice to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup! This after the Rugby World Cup Limited (RWCL) Board unanimously recommended us to the World Rugby Council after detailed consideration of the host candidate evaluation report.
The evaluation of the three bid submissions from South Africa, Ireland and France was led by a team of World Rugby and external experts, who were supported throughout by stringent independent evaluation and analysis from The Sports Consultancy. This to ensure evidence-based objectivity and consistent application against a set of weighted scoring criteria based on seven agreed upon objectives.
All a bit MBA-like, and a smidgen highfalutin, but World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont nails it: “This is the first Rugby World Cup host selection to take place following a complete redesign of the bidding process to promote greater transparency.”
In a nutshell, the people putting the bids together had to jump through a lot of hoops, in public!
The best bit, though: “The independently scrutinised evaluation identified South Africa as a clear leader based on performance against the key criteria. I would like to congratulate South Africa on a superb bid,” continued Beaumont.
Instead of playing nice and offering their congratulations, both France and Ireland have disagreed fairly vehemently in recent days. So it’s back to biting our nails as we wait on the World Rugby Council, who meet on November 15 to consider the recommendation and vote on the next host.
Having spent some time with the bid team – I edited the magazine that was left with the decision makers after the team had made their final presentation in London – I got some insight into how much work actually went into that bid.
The official bid book, a massive green box containing three lever arch files filled to the brim with the tiniest details, including the time it will take for players to get from their hotel to the allotted training ground, felt heavier than the dumbbell Eben Etzebeth uses to maintain his monstrous biceps.
Government not only had to be involved, they had to support the bid to the tune of £120m required by World Rugby. That takes some doing.
In effect, South Africa were pitching for business, much like the rest of us do in the workplace. It’s all good and well when you win the business, but who picks up the tab when you don’t?
More often than not, especially for the little guy trying to make a buck, it’s about how much time one can afford to spend on pitching for new business.
Earlier this year the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) rapped Telkom over the knuckles and suspended three agencies for putting out a tender that prejudiced the smaller agencies, who do not have the resources to invest in such a massive pitches. It was also deemed counter-productive to the industry’s transformation efforts.
I like the fact that someone is looking out for the little guys, lest we limit the creative process to just a chosen few. But the fact of the matter, much like the hosting of massive global events such as the World Cup, is that some scopes of work can only be handled by big companies.
The trick for the little guy, is to spot what the big guy is not that sharp on, and either pitch those services to the big guy, or to the tender owner, as part of a joint pitch. Which is exactly what a bid to host the World Cup is. Either way, it’s about showing one’s wares.
“You have got to be in it to win it” they say, and I think you have to back yourself to be the right guy to implement the ideas you present.
There are 39 votes at stake with a simple majority required to determine the eventual Rugby World Cup host nation. Bring on November 15, and the 19 votes needed to deliver #SA2023!
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