The Australian Rugby Union has today released its Strategic Plan for 2016-2020.

In the report, CEO Bill Pulver outlines the ARU’s vision to “inspire all Australians to enjoy our great global game” by delivering in four key areas: “Make rugby a game for all; ignite Australia’s passion for the game; build sustainable elite success; create excellence in how the game is run.”

The report states that the “XVs game and Club Rugby is at the heart of Australian rugby and keeping it strong  must be central to ongoing success.”

However it doesn’t specify how this will be done and focusses largely on the ARU’s efforts to “reach new markets of people not currently participating in organised sport.”

The report also includes the findings of the Australian Rugby Survey (completed by 8,300 fans and other stakeholders) which concluded that “success for the Wallabies (is) seen as the most important outcome.”

The Australian Rugby Strategic Plan sets out some ambitious targets for 2020, including but not limited to the following:

• 356,500 participants across the three formats of Rugby – XVs, Sevens and VIVA7s
• Increase female participation rate to 15% of all participants across three formats
• Average Australian TV viewership of 100,000 for every Super Rugby match played in Australia
• Average Australian TV viewership of 1 million for every Rugby Championship match played in Australia
• Retain 100% of full season members year on year
• Achieve 1.1 million ticket sales for Wallabies Test matches over the period 2016-2020
• Achieve 1 million visits per month to Rugby.com.au and Super Rugby team websites and generate a loyalty subscriber base of 500,000
• Achieve >85% of players in national programs having graduated through state and national pathway programs
• Wallabies: win the Rugby Championship, Bledisloe Cup and 2019 Rugby World Cup and at all times retain top 3 world ranking
• Wallabies: ranked number one as Australia’s most recognised national team brand
• Olympic (2016 & 2020) and Commonwealth Games (2018) Medals for men’s and women’s Sevens teams
• 30% of women in Board roles, senior management roles, and 30% women in ARU staff
• Growth of a future fund to $10 million by 2020

CLICK HERE: READ THE ARU’S FULL STRATEGIC PLAN FOR 2016-2020