Making Asiad a success

The League title being won by Kandy was known to all even before the last match was played. All that was left was for the ceremony to hand over the cup to Kandy Sports Club for the celebration to begin. The sounds of the Kandy supporters cheering their heroes rumbling from the hills have come to an end. The match against CR and FC was of academic interest with nothing that could have happened to alter the positions of number one and two on the league standing. CR lost any hope of an outside chance they may have had when the CH and FC went down to Kandy Sport Club last week. CH did make things difficult for Kandy for a long time in the game. They lost probably due to their own folly. That is not been able to control the aggression. Having given away a yellow card and a few penalties it was difficult to recover with two players out of the field. Various theories circulate on the issue of the red card. The fact however remains that it was issued and the reasons are connected to aggression that was considered not acceptable.

Aggression and psychological overwhelming of the opposition is vital for winning a game. The players need to understand or be made to understand that aggression should be controlled if they are to be a winning team as they approach the knock out stage. Despite losing at this stage I would still bet on CH as the team that has the chance to topple Kandy during the knock out stage. The hope will however be misplaced unless and until it is realized that one has to destroy the opposition on the rugby enclosure and not try to wipe out as in a battlefield

The league that came to an end had its peak as well as dips while getting the spectators back to a game that competes for time with other leisure activities. School matches continued to attract large crowds despite the clumsy way tournaments and its associated problems were handled. The legal battles are yet continuing while the outcome of the tournament is in spun web like that seems to be difficult to undo. Though publicly the announcement has been made that the season is over it seems some schools have not completed the quota of matches that they should have played. Which again would lead to howls of protest when teams are ranked on the league performance? It seems that there is a need for professional involvement to guide the game at school level. Unless and until notice is taken of the need the organization of the game at this level will continue to be in a mess. It is rumored that the schools section is headless and important events are left unattended. While it is too early to predict what is in store for the schools in the future the game at national level will have to be the focus after the knock out tournaments. The interest will move away from the domestic scene to the Rugby World Cup in September. This period will also see the International Sevens tournament held in Kandy

The hierarchy for rugby in Sri Lanka will have its hands full planning for the Rugby Asiad to be played in November. The tournament which was to be played in 2006 was postponed due to the International Governing body for Rugby being concerned about the security of players. This was a country situation that had to be addressed. Since assuming office the present President of the SLRFU Mr Nimal Lewke has been working to convince the authorities to allow the staging of the games in Sri Lanka. According to reports he has been successful in convincing the Asian Rugby Football Union member countries as well as the IRB. At The last council meeting of ARFU it was decided that the tournament will be held in Colombo in November. It is not the end but the beginning of hard work that will have to be done to make the games a success. It is the beginning to continue the dialog to ensure countries commit themselves to attend. This being the last of the Asiad in this format it will have to be a show to remember. The SLRFU through its President Lewke is working with the Government along with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Tourism as well as Sports to make this event a success.

While the organization for the games is in progress the National team too will have to put through their paces to show what they are capable of. Sri Lanka will get another opportunity and at home to show the Asian Region rugby followers on what they are capable of.

It will also be time for all who have been involved in the game as well as the followers to lend their support to the controlling body for rugby in Sri Lanka to make this event a success.