It is toughening time for Sri Lankan rugby as they appear to have moved up from the crouch, touch position to a better plate winner at the recently concluded Asian sevens played in Shanghai. Fondly called Ben Gollings Sri Lanka the boys did better on Borneo by winning the Plate. Having being a little over [...]

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It is toughening time for Sri Lankan rugby as they appear to have moved up from the crouch, touch position to a better plate winner at the recently concluded Asian sevens played in Shanghai. Fondly called Ben Gollings Sri Lanka the boys did better on Borneo by winning the Plate. Having being a little over enthusiastic in the celebrations when the bowl was won the Plate though better could not do better than the welcome after the Bowl win.

Sri Lanka demonstrated continued improvement in Shanghai by moving from 9th place to 5th and is a worth to crow. Sri Lanka won the Plate beating Thailand 22 to 7. In doing so they went one better than their Borneo Bowl title in terms of silver and 4 places up overall to 5th. Sri Lanka beat Singapore (41-0) and the UAE (45-0) in the final pool stages as they came into Plate final against Thailand.

There are four rounds in Asia’s Series this year, with the fourth in Singapore in November which will also be a qualifier of the region for the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013. The rankings after round three in Mumbai on 13-14 October will be used to determine seeding for Singapore, where three spots are available for Asian teams at next year’s World Cup in Moscow.

The Mumbai Sevens has attracted 16 teams making it the largest event played to date on the HSBC Asian Sevens Series. The pressure is much greater having to be among the first eight to retain the plate. The plan should not be the Plate but to climb higher even if it does not bring the Silver.The Cup form Shanghai has pushed Hong Kong to the top of the HSBC A7s standings with one more ranking leg remaining. The Mumbai Sevens where Japan will be back after missing out in Shanghai due to what is termed justifiable circumstances amidst political tensions in Sino-Japanese relations. Japan’s absence gave Hong Kong carte blanche to stamp their authority and they took it winning all six matches. It all points to a winner-take it all party between Hong Kong and Japan at the Mumbai Sevens from 12-13 October.

If Hong Kong make the semi-finals in Mumbai, they will be assured of finishing in the top two in Asia. The winners of the HSBC Asian Sevens Series will have an added incentive after the International Rugby Board this week announcing that they would earn a spot against the 15 core teams at the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.

Chinese Taipei maintained their strong form after winning the Plate at the opening event of this year’s HSBC A7s in Borneo to finish in third place overall in Shanghai. Chinese Taipei resoundingly defeated South Korea 26-7 in the 3rd/4th place play-off to mark their highest ever finish in an HSBC A7s event.

It is in this context plus with Kazakhstan too expected to be back that Sri Lanka has a challenge to be among the first four in Mumbai and to then to climb one step up with a view to be in contention for a place in the World Cup sevens. It will not only be an opportunity to climb but also it would be a chance to consolidate that we are meant for sevens. The SL RFU President Asanga Seneviratne is on record stating “Our main aim with regards to the 15- a-side game is to compete in the 2023 world cup and from the seven aside rugby format our intention is to compete in the international arena. There are three qualifying seven’s tournaments this year which are Shanghai sevens, Borneo sevens and the India sevens”.

What is important is to learn from the advent of Gollings and to see what he could do for to Sri Lanka rugby other being the Ben Gollings “Sri Lanka” The Lankans were seen using whole field. It is not only at matches even the practice using “width” has made players to sustain themselves for the full game and to stretch the defense to make gaps while “depth” has given the ball carrier options to pass.
Among us more often the tendency has been to play a shorter form of the fifteens termed sevens with more hits and bunching. To be among the top contenders we need sevens players and not players who need to be horned in the basics by the national coach.
What is needed is for the coaches to follow a sevens style when they take in charge of teams for this form of the game. The Mercantile Sevens is around the corner and we got to see that at least the top teams play sevens in sevens style and also take the message of play sevens in that style.

“Catch me if you can “Ben Gollings” is the greatest try scorer in rugby sevens history. We have a coach who is a sevens expert and one of the best as a player.

The mere fact that the team is called “Gollings” Sri Lanka is testimony to the player who is acknowledged as one of the best. What is needed is to pass down the knowledge and know how to all coaches who handle this form of the game. This can and will be done if the sevens structure expectation filters down.

That is what the council needs to do. To get all coaches to get the insight from Gollings .This can be done through a series of workshops which has to include the on field outcome expectations for which the team is trained. If coordinated and focused it may not be long before we call sevens in Asia as ‘Sri Lanka Sevens’.

Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB




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