We should take citing seriously
View(s):The news of the resignation of the Secretary of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Association, Rizvy Ilyaz, was a bolt from the blues. The sudden resignation has resulted in many explanations being concocted.
Ilyaz confirmed that he has decided to resign due to the pressures of business and his present lifestyle which do not give him enough time to devote to rugby at the national level at a period when it is striving to achieve new heights. He also said that he enjoyed working at a time when rugby was taken to the next level in both sevens and fifteens. Ilyaz said he believes that if one cannot commit the time that is demanded one should make room for someone else. He however said that the President of the SLRFU, Asanga Seneviratne, has not accepted his resignation In the midst of the hullabaloo the second leg of the Carlton Sevens saw the raising of new legs on the field. The rain turned the Nawalapitiya ground into a muddy pitch dampening prospects of more competition and excitement. Still it brought about talent that can be nurtured in preparation for the Asian5Nations where Sri Lanka will be a team to watch.
It also brought about a process of management to a tournament where the expense budget of the sponsors of teams was high and losing could lead to frustration and anger. The good thing as explained by Ronnie Ibrahim was that it did not.
What was good for the game was the introduction of citing during both legs of the Carlton Sevens and there were a few incidents that were cited with some of them resulting in red cards after a judicial hearing. Previously citing has been done in Sri Lanka for international matches and sporadically in others.
I spoke to Aruna Jayasekera, who is the only IRB-Accredited Judicial Officer in Sri Lanka and has functioned in this role in various Asian Rugby Football Union tournaments. He said that statistics have revealed that globally misconduct and foul play has reduced after the introduction of citing and the judicial process that follows. He said that citing should be spread to the top schools as well as club matches. This would make players and coaches realize that there was another pair of eyes watching them.
He explained that according to the guidelines for Judicial Issues the referee is not on the dock and the system starts with the simple direction that the referee is the sole judge of fact and law. The case of citing it is an act of misconduct that has not been seen by the referee or the review of a decision where the punishment given is felt to be inadequate. Once a citing process has been set in motion it must follow a judicial system as set out in the IRB guidelines.
Rugby during the week had interest generated in the schools knockout with some exciting games. The thrill was almost taken away with one off-field incident. This unfortunately happens repeatedly in school games. The schools knockout games for the President’s trophy provided entertainment in the form of close games. The only quarterfinal that was worthy of teams playing at the higher level was between Royal and St Peter’s, which the latter won.
The semi-finals were eventful and Wesley, another ‘B’ division side of last year, got the better of Dharmaraja, the league champs, in an evenly-contested game. The difference for the winning side was that they played to a plan and used both backs and forwards in combination. Dharmaraja built their game using three to four players. They have used this ploy successfully during the league, but the opponents had planned well and the key players were well marked and were not given freedom. Rugby was in an exciting phase on the field but the off field antics almost took away the glory.
This time it was a Wesley player on the bench who darted across the field to assault a Dharmaraja player. The timely intervention of the Police, who were present on the field, prevented the issue escalating to a major brawl. Such incidents involving players from the bench have occurred a couple of times and require the meting out of deterrent punishment. I was told by sources in schools rugby that it was a grudge punch to compensate for what happened in the league match. Rugby is physical game and what happens in the last match should not be carried over to another day or a couple of weeks later.
The game between Trinity and St Peter’s kept spectators on the edge of their seats with 77 points scored between the schools. Trinity had a hard drive at the Royal College complex and would have been happy as they went to Kandy knowing that they will be back for the final after they beat Peter’s by 40 points to 37 in a game with a result that could have gone either way. The match changed direction at regular intervals and the players never took a swing at each but ended hugging as the game ended.
While the game reaches interesting achievements the downside needs to be addressed seriously. It is not about the commas and full stops nor the pedigree of persons who highlight issues or sit in judgment that matter but the fact that there are unholy incidents of violence that have been happening once too often. It is not the best sight to see a ground that has to be surrounded by armed policemen for the sake of playing a rugby game. The Carlton Sevens was a good example of a process taking over with citing and the opportunity given for team managers to submit their concerns in writing when they have something to say about a referee. This certainly helps to identify a mistake and amend it for the betterment of the game.
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB
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