If everything goes to plan, then Asanga Seneviratne will take over the position of secretary-general of the Asian Rugby Football Union at its council meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia today.

The former Sri Lanka flyhalf and current president of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union will replace the longstanding Hong Kong representative Ross Mitchell who is set to take over another role with the regional governing body.

Asanga is set to become the right hand of Trevor Gregory, Hong Kong Rugby Football Union chairman who is expected to become the president of ARFU for the next two years.

Hong Kong’s vision has evidently made them a strong stakeholder in Asian Rugby. Action from the Youth Asiad, when Hong Kong’s Youth side played against their counterparts of Sri Lanka in Colombo. - File pic

In the past this position was largely symbolic and was given to the country which was to host the next rugby Asian which was then held every two years.

But that was when Asia comprised of only eight rugby-playing nations – Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan – resulting in a comfortable time-honoured musical chairs where every two years the incumbent would give way to the country due to host the next edition of the Asiad.

All this has changed today with the game all but unrecognisable in one of the fastest growing regions in the world which at last count had 28 countries playing the game.

Not only has the old Asiad been shelved, but it has been replaced by an annual Asian Five Nations 15-a-side competition which next year celebrates its seventh anniversary. On top of this there is also the vibrant Asian Sevens Series where Sri Lanka finished third behind Japan and Hong Kong, for the first time in its history.

With the game becoming more professional – although in truth only one country is truly professional in Asia and that is Japan – the roles of elected officials have also subtly changed.

The days of being president of ARFU meant taking on largely a ceremonial role with the main task being to organise one’s own Asiad is a distant memory.

Yes, in recent years too the ARFU presidency has taken a back seat with Ross Mitchell, a former Hong Kong policeman and referee, handling the day-to-day matters in his role as secretary-general.

All this is set to change if Gregory and Asanga are confirmed as the top two officials of ARFU today. They are both uncontested and their nominations are expected to be rubber-stamped.

The top Hong Kong rugby official is known for his hard work ethic and is a go-getter. He has been at the forefront of the game in Hong Kong, pushing for more grounds and more funding from the government.

A vice-president of ARFU, Gregory has been deeply involved in the Asian rugby scene and has been chiefly instrumental for bringing on board sponsors HSBC who have backed the Asian Five Nations at both 15s and sevens.

The presence of Gregory and other Hong Kong officials within ARFU – Dermot Agnew, another former HKRFU chairman, has been the treasurer for more than two decades and will step down today making way for another Hong Kong official Mike Haynes – has given the Asian administration a rock-solid foundation.

One of the biggest strengths of Hong Kong rugby has always been, and continues to be, its administration. It has been dedicated people like Gregory and Agnew who have devoted endless hours, all voluntarily, to the development of the game.

They have been the bedrock on which the HKRFU stands today. It is such volunteers who set the foundation for the Hong Kong Sevens which today is the biggest and most successful sevens tournament in the world.

There has been no hint of scandal or controversy surrounding these officials. Although they all might support different clubs in Hong Kong – Gregory for instance is a diehard founding member of DeA Tigers while Agnew has always been a Hong Kong Football Club man – when it comes to the national interests they all pull together as one.

It is such single-minded commitment of these individuals which has seen the HKRFU grow into one of the richest unions in Asia, if not the world. At last count it had more than HK$273 million in reserves in the bank – a staggering 4.5 billion rupees.

As mentioned, Gregory and company have shifted this dedication to ARFU too and they have been largely responsible for the growth across Asia which sees rugby being played today from Afghanistan to Laos.

In reality, without Hong Kong, ARFU would not be even close to being regarded as one of the most progressive regions in world rugby. Japan, the major power in Asia, has outgrown the region and is not too interested in what happens.

For Japan the world is its oyster. They have bigger fish to fry especially having netted the Rugby World Cup in 2019. It was different in the past when the late Shiggy Konno was around. But he too realised – in the early 90s – that for Japan to continue to grow, it has to look outside Asia.

You cannot fault with that. Japan is ambitious and is looking at becoming a top-10 country in the world. They can only achieve that by playing outside Asia and they do that in the Pacific Nations Cup annually. This year they even hosted the All Blacks and played against European nations too.

With Japan’s focus elsewhere, it has been left to Hong Kong to carry the torch in Asia. South Korea is insular, China’s administration set-up is non-existent, Thailand and Singapore among others cannot hold office with authority, so it has been left, almost by default for Hong Kong to steer the ARFU ship.

And they have done a great job so far. It can only get better with Gregory set to step in with Asanga as his right hand.
Asanga, and Sri Lanka, is bound to benefit by this association. And having our own man at the top administrative table will help push the SLRFU agenda too.

But for everything to work smoothly, we have to show that back at home we are also free of club politics. This has been a scourge in the past, but something which is hopefully a thing of the past.

If Asanga can take a lesson out of the book of Gregory and the HKRFU, Sri Lanka rugby is set to prosper. Watch and learn must be his mantra as he steps up to the mark today.