Lankan rugby in the ascent – especially in the sevens
View(s):Japan defended the Asian Games Rugby 7s Gold medal beating Hong Kong in the final by 24 points to 12. With 2016 Olympics hovering around the Japanese heads it was time to release the players from the rugby league to perform at the Asian Games. Japan who has so far lost both Asian sevens series games to Hong Kong was focused in retaining the Gold. Sri Lanka was consistent in their performance in Sevens and they narrowly lost on the Bronze medal going down to Korea by 3 points.
Sri Lanka however cannot continue to perform at this pace and hope for a place in the points table
This reinforces the fact that we are there when it comes to sevens. We need that little jerk to push us over the wall. Sri Lanka went to this tournament without the Fijian Coach Setefano Cakau who we understand returned to serve in the selection panel in his country. Asanga Seneviratne who is also the President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union stepped to coach the side and maintained the position in Asian Sevens Rugby.
The focus in the future should be to build on the talent of sevens rugby and be among the best in Asia. Probably we need to have more sevens rugby in the future. Immediately there will be a howl of protest from the clubs that it will interfere with their league season. I believe you can play it without interference. Sevens rugby needs young, athletic, fit and agile players. Why not play a Sevens game using the schools leaving talent and play one or two sevens games before the big game. Use players who are Under-23 and they will develop to challenge and be the fresh legs on the park.
The news meanwhile is that the league tournament is expected to start in the last week of October so that the first round is completed before Christmas holidays. There is also news that most clubs do not want foreign nationals playing in the league. While some would only support those foreigners eligible to play for the National team be allowed to play. Probably that should be a three or five year plan where you get down young players who will in five years be eligible to play for the national team.
This makes more sense than to make a sudden halt as otherwise the game will lose the excitement. It will also be a negative effect in developing players to face the Asian might. To develop what we need is not a competition among likes at home but a fight against better players that will automatically improve or players. This is more in line with the thinking of the IRB who group nations into different tiers for better games. This is also in line with the thinking that if countries are to improve the developing teams must play outside their region. Argentina and Japan are examples. It is time to pull off the myopic thinking hat off and look ahead as we have the talent to be there.
The future of the game needs a good feed from the schools. The comparison of our standard can be gauged by our Yo Yo like performance in the Asian Under-19 Sevens Series. We are elated that Sri Lanka rose to be second on the last day form fourth by the end if the second round matches. Sri Lanka with a solitary win and bonus points claimed the second place in the tournament ahead of Chinese Taipei and South Korea who also has one win each. Next year Sri Lanka has a better chance of a better performance with South Korea who were placed fourth being relegated to the lower tier. Sri Lanka however cannot continue to perform at this pace and hope for a place on the points table but need to plan to keep themselves up the tree with a better climb.
The future of the juniors who form the first step of national rugby has to planned and nurtured. Talking of ‘National Rugby’ the juniors too are a national team. The SLRFU constitution is specific in the attire to be worn and the emblem to be used by representative sides. The constitution however has not included the junior national sides in the list of representative sides. It follows that it is only prudent to look at things in a practical way as for all context this is a junior national side recognized through the governing body for rugby in Sri Lanka. Unless considered so they are not eligible to play in IRB/ARFU sanctioned events.
I was at a loss to understand the why the elephant emblem was blotched from the attire of all players. These I believe are a very childish action of those who were involved to say no or deny the emblem. The Union blames the schools section for this act while the schools view that they did away with use of the Elephant as the Union did not help the schools. This type of silly behavior does not portray a good future for the game if we continue to split hairs without working to be in harmony for the betterment of the game.
Sri Lanka beat Chinese Taipei convincingly while getting second place more by default than a sterling performance. It is time to sit back and talk about what needs to be done if the game is to be taken forward. Obviously we have the talents which need to be nurtured and harvested. A good blade of green on the paddy filed does not produce an optimum yield unless cared for and fed. Discipline is a key factor in developing a winning mind.
We played well against South Korea and probably lost as we did not use the men on the bench wisely or because we did not gauge the best man for the job. Irrespective of what you did in the schools season for your school the better man has to play in a National team. The little birds around hotel road in mount have a story to chirp. It is better to rephrase and say the bats as it was night when the little baby boys were roaming when they should be safely tucked in bed getting ready for the next match. Or was it that they had already given the match to Hong Kong in their minds.
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB