Gunaratne sees the value of foreign aid
Sadly Sri Lanka will not think of fielding foreign players in the near future says Lasitha Gunaratne (below)
Vice President of Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) Lasitha Gunaratne, justified the Sri Lanka 15s team’s overall performance at the recently held Asian Division I Rugby Championship, stating that they fielded the best possible lineup. “Sri Lanka put up their next best available team for the recent tournament in Malaysia. The players were selected from their overall performances in the recently concluded domestic League Championship. As you may know as many as eight good players could not make into the team due to injuries sustained during the league. But yet the national team played to their best,” Gunaratne was sharing his thoughts on the just concluded tournament in Malaysia.
Summing up on the incidents occurred during the past year, since Sri Lanka won the Asian Division I last season and failed to play a repêchage game, which could have taken the Tuskers to the Top 3 this year. ”In the previous Asian Rugby Division I Championship, Sri Lanka topped the group with inspirational display of rugby. Thereafter they were to play a repêchage game, against the bottom seeded team of the Asian Rugby Championship Top 3. Therefore Sri Lanka was to play Korea, who finished last behind Japan and Hong Kong. The very reason, that the encounter did not work out was, the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) sent us a letter in 2014, one year prior to the Division I Tournament, requesting confirmation from our end, which was not fair by all means, as this was too early to confirm.
The letter also stated the fixture was to be played in Korea, but the venue too was not mentioned. By playing Korea and defeating them, will surely give Sri Lanka, a chance to go up the ladder one or two slots in the rankings, but it was also a risk,” he pointed that if we failed, we would have also lost a slot or two. According Gunaratne the repechage game never materialised and the same brand of rugby that was displayed by the Tuskers last season was visible, maybe due to the fact that the absence of foreign players in the Club League. That could have made a sizable impact when it came to competitiveness. On having foreign players in club rugby, Gunaratne pointed out, the decision is solely a responsibility of the clubs.
This season premier clubs such as Kandy SC, CR and FC and Havelocks SC, wanted to have one or two foreign players in their teams, but other clubs could not do so, due to financial constrains. Eventually, as there was no agreement among the clubs, they came in to a conclusion that no foreigners should be involved in this year’s tournament. But many believe having foreigners playing in clubs, do have an impact on the overall play of rugby in the clubs and the local players in general. Sri Lanka had some Fijian flavour some years back when three such players were in the 15s and 7s squads but with in the aftermath their whereabouts are not to be known. Gunaratne was not willing to make any statement on the issue as he was not aware of the procedure how the Fijian players made their way into the Sri Lanka camp.
But he explained how it is possible and accepted way to field a foreign player at international level. “A foreign player is eligible to represent, a country besides his country of birth considering three requirements. The first is, if the particular player’s country of birth, though he resides in another country. Secondly, if the players, parents or grandparents, are born in his chosen country of play. And finally, the player is eligible to represent a country, if he for resides 36 months. But in the case of Olympics it is totally different. A foreign player can represent his adopted country with a mere passport”. Malaysia proved the importance of having the services of foreign players in the long run. For a country like Sri Lanka, if rugby needs to be taken into the next level and make a mark in Asian region they would have to follow-suit.
Even top rugby playing countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Japan are not reluctant to make use of foreign talent. Gunaratne however indicated that Sri Lanka is not in a position to add foreign power in the near future. At the recently concluded Asian Division I Championship Sri Lanka came up with a plucky display at the end, under the captaincy of Sudarshana Muthutanthri to sign off at second position, next to Malaysia. They came on top against Singapore and Philippines, but lost to the hosts, who had foreigners, in fact many Fijians in their ranks.