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At the bottom of the begging BOWL of Asian Rugby
By Vimal Perera
The 19th Asian Rugby Football tournament was played in Hong Kong from the 27th to the 31st of October 2004. Sri Lanka played in the bowl together with China and India and Pakistan. Having beaten Pakistan Sri Lanka lost to China. To my view, having witnessed the 18th Asiad in Thailand and the 19th in Hong Kong, Sri Lanka's relegation to the bowl and the subsequent defeat in the hands of China can be the contribution of two factors.

Sri Lanka seems to have gone down in its standards and skill levels while the rest of Asia show improvement. Particular areas of worry are the inability to retain the ball, the inability to give a good pass, the ability to pass to one side only, as well as the suspect tackling skills. To win one must have possession, continuity and move forward. If players cannot do this and also tend to lose the lineouts then one is battling against hope. Quintin Israel writing to our sister paper the Daily Mirror explains some of the finer points which may interest the coaches who have to impart these skills if we are to succeed at the National level. These articles should be of interest especially as there is a dearth of reading material on this subject. For those who would be interested there is also a wealth of knowledge available on the Internet as compared to a few years ago. While knowledge is available why is it that the skill levels in relation to basics dropping? The administrators should to look at this and develop a coaching structure which will have a coach accreditation scheme.

Another area of concern is whether the Sri Lankan had adequate preparation? The lads are no doubt talented but two to three weeks of being together, definitely, is not enough. The talented boys, if not properly nurtured in their skills, will find it hard to compete with those who train over a long period. The boys, despite being handicapped, played well. If the Management does not plan with a long-term vision then these brave young boys, some fresh from school, will only have regrets.

It cannot be the responsibility of the coach to drill basics at the national Level. This will have to be done with proper planning and a structure. This should start at the school level. There should be a team of coaches with the National coach who should concentrate on shaping a squad for Asiads 2006 and 2008. This may require some of our past national coaches to put their heads together in the interest of the game in Sri Lanka. They must have one direction, form an "Elite Pool" and improve the Skills in the short run while the structure is put in place on the long term.

One point of satisfaction was the presence of a few Sri Lankan Players led by the man who always tries to edge his team mates for better performance " Pavithra". They were watching every match. I am sure they learnt a thing or two.

Those responsible must look ahead than debating on how teams were slotted to the Cup, Bowl or Plate. It is no use asking how Thailand, who lost to Sri Lanka, play in the plate while Sri Lanka were in the Bowl. Just as much as Japan, who have a bigger plan brought their second string and won the championship, may be Thailand did something similar. Ask the Thais or just compare the names of those who were in Colombo with those that played in Hong Kong.

During the Asiad 2004 the ARFU appointed referees, on a merit based system, on independent assessment. This is new to the region but will be a feature in the future. The six referees in the panel included One each from Arabian Gulf, Hong Kong, Korea Sri Lanka ( Nizam Jamaldeen) and two from Japan,. While the touch Judges were from China, Chinese Taipei, India, Pakistan, Singapore and Thailand.

At the same time Sri Lankan Referee ( Dilroy Fernando) was officiating at the Singapore Sevens where top teams from the world were participating . Besides Sri Lanka referees were from the international Panel, Australia (3) New Zealand ( 3), South Africa ( 3) Singapore (3) and Kenya (1).

The Dubai Sevens the first of the IRB sevens to be played in December 2nd -3rd 2004 has Sri Lankan Dilroy Fernando and D. Nimal to officiate as touch judges. This is a major event in the world sevens calendar,

While Sri Lankan rugby is at the bottom of the bowl in Asia the referees are invited to officiate at the top level. This too will be in shambles if the trend of rugby continues as it is. To all those who are in the system of making players it is time to look inwards than to blame others for poor performance and split hairs on how Thailand is in the plate when we in the world rankings are 59th and Thailand are 61st. The answer will be clear if you study the rating. Or is it not as clear like the hazed road ahead for rugby?

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