The Sunday Times Sports - Rugby “80”

Former Australian Rugby Union Chairman Dilip Kumar is a man on a mission. His mission was envisioned in a dream as a lad playing school Rugby Union in Sri Lanka of how to make the rugby playing nations of the world unite.

Dilip’s new hierarchical role in the development of rugby is as President of International Association of Rugby 80, (IAR80). It is an organisation formed to iron out the disadvantages faced by some rugby nations mainly due to their smaller stature or others faced with issues relating to lack of funding, infrastructure, training facilities and related problems which is holding them down from being noticed on a global scale. It has been a dream in Dilip’s mind to deliver to the rugby playing world, a level playing field where players, immaterial of where they come from, can compete on an even keel. And that dream is not far from being made a complete reality

Dilip’s most recent foray into the administration of a game who his dad Sri Bala Ratnam said he openly admits to “loving with a passion,” has a distinct ingredient to bring every rugby playing country on the globe onto a world stage.

A livewire of New South Wales and Australian rugby, Dilip Kumar’s dedication and commitment to succeed in anything he undertakes is unquestionable and has administrators around the world reaching out to be part of his new plans to develop and foster the game worldwide.

The Sri Lankan born former Trinity College Lion says his dream was born from the memory of a stored conversation he had with a former great of Sri Lankan rugby, Kavan Rambukwella who said it would be interesting if Sri Lankans could match the world’s best physically, because they otherwise had the skill and talent to take them on in every other respect. Dilip says he did not forget those words, and from it was born Rugby 80, an idea primarily set on how to make all nations compete on an even basis physically.

“It’s surprising that other sport like Boxing is categorised on weight divisions but no one thought of introducing a similar format in Rugby to even out the contest”says Dilip. This type of brilliant reasoning is what has made Dilip Kumar the successful man he is. He has served the game of rugby with distinction in Australia some of his achievements being, funding the Warringal Club in New South Wales whom he raised from financial ruin to prosperity before moving on to greater things.

Playing for Trinity College, Kandy in 1970 Dilip recalled the “silky skills” of fellow college stars Mohan Sayaham and Irwin Howie two outstanding Fly-half’s whose talents flowed to club and national level.

But those skills were never to be seen by the rest of the world due mainly to Sri Lanka’s inability to match it physically with the cream of international rugby. Dilip later played for up-country club Dickoya before migrating to Australia in 1974.

Rugby 80 is very similar to the normal game of rugby as we know it, the essential difference is that the average weight of players on the pitch cannot exceed 80kg.

The weight of an individual player cannot exceed 88kg.

The newly formatted game promises to be a truly international game paralleling the traditional game of Rugby with more appeal of a faster, more attractive, less physical game to attract a broader participation and a Global audience.

The game’s other interesting aspects are:

.The game is played to IRB laws with Under 19 scrum regulations.

.Rugby 80 is being embraced throughout the world more eagerly than other modified .Rugby games, such as 7’s, 10’s and Touch or Tag Rugby. .Rugby 80 can be adopted immediately by any Union in the world.

“We were thrilled with our initial competition in Phuket, Thailand last year and there are definite signs that the new concept will take off worldwide” Dilip said.

“It gives an opportunity for many people to be involved with fostering the sport” he added. Weight restricted rugby was introduced into senior rugby grades in New Zealand some ten years ago, in response to falling registration numbers, caused by disillusionment amongst smaller stature players who were being physically injured by much larger opponents, frequently from Pacific Islander origins.

The Rugby 80 idea has travelled to Japan, where authorities saw the value, not only to Japan, but to the whole of Asia, The Japanese have since included the development of Rugby-80 in their bid to stage the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

In last years, international tournament in Phuket, Thailand, promoted by the Thai Rugby Union, the teams participating were Thailand, Japan, New Zealand (Auckland) and Australia (New South Wales). The tournament was won by Australia and, interestingly, Thailand led New Zealand at half-time.

Incredible as it sounds, the blueprint recently unveiled by the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) approved extended arm for rugby’s development, is a lot simpler than it sounds, and has an exiting aura about it on how to bring lesser known countries playing the game, to the forefront

A committee for the development of the game has been set up headed by former outstanding Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer. The rest of the committee includes Ken Baguley from New Zealand, Don McBain from Thailand and Koji Tokumasu from Japan.

Dwyer said “The opportunity to play the game at the highest level against the best in the world presents itself in Thailand again this year in which countries such as Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Thailand, Australia (New South Wales, Waratahs), New Zealand (Auckland Blues), South Africa ,an Australian Aboriginal selection known as the Dingoes, and maybe representative sides from England and France face off under the new 80 format”. He acknowledged that lack of international exposure is definitely to the detriment of the sport and that was why he and his committee would work tirelessly to make the new program a success.

Quizzed about the role of the new body and whether the blueprint included IRB funded projects to improve infrastructure, sending highly qualified coaches and experts on training methods to lift the standard of countries needing help Dwyer said, “Absolutely”, but he added that this may be available further down the track..

The outline of Rugby 80 is that it is a new strand of Rugby Union that is dominated by skill, technique and team work rather than physical size

The future of Rugby 80 is seen as a broad structure similar to that which exists in the highest level of the current game, with plans for intra-national competitions, inter –provincial matches/competitions and international matches with perhaps a regional tri-nations competition in various parts of the world. As an extension to the plan, a Quadrennial international competition—like a World Cup, is a future possibility.

A plan such as this would no doubt help promote and recapture the glamour and wild acclaim the game once enjoyed in countries such as Sri Lanka whose recent standard has suffered due to lack of sufficient international exposure.

The game in Sri Lanka has also been pushed back from its former rating as the island’s number one sport by cricket, whose winning effort at the 1996 World Cup proved their ability to compete with the world’s best one-on-one and win, which has in turn, projected the country prominently on the sporting map...Rugby ,since then, has been consigned to the scrap heap with not many sponsors wanting to be involved in it.

Some subsequent comment emerging from the Wellington Rugby Football Union in New Zealand confirms the future for this variation of the game.

" It has brought a new lease of life to lower grade club rugby, yet it carries the same sort of passion and enthusiasm as the premier grades.......In 2002 and 2003, representative matches were played between the two unions ( Wellington and Auckland ) with the level of rugby played being likened to that of any other representative level.......

When you consider that the majority of these players wouldn't be playing rugby if it weren't for the (Rugby-80 ) grades, you realise how important this grade has been to Wellington rugby

Rugby experts especially in the Asian region view the new committee as a breath of fresh air as it provides a basis for optimism that the competition gap between dominant powerhouses Japan and South Korea and the rest, could be brought closer, or that the lesser nations will be able to topple them from the pedestal they have stood on for decades in the Asian circuit.

The projected broad based future of IAR 80 is a format such as this which will give improving teams an opportunity to match it with the best.