A master plan needed

To describe this man as a legend of rugby would be a disservice to the way he played the game. And also to his prowess as an administrator of sport he loved and continues to have a passion for. From the time he represented St. Peter’s, this guy was known to be special. And he proved himself both on the field as a player and Captain of the National team and off the field as the President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) and Chairman of the Selection Committee on no less than three occasions.

Former loose head prop forward Hadji Omar does not mince his words, calls it as he sees it and has no hidden agenda’s. It was in fact during Omar’s tenure as President of the SLRFU that Sri Lanka won the bowl trophy for the first and only time at the Hong Kong Sevens back in 1984.

So what was Omar’s recipe for success and how can Sri Lanka get back to winning ways? The Sunday Times posed these two questions and several others to Omar and this is what he said; “Preparation is one of the key aspects. It is well known that the Hong Kong Sevens is held at the end of March.

In my day what we used to do is as soon as the domestic season is over, we select a pool of players and start the coaching programme. We used to coach them six days a week and more often than not once in the morning and again in the evening. You cannot play a couple of tournaments, train for a month and hope to be competitive at international level. In addition as opposed to other countries, players do not maintain their fitness level during the off season. Thus it becomes that much more essential that there is a pool of players constantly in training.”

He added: “Keep in mind that the game is what I would call semi professional here and now it has become all about the money. Players do not seem to take pride in wearing the national jersey. It seems that they get it too easily. Thus it appears they do not have to work hard and perform consistently to earn a national cap. When we won the bowl we had a dedicated team of players and it was that same nucleus that performed well the following year as well.”

“It was only in 1994 that we had a foreign coach. Even so before selecting the final squad we took into consideration what the local coach and the manager had to say. These are the people who have coached the players and know them inside out. Their input is essential before making the final cut so to speak. Furthermore back in the eighties we could take only nine players for the Hong Kong Sevens. Now since we can take twelve, I believe that the ideal composition should be four forwards, six backs and two utility players. One other fact needs to be stated and that is that the international calendar is known well in advance. Thus the domestic tournaments should be scheduled around the international calendar and not vice versa which is what is happening today.”

The SLRFU brought down Kiwi trainer Keith Roberts who submitted an evaluation report. Yet some players on the bottom end of the report were included in the ill fated team that got thumped in all four matches at the Hong Kong Sevens. When asked about the significance of such a report Omar said: “You bring down an international trainer and you have to take his report seriously. The fact is that a player needs to be at around 110 per cent physically and mentally to perform well on the international stage, where as the same player could around 60 per cent still do well in the domestic league.

This is why I said the key is to be training constantly. Not only does this method benefit an individual, but it helps the team as a whole because they develop the understanding needed to be competitive at international level. And yes I agree that some players may be putting club before country because they get paid more for playing for their club and they know they will be selected to represent their country. The national jersey comes to them too easily.”

When asked what the remedy for Sri Lankan rugby was, Omar said; “A master plan needs to be put in to effect. The plan should for a period of five years or more and must be adhered by whoever is in charge of the SLRFU. But the change must begin with the constitution of the SLRFU itself. In the eighties the Western Province had something like eight votes, the schools association had one vote and the Central Province had one vote. Now I believe that the Central Province has 12 votes even though Kandy SC is the only club that plays in the ‘A’ Division.

I have said this for some time that the constitution needs to be changed and only clubs that play ‘A’ Division should have a vote at the annual general meeting. In my day the Vice President was from the schools section and he would run affairs from the main body. Either the module I had or similar one needs to be put in place. That would stop players from dictating terms to the union and also put an end to controversy that seems to surround schools rugby these days.”