People in rugby circles are happy with the news that the Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union will be held in March 2010. Yet there a few who are slightly pessimistic that there can always be a slip between the cup and the lip. The reason being the requirement: to send the annual report and accounts of the provinces to prepare the administrative report.

With the IC committed to hold the AGM, I see no reason for second thoughts. Not receiving the report does not seem to be a barrier to hold the AGM. The worst case scenario is to document that the report has not been received. It has. It is in this background that we saw the rugby season for 2010 kickoff at the Royal College Sports Complex grounds. The event was the Western Province Schools under twenty sevens tournament.

A schools Under 20 game in progress

St. Peter’s College Colombo beat their traditional rivals St. Joseph’s College in the Final. It was a resounding victory for the Bambalapitiya School. They showed consistent form complementing the last effort when the Carlton Sevens was won in November 2009. Most of the leading rugby playing schools in the Western province did not take part in this tournament. That was a disappointment. Isipathana, who to my knowledge never misses a tournament, surprisingly opted to keep away. As a spectator I felt their absence and the usual excitement they could have dished out. Also absent were Royal S. Thomas’, and Thurstan. Thus the rugby dished out did not see the flair and excitement associated with schools rugby. The competition being weak the winners had a clear march.

The lack of enthusiasm for the sevens by leading schools does not augur well. That is depending how we look at the future of the game. What is our mission for participation in Asia? Is it to make our mark in Sevens or XV-a-side Rugby? If Sri Lanka is to make its mark and set about its revival in Asia the better step is with the Sevens. For that the need would be to set our long term objectives right. Recent times have been to run the day to day affairs and fire fight. To douse mostly the fires you have set off.

The long term vision was a distant thought as most important was petty issues that end up in quarrels.
The lack of enthusiasm and poor quality rugby from a sevens point of view were compounded by the men in the middle who it was apparent seemed to be handling things beyond their capabilities. This was made worse by the absence of the experienced. I won’t deal on technical issues but will only mention a key aspect of the game that is being focused about by the governors of the game but missed.
Fair contest for the ball is what is being talked of. This requires a stricter application of the laws in four key areas that has seen the decline of scrum resets, kicks in general play and more tries being scored. The application of these four areas is to free the ball for continuity of the game.

The four areas that need focusing are: TACKLING - tackler to release the ball immediately and roll away or get back on his feet. Ensure that there is no going over and especially rocket landing. Give arriving players more freedom to play the ball.

SCRUMS - correct engagement, correct binding and straight body positions and having the ball thrown straight at the scrum, and adherence to other rules when putting in. OFF SIDE IN GENERAL PLAY - Players to stand still until put onside as per law.

OBSTRUCTION at kick offs (Including man in front for sevens) and line outs prior to a maul forming.
The important aspect of the game seemed forgotten as I was reminded of a statement made recently by the President of the IC to the newspapers. He said that one of the best things that had happened to rugby during the reign of the interim committee is bringing order to how the referees’ society functioned. He stated that the referees were charging exorbitant amounts as their fees, which couldn’t be allowed because the fee they charged didn’t conform to the Sports Law of the country.

From what I saw seemed to be no order brought as the senior referee keep away. As the game gets tougher with a new season to begin it is not going to be easy unless pressing issues are sorted. It is not like running with the people from the crowd at the tail end of the season. It may satisfy the vanity of some to think that they have brought order but what is happening is to head toward a chaotic situation.
I also heard grumbling by the organizers about the amount charged by the IC for a day was almost double of what was charged previously. The excuse being that they have to get referees from Kandy. Probably most of the IC members do not know any of this. The usual answer we could have is, I was not aware. So quote the sports law, the panacea for ills.

Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB