The Carlton Sevens for 2010 is now relegated to the history books. The tournament had its exciting moments for the spectators as well as viewers. Spain shocked the Fijian team on day one but could not match the Fijian performance during the final. Sri Lanka cannot be happy with the performance though they ended winning the shield final. Sri Lanka is neither short of talent nor skills as they showed in their first round game against the South African Vipers. In their performance against the SA Vipers displayed their talent as well as their skill. As they play in fits and starts one begins to wonder why we cannot get to a winning way.
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It is the result of clumsy mistakes that they make on the field and the off field antics that prevents them to be where they should actually be. The unforced errors that are made are neither because they don’t know the game nor because they don’t understand what they need to do. They had the African the team cornered and restricted to a very small margin and the game would have gone either way.
We then took two options that were more suitable for a lower level of rugby. The advantage was squandered and the game was lost. Thereafter the performance until the shield final was very much below that of a winning team. I cannot understand a scrum half does not know the rules of engagement when putting the ball into a scrum. If you bring the ball below the knees you got to put it in. If you bring it down you have no time to be showing a referee of the other mans actions. You then conceded a free kick that made us loose advantage and possession.
 This ended in a try being scored. Thereafter a little man tried to dummy his way through an opposition that was more than a match if you go into contact. Again we lost possession and the advantage and extended the lead further beyond reach. These are two incidents among many that sent us back paddling. The mistake of going to contact was stupidity. The other was manmade. Bad habits of domestic rugby such as trying to teach the referee his job has no place at the international level. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes and continue on our forward journey. You got to concentrate on your job and let the referee do his job. I cannot see a way out unless and until we realize our mistakes and keep correcting them
During the tournament I met Jarrad Gallagher the IRB General Manger for Asia. Gallagher said that it was not unrealistic for Sri Lanka to expect the funding that has been not released. He opined that they could get the amounts allocated including the arrears. However it will not be an open cheque but tied to results being shown in the development and spread of the game. He said that he was impressed with the development plans presented to him. However the results of such plans have to be seen on the ground. It should not be mere paper documents. The results have to be seen is what he a said.
It is in this background that one hears and reads about the non attendance of provincial unions for the meeting that presented the development plan. It was reported that only two provinces that were represented. The Secretary of the SLRFU denied this when I spoke to him and a said that it was two unions that were not present. Others say that the meeting was attended various people working in rugby related officers. With the technology available it does not need professionals to take a photograph. The danger as I hear is that IRB representative had taken photos of the audience. If this is shown to some who have been previously representing the provinces and people are identified then the chance of seeing the duplicity plunges Sri Lanka into a further spots. If there is any truth then we have been very foolish for presuming that all are fools.
On the other hand if somebody has given issues that are not true: it is a very bad deed. Either party who is at fault is definitely not a lover of rugby. Hopefully the version of the union is correct. If so there is nothing to worry and the sour taste will disappear. If there has been an attempt to camouflage events the damage will be very high .Let us hope that these are rumors and not actual. Whatever it be The Asian Region General manger of the IRB will be here in the coming week to pursue what is expected from his job. That is to manage rugby in Asia and discuss with the governing body as to what plans are afoot and to present his recommendations. Hope is still very much alive and it must materialize fast. If not the longer it takes for development plans to be on hold the more difficult it will be to revive.
Vimal Perera is a former
Rugby Referee, coach and
Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB |
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