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To be among the best in Asia
By Vimal Perera
The story of Rugby shifts from the familiar Sri Lankan playing fields to Alamaty in Kazakasthan. Sri Lanka Rugby, on the 25th of October, plays the first of the round two matches of the rugby world cup qualifying series. This is played on a home and away basis. The second leg is to be played in Colombo on the 12th of November. In the world ranking Sri Lanka is 49th (from 69th not so long ago) and Kazakhstan is 48th. Ahead of us from this region are Japan 16th, Korea 22nd, Hong Kong 29th, China 38th, Chinese Taipei 42nd and Arabian Gulf 46th.

It will be no easy task to beat Kazakhstan. A team that is a lot heavier. They also have the advantage of the weather. We need not despair but can live in hope. At the beginning the season 2005 did we think that Sri Lanka will beat Thailand and Singapore?

The team that leaves from Katunayake is a confident one. Not only because of their recent taste of victory in the international scene. They will also have the comfort that they have undergone training for a longer time. The team has been together, and practiced together, and in order to acclimatized to colder conditions have been based in Radella in the last days of practice.

It seems the game is handled professionally. This would encourage the players to perform better. The SLRFU this year has been able to get together sponsors who will continue to be there with the game reaching higher status. Joining in the success of the game are Caltex, Singer, Sri Lankan Airlines and others. Joining in will be Ceylinco Insurance Company, who will provide match Insurance cover for the International events.

If we come on top from the two leg matches ours will be next to meet either Arabian Gulf or China in the next Round. Thereafter it is a matter of climbing up the ladder to be among the first three in Asia. The plan SLRFU has in mind for rugby in Sri Lanka. In Sevens SL stands 5th now in Asia and the aim is to be among the first three in 2006. A far cry one may have thought at the beginning of the season in 2005. The possibility is there now.

The future for Sri Lanka Rugby is of hope. This however requires continuing the administration and management of the game in a professional manner.
To achieve these objectives the talent is there but the skills may not be the same as of the best in Asia. That is Japan. Our aim should be to have at least three players for each position that would compare with those playing for Japan.

That is where we must want to be. That is among the best in Asia. We boast of a number of players, a team a level and a high participation at school level tournaments. Why is it then that we find it difficult to match the skill level required? This is a result of not having a proper structure for training the trainers. It is possible to guide the talent to win and perform and win trophies with like playing like. To train persons in the skills and techniques require the input of knowledge to develop the coaches. There is a need in the first instance to encourage the coaches to follow the programs and have a system of accreditation.

The structure for coach training has been in place his year with one workshop already held. There will be more coaching workshops scheduled for November and December. These workshops are to be conducted by the national coach George Simpkin. The difficult task is to get the coaches to follow the workshops and to ensure that clubs and schools recognize the qualified. The schools have agreed to have in place a system that will require engagement of qualified coaches beginning next year. This alone will not be adequate to ensure that the levels of skills and techniques are improved. It may be necessary to have a system of assessing the performance of coaches to ensure quality.

This will need the services of some ex senior coaches to be trained to monitor and report. This has to follow with further training. Training has to be a continuous process and a milestone set so that performance can be monitored. Say to be among the best in Asia in X year’s time. SLRFU plans to be among the first three in Sevens next year. We should plan to have X number of coaches accredited in each year and see that in three years all clubs have accredited coaches.

Plan for X number of schools to have qualified coaches. In three years and all schools will have trained coaches at under 13 and 15 levels. If these are set in place then we can have a pool of players in three years where there will be at least two equally good players for each position. Maybe these will be discussed at the rugby congress to be held in December and a strategic vision will emerge.

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