From the Ground up

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Over the past couple of years there has been much talk about the development of the Sri Lankan National Rugby team which has made giant strides with the new administration. The team has performed relatively well recently in both fifteens and sevens rugby but is certainly in no position to compete at a global level.

The Tuskers are ranked 5th in Asia in the sevens circuit and 39th in the IRB fifteens rankings. From Asia there is Japan, Korea and Hong-Kong who are all in the top 30 with Japan getting amongst the top 15 in the world.

Development is a long and painstaking process, one which has to blossom from the very bottom. The current administration of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) has been working hard to build up Sri Lanka’s domestic rugby. Unfortunately this has proven to be more of a quick fix rather than a long term solution. The National team winning the tier two Asiad and winning bowl’s and shield’s in sevens rugby in this day and age is just not good enough. Sri Lanka has the potential to not just compete but win at the highest level of Asian Rugby.

U 20 standards

The Sri Lankan under 20 team which should be preparing players for professional rugby, has gone to tatters in the last four years.  Twelve years ago Jivan Goonetilleke led Sri Lanka to the Asian Championship whilst qualifying for the Junior World Championship. Four years ago Sri Lanka was still competitive becoming one of the top three teams in Asia competing with Hong Kong and Japan but today the country does not find a place in the highest division. The SLRFU needs to work on getting this team better prepared and geared to battle at the pinnacle of Asian competition.

What the best do

In the most competitive rugby nations like New Zealand, England, Australia and South Africa junior rugby development is the key to their continued success. The respective Rugby governing bodies develop their players from a very young age and between the ages of 19-21 players are physically prepared for International competition. By this age talent has been identified and skills have been developed and players are ready to take the next step. In contrast the Sri Lankan players are just not ready for that level of rugby at least till they reach the age of 24. The issue is not the SLRFU but the Sri Lanka schools rugby system.

These countries all have development squads where they begin preparing their players by around 13 or 14. These development squads help the administrators identify talent and nurture that talent into something special.

Drama as a substitute for Rugby 

The Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) has absolutely no idea how to develop rugby players and that is costing us at International level. Their failures have made schools rugby more of a reality TV show rather than a sporting tournament.

Everyone is more focussed on Trinity’s haka or Royal’s walk off or Isipathana gouging eyes instead of the quality of Rugby on display. This is only because the SLSRFA allows these fiascos to occur repeatedly. It is almost like they believe bad publicity is better than no publicity. Sponsors pump millions into schools rugby, fans pay thousands to watch rugby but all they see is drama. The talk about town has gone from who has the better rugby team to which team is more disciplined and which referee is more biased.

We produce some of the most competitive schools rugby in the world but it is only competitive because everyone is mediocre. Four years ago the ‘A’ division consisted of five good teams and five mediocre teams, now we have eight horrible teams and 2 mediocre teams. Players like Dharshana Attipola, Anurudda Wilwara, Reza Mubarak, Naren Dhason, Mohamed Sheriff, VIshwamithra Jayasinghe, Fazil Marija, Ishan Noor and the Weerarathne brothers could have walked into any club team by the age of 18. The current schools players do not stand a chance at a semi-professional level. This is because they are clouded by all the garbage and politics surrounding them. Instead of talking about Dhason’s tactical brilliance or Wilwara’s lethal defense we talk about how well Jamaldeen reacted to being kicked in the head or how Royal reacted to Trinity performing a haka.

Preparation at a young age- Proper coaching

The junior rugby in Sri Lanka needs to be rectified. Players come into the first xv team not knowing the rules of the game and in some occasions not even knowing how to throw a proper pass or make a basic tackle. The reason for this is that parental involvement; it has made rugby a spectacle rather than a sport. We would prefer to put 20 kids on the field and see them chase a ball around rather than teach a few of them to make a technically correct pass or tackle.

Majority of the schools employ unqualified coaches for junior level rugby who use the techniques taught to them when they were 12 years which does not work in modern rugby. Coaches are not at fault.  The administrators must start screening all coaches and providing them with training; ensuring a certain level of qualification, especially at a junior level. While this is a primary requirement to coaching around the world, in Sri Lanka coaches do not even require to register with the union.

Tournament debacles and senseless laws

Another issue we face at junior level is the lack of match exposure. Players need proper match experience. They need to play rugby competitively to gain exposure and need to play in properly administered tournaments. All the junior rugby tournaments are just a show put on by the schools union with no focus or purpose behind the organising of these events. The disorganisation and chaos behind the scenes are completely ignored. In 2010 the under 16 All Island tournament was scheduled so badly that they ended up playing four minutes a half in every game. What is the logic in putting players on the field to play 8 minutes of Rugby?

From under 12-14 Schools rugby is 10 a side and at under 16 it becomes 12 a-side. Ten aside rugby is fine for kids between the ages of nine and 14 but why not play 7’s? Many say sevens is the future for Sri Lanka rugby, getting players used to playing sevens rugby is the perfect way to develop the game. Sevens requires a much higher level of skill at fitness and playing sevens will force kids to develop both, which in turn will develop Sri Lankan standards as a whole.

The Union should also be including 7’s tournaments into the calendar for every age group above under 14. Playing sevens rugby on a full sized pitch will grow skill levels tremendously. Players will get used to defending as a unit and structuring a defensive line. It will also grow the ball handling skills and not to mention the impact on fitness levels.

The biggest issues start from the under 16 level where they only play 12 aside rugby which ends up serving no purpose at all as it’s played on a full sized pitch and does not include a third row.  Naturally a third row adds a lot more to the game, it enhances the game experience for the players. It means set pieces will become more competitive and it also exposes rucks and mauls to a higher level of contesting. It also means that inside backs will start getting used to attacking with flankers coming at them. Third row players also get exposed to playing in these positions early, it’s a perfect age to identify what positions a player would be successful at. All these things will prepare players for first xv rugby at a young age.

Match exposure for Under 18’s

The under 18 age group is the most crucial age group for player development. It is at this age that players begin to understand the game better and is also the opportunity for the development of basic skills; catching, passing, kicking and tackling should all be habitual by this age. Players should  also be playing a massive amount of rugby s this is where they learn how to sustain a full season of rugby. By this age every team should be playing approximately 10-15 games a season on top of 3-4 7’s tournaments.

Unfortunately schools rarely field an under 18 team in league games. The only time this age group do play is if it is a traditional game, on top of this The SLSRFA never organise a under 18 all island tournament either. There are times when these teams prepare all season long and play just 3 or 4 games which is absolutely ridiculous. The main issue here is that the first XV drafts players from the under 18 squad which means the 18’s do not have enough players and cannot field a team.

The solution to this is simple the Union must include concurrent under 18 tournament and force teams to play and if there is a conflict the under 18 games could be played during the week rather than the weekend.

Sri Lanka rugby can never develop internationally if they do not build a strong base. The only way to do that is to have a system where solid players are moulded from a very young age.

It must be remembered that greatness is not born, it must be made.