As another eventful year passes by, we look at where the Sri Lanka national, U20, Women’s and club rugby stands in the year 2015.
National XV :-
Generally Sri Lanka have only 3 test matches to play in a calendar year in the Asian Region. However, this time it was reduced to 2 matches with the new format, as Asian 5 nations is now reduced to 3 instead of 5. This scheduled might change if Sri Lanka will be playing in the top division next year and they will have 4 games (two home and two away).
Sri Lanka became champions in Division 1 in the Philippines this May. Although there were 4 teams (Philippines, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka) it was played as a semifinal between the ranks of 4th v 7th and 5th v 6th. Certainly the Tuskers performed relatively well beating Kazakhstan (35-14) and Philippines (27-14)with Fazil Marija’s leadership and Johan Taylor’s coaching. However, in the new format brought up by Asia Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Sri Lanka will have to face a promotion-relegation battle with South Korea who came 3rd in the top tier before they get themselves into the top 3 with Hong Kong and Japan.
The perpetual question for Sri Lanka is to find a way to beat Hong Kong and Japan?
In 2014, they got themselves within the top 3 similar to this year, however Sri Lanka Rugby opted not to contend in the top tier, holding themselves back for better preparation. The SLRFU sighted many plans to escalate national rugby and then take on Hong Kong and Japan. As per the new rules the possibility of opting out is disallowed.
Hong Kong on the other hand aims for the place at the Japan 2019 RWC. They have a proper plan, strategy and a system in place. Furthermore it is expected that they will inject some Kiwi’s, Fijians and South Africans in to their squad. They have separated their squads with the famous names like Rowan Varty, Jamie Woodward and Mc Queen brotherswho were a part of the XVs now being drafted to the 7s squad.
Sri Lanka organized the Serendib cup in 2013 which is a phenomenal way forward to contest in terms of gaining more experience and to move forward in the world rankings. But sadly this kind of exposure has not been sustained since, perhaps due to a poor financial planning or politics and personal agendas. Hong Kong played their ‘Cup of Nations’between Zimbabwe and Russia last month where they became runners-up. In case were not aware of how well Hong Kong played against Japan in their last match in May, they lost to Japan 0-3 conceding just a penalty to Ayumu Goromaru who excelled for the Brave Blossoms in the world cup.
National 7’s
A pretty decent year in the shorter format which should be the immediate way forward for Sri Lanka rugby at present. A chance to engrave Sri Lanka’s name in the history books by beating Japan, went a begging at the Race Course Grounds in October in a thrilling 26 – 19 loss. Bringing in Mat Turner ex-England 7s player as the coach was not a bad option although he do not have enough coaching experience, his playing experience in the current world stage added some bite.However, Sri Lanka could only finish 4th in Asia this year which was the same ranking as the last year.
In some games the start was there for the Tuskers but lacked the ability to finish. They were leading 12 – 00 against Hong Kong in the Olympic qualifiers but Hong Kong finished 27 – 12 with a stunning performance in the second half. In the same tournament Hong Kong were leading 10 – 00 in the finals against Japan until the 6 minutes to the final whistle. Japan showed true class to finish 24 – 10 as victors to qualify for Rio 2016.
Fazil Marija handed over the 7’s captaincy to Havelock’s versatile player Sudarshana Muthuthantri in October. Anuradha Herath was outstanding for CR&FC last year and as a result he debuted for the Tuskers in the Borneo 7s. His blistering run and hand offs against the big Tongans was astonishing. Sadly his injury put him out of the scene since then. Anurudda Wilwara is another player whom Hong Kong and Japan are wary of; his upper body strength is a gift and along with his pace can be lethal. Sensational Srinath Sooriyabandara did not have a good start but he came up with his magic as the tournaments passed by. Having said that, it is high time for the nation to divide players into XVs and 7s formats.
Sri Lanka still has a wild card opportunity to qualify for the Olympics but it is a massive challenge to become champions among the 16 nations in a repecharge tournament in Monaco next June. Canada, Chile, Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Morocco, Mexico, Russia, Samoa, South Korea, Spain, Tonga, Tunisia, Uruguay and Zimbabwe are the other countries who will compete for that one available spot in Rio.
Margin for error is so little in the game of 7s, where anything could happen in terms of a win and loss. We already witnessed some unexpected results in the IRB World Series Sevens in Dubai and Cape Town as USA beat New Zealand twice, Kenya beat South Africa, France beat the defending champions Fiji. So fingers crossed for the Tuskers regardless of the results this tournament will bring a priceless experience, especially when playing with all the continents.
Should Sri Lanka inject on foreign blood ?
Despite having Waqawulagi Emori and Joseph Dunn in the Tuskers shirtfor Sri Lanka last year, the island nation could not beat Hong Kong or Japan even though they came close. (Sri Lanka 07 v Hong Kong 10 – 2014 Sept) The Fiji Times and Emori himself were left wondering about the qualification system to play for Sri Lanka after he was selected in Ben Ryan’s extended Fiji squad. However, without foreign blood in the team Sri Lanka topping Asia is unlikely for the next decade or more. There is every possibility of them pulling their socks and beating Hong Kong or Japan once, but there won’t be any consistency. In fact the governing body should have had a long term vision 10 years ago where at a time the foreigners thrived the domestic club seasons.
Whatever said and done club rugby 7s and Mercantile 7s are not enough match-practice to compete in the Asian stage. Not playing Carlton 7s is a big loss for the players and the country. There should certainly be more 7s tournaments happening, else the national/development squad should get more invitational overseas tours at least 3 times before the big task in next June.
National U20
Sri Lanka played for the first time in the Asia U20 sevens tournament with two legs one in Malaysia and the other in Hong Kong in the month of August where they ended as runners up in Malaysia and finishing as plate champs in the second leg in Hong Kong. Once again the juniors could not beat Hong Kong in the group stage despite a good fight ending with a 24 – 19 loss and in the finals 29 – 15. Then came the World Rugby U20 Qualifier previously known as JWRT where Sri Lanka finished runners-up once again going down to Hong Kong 24 – 13 a fortnight ago. As a result the Sri Lanka juniors will not qualify but Japan and Hong Kong are through.
The second try by Hong Kong with a cross field kick by the fly half Hugo Styles to the winger who scored through a perfectly timed run and catch speaks volumes of the skill level, awareness and the mindset of Hong Kong team.
Beating Hong Kong seems to be Sri Lanka’s Achilles’ Heel!
The Sri Lanka juniors showed good individual performances with the likes of Omalka Gunarathne, Kevin Dixon, Buddima Piyarathne, Mithila Perera, Nishon Perera, Umesh Madhushan, Reeza Raffaideen etc impressing the Asian rugby fraternity.
These players will represent the senior team in years to come and the administrators should open their eyes rather thanmaking the same excuses each year.
National Women’s 7s
Under previous successor Chandrishan Perera, Sri Lanka leaped forward in the Asian rankings from 13th – 5th between 2011 – 2014 periods. However, Sri Lanka ladies are currently in 8th place in Asia. This year Sri Lanka only manage to beat Guam 3/4, Singapore once and lost the rest of the games. New coach Kat Merchant who is a women’s world cup winner with England and also played 7s for England has drafted a few new strategies to develop this team. Also the SLRFU has introduced some programmes in the rural areas to develop rugby especially the women’s participation. Furthermore, according to team manager S W Chang this team is scheduled to get more international tours. They will play in India in February and perhaps a tour in UK in June. Finishing in the top four in Asia would be the aim in 2016 for the ladies.
Club Rugby
The glimpse, glamour, excitement, thrills and skills are not the same as last year in the domestic arena. The foreign players provided all the punch and the much needed X factor in the last season’s Dialog Rugby League and the spectatorparticipation has significantly dropped this season. On the other hand the level of playing is not convincing. The number of stop play, penalty count, yellow and red card instances is something that really needs to find a remedy. Also players need to know the laws of the game in the rucks and breakdowns.
Most of all the decision making on the field showed amateur level of thinking and the discipline in few games was pathetic and barbaric. Kandy is playing to defend their title and looks like the team to beat this season. Moreover, it is ridiculous to see some players wearing different jersy numbers. The number is your position, which is used by the referees, officials, media and spectators to identify the player. Only CR&FC showed professionalism by using numbers 1 – 23 in order thus far. These are fundamentals at the elite level of Sri Lankan rugby.
Sri Lanka Rugby has a massive journey, sans administration and proper long term vision our favourite sports seems to be drifting aimlessly. Let’s hope we at least get the small things right first with all the players, administrators and spectators showing more respect and rucking together in 2016.
