Time for Rugby Malaysia

World Sports Rugby dominated by first world countries has expanded across the world including to Malaysia, although it isn’t popular among Malaysians, certainly, it’s becoming a people sport in Malaysia! This game may look violent but it’s really interesting and pretty much exciting. The development of rugby in Malaysia is not as great as football, as we can see Malaysians closer to their hearts and more familiar with football players than Malaysian rugby players. 

Victory Spree Malaysia Rugby Sport has finally gained people attention after Malaysia Rugby Squad Senior champion in the Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy after beating Singapore 17-14 in the final, leaving SEA Games like Thailand in 3rd place, Indonesia in 6th place, Laos 8th and Brunei in 11th place. The victory entitles Malaysia to return to the Asia 7s 2020 Series, joined by the best nations in Division 1 such as Hong Kong, Japan, China, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after occupying the eighth and lower stages last year.

Malaysia Rugby Squad Senior champion in the Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy

This securing them an immediate return to Asia Sevens Series after qualifying for the semi-finals of the Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy in Jakarta. Placed in Pool D with only Laos for the company meant Saizul Hafifi Md Noor’s charges had to play the minnows twice. And as expected, it wasn't an issue for the reigning Sea Games champions.

The national team did not concede a single try as they downed Laos 36-0 and 56-0 at the GBK Rugby Field in Senayan to book their spot in the final-four today. Malaysia will play Mongolia, who defeated hosts Indonesia 19-12 and Uzbekistan 19-0 in Pool A, for a spot in the final, which will also be played today. The other semi-final pits Thailand and Singapore, who is Malaysia’s traditional rivals. Thailand downed Afghanistan 28-5 and Bangladesh 20-5 to win Pool B while Singapore topped Pool C with wins over India (27-12) and Brunei (50-0). 

Malaysia Rugby honorary secretary Amrul Hazarin Hamidon said Malaysia will have little room for error in the knockout stages of the tournament today but is confident they can finish the job. Only the winners of the second-tier tournament will earn promotion to the top-flight Sevens Series next season.

 As well as The National Junior Sevens Squad once again proved they are right up there with the best in the region when it comes to age group competitions after winning the Asia Rugby Under-18 Championship in Johor Baru today. The squad opened their campaign in the round-robin format competition with comfortable wins over Hong Kong (31-5), South Korea (47-5) and Laos (53-0) at the EduCity Stadium in Nusajaya yesterday.

They then secured the victory thanks to wins over China (19-17), Qatar (34-0) and Uzbekistan (40-0) in their last three matches in today's competition. It saw them ending the tournament with a 100 per cent record with 18 points. In total, they scored 224 and conceded only 27. China and Hong Kong ended the competition with 15 points each. China (+152), however, ranked second thanks to a better score difference while Hong Kong (+134) settled for third. National Rugby Development Program (NRDP) head coach Md Baharudin Mahani, who led the Under-18 squad in Johor, said he was not surprised his charges won the competition. 

National Junior Sevens Squad won Asia Rugby Under-18 Championship in Johor Baru 

The success of the national team made history by winning the Asian Rugby Championship Division One last May and the amazing feat of seven national teams that made it to fifth in the rankings of the best real Asia has given new hope for rugby in Malaysia. These achievements see the performance of the national rugby team is now at its best and the effort to achieve more success in the future is the main mission of the Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU). MRU President Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya said his party had taken various approaches in an effort to develop rugby in Malaysia, especially the national rugby team. He said one of the approaches taken was to establish a high-performance unit besides appointing a technical advisor from New Zealand to oversee the development. 

Among other approaches that have been taken in collaboration with the Ministry of Education is to create a 'pathway' for rugby players through the National Rugby Development Program (NRDP) which will start from primary school to tertiary level. I feel the approach which began at an early age in school is a good move to nurture the children to play, as well as to give time for an understanding of how the basic strategy of the game and thereby making the country's sports received by all walks of life.

The Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) will not be swayed by praise but will redouble its efforts to bridge the gap with three teams - Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea - to be among the best teams in Asia in the future. Its president, Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya acknowledged that there is a lot that the parent body needs to do to ensure that the development of Malaysian rugby becomes on par with the countries concerned.

Also, Malaysian rugby will finally have their first stadium in the country. Our Former Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin first announced plans to give the sport its own home in 2015 but that hope is not realized immediately which is much sad for all rugby fans. Deciding on the location of the stadium was a stumbling block and among the sites which had previously been mulled by the Sports Ministry included Universiti Putra Malaysia in Serdang, Bukit Jalil and Putrajaya. The site for the stadium was finally decided last year. It will be built in Precint 13, Putrajaya which is an accessible area to accommodate by everyone. Great!

Malaysia Rugby (MR) honorary secretary Amrul Hazarin Hamidon disclosed that the Sports Ministry issued a tender for the construction work last month. The budget for the stadium is RM17 million. MR hope the stadium will meet the minimum requirements to host international matches and the expected (spectator) capacity is 5,000. Having our stadium also means that it would be easier for Malaysia to get our (domestic league) matches televised as we can meet the requirements set by the broadcasters. 

However, this is not the first rugby-specific stadium in Malaysia. That honour goes to the Eagles Rugby Club Stadium in Sandakan, Sabah, which is a privately-owned facility. Eagles Rugby Club has, in the past, allowed the national team to train and use the facilities there. If we observe very carefully about the development of rugby and the number of quality rugby clubs in Malaysia enlivening the development of rugby sports field such as the Saracens Kuala Lumpur Club, it is one of the best models for finding new talents in rugby. The rugby sports in Malaysia especially these clubs work with private funds from themselves, family sponsorships and parent’s interest in watching their children’s physical and mental development in sports that emphasize the spirit of sportsmanship, talent and healthy competition. The excellent opportunity to interact in world stage sports also requires a lot of funds, of course from our own country, apart from complete facilities and compact training and should also be equal with the wages among other national sportsmen.