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THE Rugby Union’s rather ecstatic reaction to news of Sri Lanka’s inclusion in the Hong Kong leg of IRB’s World Sevens Series next March is understandable.Being re-invited after five years to what unarguably is the world best Sevens rugby competition surely does excite emotions – never mind that Sri Lanka once had enjoyed permanent presence in the Hong Kong Sevens.
That was,however, in times when the intended purpose of hosting the event was not so much the hope of viewing a feast of top quality rugby as to relieve the boredom of expatriates in a distant colonial outpost. Said simply, rugby itself was of secondary importance to the beer and the good times. And not surprisingly, the powerhouses of world rugby wished to be no part of this all-expenses-paid festival of fun, courtesy Cathay Pacific/Rothmans and latterly Hong Kong Bank. The participants predominantly were from Asia; hence, Sri Lanka found itself in host HKRFU’slist of permanent invitees.
In 1997, however, the Hong Kong Sevens, its popularity now the envy of the rugby world, joined, nay had inspired, the IRB World Series, and the eventwas changed forever. It was now under the jurisdiction of the IRB, whose many prerogatives included the right to decide which countries will participate each year. Initially, in a token of gratitude to those many Asian countries that unfailingly participated in the 21 years prior to the Hong Kong Sevens becoming a part of World Series– and so contributing to the event’s elevation to an officially-recognized world competition – the IRB set aside a slot or two to be rotated annually among the likes of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
The upshot: Sri Lanka’s appearance in the world-renowned competition became scarcer.As far as it can be recalled, our participation in Hong Kong next March will be the fourth since the turn of this century. The previous: in 2004, in 2006 (in which we experienced our finest hour by overcoming the USA) and in 2008.
So to say, as the SLRFU press release said, that our invitation to the 2014 event is the first since 2004 is, perhaps, a case of Union officials’ euphoria beclouding their collective memory – a blurring caused probably by having received an invitation at all. The invite was surprising to say the least, as the inclusion by IRB, after all, defies IRB’s own qualification rules for participation in the ten-tournament World Series.
As per IRB’s World Series qualification rule, only the top two teams in the HSBC five-tournament Asian Seven Series qualify for the Hong Kong Sevens – and Sri Lanka finished third. Japan and Hong Kong took the two top spots and rightfully qualify to play in Hong Kong, but NOT in the 16-teamWorld Series event. So, who does Asia’s nos. 1 and 2 compete with in Hong Kong? Admittedly, it’s all bit confusing to those in this neck of the woods. In our five-year absence from the Hong Kong Sevens, the competition format has undergone such drastic changes that ignorance of its workings is excusable.
The Hong Kong Sevens as we know it is no more – we knew it as one in which 24 teams competed in a single tournament. As of last year, however, the Hong Kong Sevens is made up of two separate competitions. The premier competition, of course, feature the big boys of world sevens, i.e. the likes of All Blacks, Fiji, Samoa, Wallabies, Springboks, Pumas, Wales, Ireland, France … basically, countries some notches above second tier countries like, Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, Tonga, Zimbabwe, Russia etc. IRB’s intention to conduct in Hong Kong two separate competitions, for, if you like, world rugby’s first and second division countries, is to prevent a dilution of the quality of the event’s competition, which it would, were the strong and weak throw into one tournament.
For better clarity let’s call the second competition division 2. So that div.2 might not be mistaken for an inconsequential sideshow, it is billed as a qualifying tournament, with the winner joining the big boys’ league in the next series. It features the two top countries in each of IRB’s six zonal Sevens series set aside for countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania. Whilst the winner of the div 2 tournament in Hong Kong wins promotion to div.1 (the participants of which are termed core teams), the team finishing at the bottom of div.1 is relegated to div.2.
There was no way Sri Lanka could’ve been accommodated in the 12-team qualifying competition. But there was one slot open in the 16-team div.1 competition – a place apparently reserved for host Hong Kong in the event it failed to qualify via the Asian series. With Hong Kong booking its place through the Asian Series, the slot remained unfilled – and the IRB had the world to choose from to complete the 16-team line up for the 2014 competition.
The award of that solitary slot to Sri Lanka undeniably is a tribute to SLRFU President and now ARFU Secretary-General Asanga Seneviratne’s powers of persuasion. There’s an irony in IRB’s decision, though, that is inescapably noticeable: here is Asia’s nos.1 and 2 competing for promotion to div.1 whereas Asia’s no. 3 finds itself already catapulted to the big league.A glaring anomaly, you’ll agree. It might’ve made better sense had the IRB moved Asia’s no.1, Japan, into the 16-team main competition and included Sri Lanka in div. 2.
Clearly, the IRB couldn’t say no to Seneviratne’s plea for his country’s inclusion, given that 1/ the SLRFU had successfully initiated last year a unique tri-nation competition including Madagascar and Poland, so aiding IRB‘s mission of spreading rugby’s gospel globally, and 2/ Sri Lanka had made rapid advancement in Asian rugby: third best in Sevens and promotion to the top league of the ‘fifteens’, and was deserving of an invitation to Hong Kong.
It would of course be naive to think Sri Lanka can compete on equal terms with the likes of Fiji, All Blacks, Wallabies, England and other heavyweights. In our encounters with the big guns in times of the pre-World Series Hong Kong Sevens,the defeat-margins had been consistently in excess of 50-plus points. Back then, however, our achieving Asia’s no.3 status was a chimera. Not that we are now no.3 is going to improve our cause very much against the world’s best. So, our presence in Hong Kong will all have to be about restricting the margins of defeat to, say, 30 or thereabouts.
And that’s going to be a painful, if not injurious, job – which raises the question: will the Hong Kong Sevens, March 22-24, impede our A5N campaign, beginning in mid-April. It has to be remembered that just about every national Sri Lankan player represents the country in both Sevens and Fifteens. So the risk of losing players to injuries for the A5N exists – a risk that they rather not face approaching battles against Asia’s elite: Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea.
The team management is going to find itself on the horns of a dilemma in deciding on which to lay more emphasis: the Hong Kong Sevens or the A5N. The games played in the two events are vastly different, and you don’t want one to be handicapped by the other – which is what happened when Serendib Cup was slotted a few weeks prior to the Singapore-leg of the Asian Sevens series. This meant a disruption in the preparations for the Singapore Sevens and injuries sustained in the Serendib Cup to more than one key player. The upshot: we finished fifth in Singapore after being no.3 in all of the series’ four previous tournaments. And second in the Serendib Cup.
Being a part Asia’s two premier tournaments, the Hong Kong Sevens and the A5N, is a wonderful achievement, but it does need meticulous and thoughtful planning so that the A5N doesn’t suffer because of the Hong Kong Sevens. Back last November, administrators went a tad too overboard with the Serendib Cup at the expense of Singapore Sevens campaign – and we fell between two stools. God forbid another fall.
Source: http://www.thesundayleader.lk/
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