KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian 7s rugby team are set to pay the price for their pathetic performance in the just-ended New Delhi Commonwealth Games.
Team manager Vela Tan said he would propose to the Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) to withdraw the team from next month’s Guangzhou Asian Games.
Malaysia, who replaced Namibia in the Commonwealth Games, were completely outclassed in all their three group matches.
No way through: Samoa’s Lolo Siliga Lui is tackled by a Malaysian player during their Commonwealth Games match on Oct 11. – AFP The national team, who are ranked fourth in Asia, were thrashed 40-0 by African champions Kenya, hammered 61-0 by world champions Samoa and demolished 56-0 by Papua New Guinea.
In the plate quarter-finals, Malaysia fell 14-26 to Uganda.
“We failed to get a single point in the three group matches. And it shows that the national players are not ready for high-level competitions,” said Vela, who is also president of the Sabah RU.
“It’s best we pull out of the Asian Games as we don’t want to suffer another embarrassment in China.”
Vela was also critical of the players’ attitude.
“I am disappointed with their attitude ... there was no urgency among the players. The same set of players are taking part in every competition because of the limited number of players we have in the national training squad,” he said.
“The players get tired playing in too many competitions every year.”
Vela also hit out at the Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) for not cooperating with the national body.
“BPSS are supposed to be the excellence centre for rugby but they refuse to release players to represent the national team. What then is the use of having a centre when they don’t release players for national assignments?” he asked.
Vela urged MRU to seriously look into ways at developing rugby from the grassroots level.
“They need to overhaul the entire training structure. And they must start a development programme for children from a very young age. Only with a proper development programme we can see some results,” he said.
Team manager Vela Tan said he would propose to the Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) to withdraw the team from next month’s Guangzhou Asian Games.
Malaysia, who replaced Namibia in the Commonwealth Games, were completely outclassed in all their three group matches.
No way through: Samoa’s Lolo Siliga Lui is tackled by a Malaysian player during their Commonwealth Games match on Oct 11. – AFP In the plate quarter-finals, Malaysia fell 14-26 to Uganda.
“We failed to get a single point in the three group matches. And it shows that the national players are not ready for high-level competitions,” said Vela, who is also president of the Sabah RU.
“It’s best we pull out of the Asian Games as we don’t want to suffer another embarrassment in China.”
Vela was also critical of the players’ attitude.
“I am disappointed with their attitude ... there was no urgency among the players. The same set of players are taking part in every competition because of the limited number of players we have in the national training squad,” he said.
“The players get tired playing in too many competitions every year.”
Vela also hit out at the Bandar Penawar Sports School (BPSS) for not cooperating with the national body.
“BPSS are supposed to be the excellence centre for rugby but they refuse to release players to represent the national team. What then is the use of having a centre when they don’t release players for national assignments?” he asked.
Vela urged MRU to seriously look into ways at developing rugby from the grassroots level.
“They need to overhaul the entire training structure. And they must start a development programme for children from a very young age. Only with a proper development programme we can see some results,” he said.
0 comments: on "Manager wants to withdraw rugby team from Asian Games"
Post a Comment