IF the team to the first leg in Hong Kong early September was said to be weaker than the one that won its first gold at the KL SEA Games before that, this was a team comprising at least five players from the games squad and strengthened by two Fijians.
Included in the squad to the second leg of the Asian 7s Series in Incheon last weekend were at least four who played in Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, the team only beat Chinese Taipei and in the plate semi-final for the bottom of the eight teams lost 45-0 to Sri Lanka. All three pool matches were lost.
By comparison, the team in Incheon did only slightly better, beating the Philippines 17-10 and again Chinese Taipei 26-21 with the last play of the game in the plate section but then got trounced 43-7, again by Sri Lanka.
The game against Sri Lanka saw the Malaysians hardly putting in a decent tackle, with most of their attempts to stop their opponents confined to jersey-tugging. Even an attempt to simply push a Sri Lankan out into touch didn’t work.
In rugby if you don’t tackle you’re not going to stop your opponents from scoring and score the Sri Lankans, host of the last leg in three weeks’ time, did.
At the moment the Malaysian team is seven of eight in the table, equal with the Philippines in the table, and out of contention for a place in next year’s World Cup 7s and also participation in the prestigious Hong Kong 7s.
Where Malaysia’s rugby 7s will go from now is anyone’s guess but the country’s regular participation in tournaments in Asia does not appear to show signs it will soon trouble the stronger sides.
There is progress in the 15s but the biggest test is in the premier division which pits the top three in the continent and that is one territory Malaysia has not ventured into.
The tier two countries like Sri Lanka and Philippines have tried but got dropped to the ground with a loud thump. That was one reality check.
But it is said that if you don’t try you’ll never know.
Having being promoted after winning the division one, Malaysia gets that chance to play with the big boys (literally) of Hong Kong and Japan on a home-and-away format next year if it chooses to.
Apart from participation, if Malaysia wants to gauge its true position in Asia, the Malaysian Rugby Union must have a programme over the mid to longer term.
Someone may counter this to say that the country has jumped respectably in the world rankings after winning the division one title but rankings do not translate into much unless you are in the top eight, which gives you a favourable position when the draw for the World Cup is made.
As it is, it’s been very much ad hoc over the years. Regular participation hasn’t shown any extraordinary results. In the Asian championship, Malaysia has been participating since the second or third edition – in 1970 or 1972. (Information on the earlier tournaments is not available, either online or at the Asian union or Malaysian union website.
Another issue is that the entire approach and programmes of the national union usually change with a change in the union’s office-bearers.
To put rugby in a more organised environment, the domestic competitions must reflect the plan and objectives of the national union, the way say the Australian Rugby Union is focusing on the 7s, especially for the women, now that the sport is an Olympic sport in which the country’s women’s team won the inaugural gold in Rio de Janeiro last year.
Many other countries weak in the 15s and with no hope of ever making it to the World Cup are similarly putting more time, effort and resources into the 7s, all with the aim of winning an Olympics medal.
It’s the same with coaching and training. Having one former All Black or a former NZ 7s player for a short stint in Malaysia or a training attachment with a New Zealand academy for two weeks is not going to take any team far. The plan has to cover the mid or longer term.