It was the Scots who took credit for starting sevens rugby. But just
when it began is unclear. As a game it was used for many pre-season
tournaments but hardly figured in the fixture lists of most countries.
Tokkie Smith, a South African residing in Hong Kong had the idea of
an International tournament in what was then a British Colony. Hong Kong
is renowned for entrepreneurs, people who like to take risks to make
something grow.
Hongkong rugby at that time, there was an abundance of them and the
Hong Kong sevens grew from a tiny tournament in 1976 to the giant rugby
sevens that hosted the 1997 Rugby World Cup 7s and was worth millions in
revenue to the Hong Kong sevens.
Sevens rugby was born in 1883 in Scotland and it was decided after
the formation of the Scottish Union. Melrose, a little town in the South
Scotland, better known as the Scottish border was the birth place of
seven-a-side rugby.
It is said that Melrose Club, had a good rugby side in which the star
players were local butchers, David Sanderson and his apprentice Ned Haig.
It is said that the novelty, the skill and the flow of the game,
inspired two eager Union officials of Hong Kong to replicate the event
in the then Colony.
The committee felt that given the numbers involved, the proposal of a
football tournament was unworkable. The invitation that was received by
the local union in late December 1975 was put to the monthly Union
meeting and decided to accept the same and authorized the selection
committee to pick a pool of players and appointed Kavan Rambukwella
national player of great repute and administrator to handle matters.
Meanwhile Allen G. Roche, a rugby coach from England visited the
country in early 1976 on a coaching assignment to brush up the finer
points of the game of the National team. Preparations started in 1976
for the Hong Kong tournament scheduled for March 28, 1976.
Right from the inception controversy aroused, disputes between
Ministry of Sports and governing body, resignations of selectors,
withdrawal of selected players etc. were common features.
Acting on the Ministry directives SLRFU appointed Kavan Rabukwella as
the Manager of the team and the squad comprised -from Indrajith
Coomarasamy Captain (CR & FC), Lanil Tennakoon (Havelocks S.C.), Mohan
Balasuriya (Sri Lanka Air Force), Dr. Maiya Gunasekera (University
Colombo Campus), G. Gunadasa (Sri Lanka Army), Jeffrey de Jong (Havelocks),
Ronald Rodrigo (Sri Lanka Air Force), Shaan Ching (CH & FC).
The inaugural Hong Kong 7s tournament was a single day affair with 12
countries participating on March 28, 1976 at the Hong Kong Football
Stadium. Ching had a problem of getting his passport and failed to make
it.
At the last moment Sri Lanka Air Force stand off M. Omerdeen was
called in as replacement. It was a moment of truth for Sri Lanka players
against the mighty Japanese RFU who were making great strides in the
International arena.
Placed in Pool C - and beaten by Singapore by 0-22 followed by Japan
0-32, Sri Lanka had to bow out of the main competition. Next Sri Lanka
confronted Indonesia and registered its first ever success in the
tournament with a 14-0 victory. Moving on to the semi-finals they lost
to Tonga by 0-16 in a match which could have gone either way.
Sri Lanka's finest year in the sevens was in 1984, when we won the
Bowl championship, in the Hong Kong Sevens. We were able to beat Brunei
26-0 in the semis and 16-0 beat Thailand in the finals.
Then again in 1986 and 1987 we entered the bowls finals. In 1998 we
became the bowl champions in the Fiji Invitation Sevens played in Suva.
Historically, seven-a-side rugby has been played for over a century
for fun and entertainment at the beginning and the end of a gruelling
15-a-side season. In recent years, the launch of the RWC 7s in 1993 and
the creation of the IRB Sevens Grand Prix series in 1999 saw the game of
sevens established at an elite level, independent sport.
Since the inception of the IRB sevens five years ago, nearly 50
Nations have played in the Grand Prix tournaments hosted so far by 16
countries in all five IRB regions.
The 2003/2004 IRB Sevens has been the most competitive in the short
history of the series. Sri Lanka RFU is proud to have hosted the 2004
RWC Qualifier for the Asian Region organized by the Kandy Sports club
from September 10 to 12, 2004 at Nittawela Rugby Stadium, Kandy.
The teams that participated in this tournament were all National
teams from the following countries - Japan, Korea, Chinese Taipei,
Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Arabian Gulf, Kazakhstan, Guam,
India and Sri Lanka.
Mark Egan - Manager International Rugby Sevens IRB was the official
representative of the IRB with several officials from the Asian Rugby
Football Union, IRB Media, IRB Development Officials, International
Panel Referees were hosted by the Organizers during the conduct of this
tournament.
Sri Lanka was successful in winning the Plate Championship against
the National teams of the Asian region.
Rugby Football in Sri Lanka has a unique attraction for players keen
to share the magic atmosphere and to compete at the highest levels The
high level of exposure for the sport globally and in the participating
countries cannot be over-estimated.
A direct link between inclusion in the Asian Region Rugby tournaments
has seen a significant increase in the development from grassroots
level. Rugby now has a good profile within the Asian region assisted by
the recommendation from the IRB and the support of members of the ARFU
itself.
However, there is still much work to be done if rugby is to become a
National sport and the SLRFU is working on a promotional strategy, which
will eventually lead to the rugby's full acceptance as a major sporting
event in Sri Lanka next to Cricket.
Today the two most popular Sevens tournaments in the world are the
Hong Kong and Dubai Sevens.
The game is cherished as a sport for people of all ages, gender, race
and creed and develops team values, understanding, co-operation and
respect for fellow rugby players.
It has great educational values and is part of the schools curriculum
in many countries, being played by boys and girls short and tall, large
and small. Over here the much looked forward sevens tournaments are the
Club 7s and schools 7s, later in 1999 the Singer SriLankan Airlines
sevens (International) organized by Kandy Sports Club under the auspices
of the governing body SLRFU with both IRB & ARFU support.
Unfortunately now this tournament is being shown the exit door. Now
the 'Carlton Sevens' has come to stay. The Isipathana sevens at one time
started off well but due to some problems, this tournament went out of
the window.
Sevens is basically an abbreviated version of rugby union, played
with seven players rather than the usual 15.
The size of the field is not reduced; the extra space that is
available usually leads to frantic high scoring affairs over the course
of games usually 14 minute duration, although some matches later in the
tournament do last longer.
While fundamentally being the same as its big brother, rugby sevens
dispenses with much of the brute force and concentrates on fast breaks
and generally a score, on average, every three minutes.
Sevens rugby like T-20 cricket a 7-a-side football has a huge
spectator interest. Rugby in our country is a legacy of the British.
The records say that the first game was played in Sri Lanka, way back
in 1879 when the Ceylon Rugby Football Union was born along with the
famous Up-Country Low Country encounter 'Capper Cup' which was last
played in 1973.
A Police Officer by the name of K.F. Jenkins, a Welshman, stationed
in Ratnapura was the man who introduced Sevens rugby to Sri Lanka in
1931. The first ever sevens game was played at the Ratnapura Esplanade,
which was kicked off at 7 a.m., it was played in a very simple manner.
The man who introduced the game played as scrum half for the Police
side. Our first involvement in a sevens tournament was in 1949 when the
Ceylon Babarians took part in the All-Indian tournament held in Colombo.
Then in 1958 Colombo was also the venue of the B.I. Centenary All
Indian tournaments.
Then two of the pioneer Sevens tournaments in our country in the days
gone by were the Layards Cup and the CR & FC Invitation tournament.
In 1947 CR & FC celebrated their 25th anniversary with a sevens
tournament. For the first time in 1975, The Sri Lanka Rugby Football
Union conducted a inter club sevens tournament and the Havelocks Sports
Club emerged as champions, and became the first winners of the Sri Lanka
Sevens, like they won the first interclub competition in 1950.
Where will the Rugby Sevens go from here? Rugby experts of the
calibre of some top class sevens players, former National coaches like
Nimal Leuke ex DIG and Asanga Senaviratne are confident that with the
right approach Sri Lanka rugby can always get to the pinnacle of the
sport in the Asian region.
It's time that the Rugby Union got all rugby sevens experts in the
Island and even get International famous experts and work out 'Aims and
Strategy' to put sevens rugby on the map once again in the Asian region
educating all players.
We have some top sevens players, who can be rated as best in the
Asian Region.
