National rugby team going places<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The national "White Rhinos" charge into rugby union history
\nnext week, becoming the first all-national team to play a series
\nof matches in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
The matches, held as an exhibition during the 23rd Southeast
\nAsian (SEA) Games from Nov. 27-Dec. 5, could lead to it becoming
\nan official medal sport by 2007. The new Rhino emblem, the
\nnational captain and the run-on team will be introduced at a
\nfundraising dinner at Aphrodite Club in Kuningan, South Jakarta,
\non Saturday night. The dinner is open to the public at a cost of
\nRp 200,000 per person.<\/p>\n
"This is an enormous honor and obviously a once-in-a-lifetime
\nopportunity for these players to become the first team of
\nIndonesians to represent their nation," Indonesian Development
\nRugby (IDR) spokesman Geoffrey Atkinson said in a release.<\/p>\n
"Outside soccer, rugby is the biggest football code in the
\nworld and the past 12 months has seen an explosion of interest in
\nthe game at a local level. Our men may lack the experience of
\nsome of the other sides in the region that have been playing
\ntogether for years, but they are determined and have been
\ntraining hard."<\/p>\n
The 16-man squad from Jakarta, Papua, Kalimantan and Maluku go
\nthrough an intensive training camp at Senayan in Jakarta this
\nweek under a Bahasa speaking coach from Singapore. The 7-a-side
\nseries in the Philippines will be a curtain-raiser to the SEA
\nGames.<\/p>\n
Saturday night's fundraiser also sees the New Zealand All
\nBlacks try and create their own history as they go for the final
\nleg of a European Grand Slam in a televised match against
\nScotland.<\/p>\n
The Rhinos head for the Philippines with the full support of
\nNational Sports Council; Indonesia has already received "observer
\nstatus" from the International Rugby Board and two months ago
\napplied for full recognition.<\/p>\n
"We hope this tournament will spark interest in other
\nIndonesian provinces so we can soon be fully recognized at an
\ninternational level," Atkinson added.<\/p>\n
The squad was selected in Bali last month after an annual
\ninternational 10-a-side tournament which went ahead despite the
\nsecond Bali bombings.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Bantengs -- in their first year in the competition
\nagainst sides from Singapore, Australia, Taipei and Guam -- won
\nthe IDR runner's-up plate. The same weekend, the first 12
\nIndonesians received Level 1 Coaching Accreditation through a
\ncourse run by representatives of Singapore Rugby Union.<\/p>\n
"With 220 million people in Indonesia, we have the potential
\nto be the best in Asia," Atkinson said. "But we have to spread
\nthe game to every corner of the country. We have to introduce
\nrugby at junior and school levels -- this is the only way to
\ngrow. We are continuously on the lookout for people interested in
\nexpanding the code and new sponsorship is vital."<\/p>\n
IDR receives financial backing from multinational construction
\ncompany Thiess and Digital 1, part of the KabelVision Network,
\nbut the game still has a way to go here.<\/p>\n
"In Singapore, Thailand and other Asian countries, where rugby
\nhas been established for more than a decade, the game is run by
\nfull-time professionals -- which include coaching and
\nadministrative staff working off multimillion dollar budgets. We
\nwould like to head down the same path as Singapore," Atkinson
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"In a decade they have become an Asian rugby force behind
\nJapan and Korea. But, like us, they started with very little."<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/national-rugby-team-going-places-1447893297",
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