Indonesian rugby players have their own field of dreams

Indonesian rugby players have their own field of dreams

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An Islamic boarding school in sweltering, teeming Jakarta is
about as far removed as you can get from the English private
school where rugby was first played in the 19th century.

For Ade Waryo, a second year student at Asshidiqiyah Aliyah
Islamic school, learning to play this full-contact sport has been
an enjoyable albeit eventful process.

"It's quite difficult to play rugby at the beginning as the
ball is oval and there is so much body contact and tackling, but
later we learned to play it quite well," he said during the ISCI
Jakarta Rugby Tens Tournament 2005 at Ciputat, South Jakarta,
last Saturday.

"My motivation is getting to play in a tournament against
foreigners, practicing with them, and we want our school to be
the first Islamic school to play rugby."

His teacher Muhammad Syahadat said playing the sport provided
better skills in teamwork and communication, as well as building
confidence.

"I think the impact of rugby for us is good."

Indonesian Development Rugby (IDR), a group established in May
last year to promote the sport in the country, hopes there will
be more Ades who will take up the sport, grow to love it and
eventually wear an Indonesian jersey on their backs.

"We are still in an early stage of rugby development, but we
want to build a national team like our neighbors Singapore,
Malaysia and Thailand," IDR chief Andrew Nugroho said..

While the assumption is that men must be heavyweights to play
the game, Andrew, who first played the game while at high school
in Australia, said speed and agility were also important in
avoiding being tackled to score.

Players in Japan and Thailand, where rugby is now played in
schools, universities and by the armed forces after receiving the
patronage of a prominent general in the 1980s, are renowned for
their quickness about the field.

"I watched the Thai team compete last year at the Asian Rugby
Union they played well. On average, they were the same size as
Indonesians," he said.

With Indonesia lacking the historical connection to the sport
of former British colonies in Asia, such as Singapore and
Malaysia, junior development in schools and universities is
essential to develop a future national squad, Andrew said.

At present, students from Pelita Harapan University, Bina
Nusantara University, Budi Luhur University and Asshidiqiyah
Islamic School are learning to play rugby.

They play every Wednesday at 6 p.m. at ABC Soccer Field,
Senayan, South Jakarta for free, under the sponsorship of Thiess
Indonesia. All are welcome to play.

The students made their debut as the Jakarta Bantengs at the
tournament last weekend.

Outside of Jakarta, there are four teams -- the Kotekas of
Papua, Total Balikpapan, Sangatta of East Kalimantan and Gosowong
of Halmahera.

The Kotekas and Gosowong, like the Bantengs, are all-
Indonesian squads, originally set up and assisted by expatriates
working in their areas.

"We have some 60 players in Jakarta and 350 players from the
other teams," he said.

"Right now we play more for fun, but we plan to play more
professionally."

In the future, IDR would like to have its own well-tended
rugby field in Central Jakarta, more tournaments than its two at
present and, eventually, a foreign coach.

The IDR holds observer status in the Asian Rugby Football Union, which is
the Asian division of the International Rugby Board.

"Probably, in the next two years when the number of our
players and coaches increase, we could become a full member of
the Asian Rugby Football Union."

ISCI Rugby Club captain David Stenberg said that the quality
of local players was improving, with Gosowong and Kotekas able to
compete against teams of foreigners.

"We support the idea to build the national team," he said.

"We do hope that the Indonesia rugby national team will
consist of Indonesian people rather than expatriates living
here."