National rugby team flies flag in international debut

National rugby team flies flag in international debut

Geoffrey Atkinson
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Indonesia is set to be awarded full membership in the Asian
Rugby Football Union (ARFU) following a historic silver-medal
performance in the exhibition games played in conjunction with
the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Manila last weekend.

It was the first time a full national team has represented
Indonesia, and also the first full international to be played on
Philippine soil.

"This is a great honor and a giant step forward for Indonesian
rugby," said Indonesian Development Rugby (IDR) president Andrew
Nugroho on his return from the seven-a-side tournament in Manila.
It reflects the hard work of the committee and the dedication of
our Indonesian players whose efforts on the field have made all
this possible. We are extremely proud of them."

Indonesia's ARFU status will be ratified at the All-Asian
body's annual meeting at Lahore in Pakistan next week and comes
less than two years after Indonesian Development Rugby was formed
in Jakarta. The Lahore meeting will be attended by IDR secretary
Bill Ryan.

The Philippine exhibition tournament -- which brought together
12 teams from around the region -- is expected to see rugby
football receive official SEA Games status before 2007 in
Thailand.

"We are hopeful as a full national team that we will be in the
medal running," Andrew said.

Only Indonesia and the Philippines managed to field full
national sides last weekend. Both Singapore and Macau had entered
national teams, but where made up predominantly by expatriate
players. The tournament was won by Borneo who fielded six, full-
time rugby professionals from Fiji in the finals. They beat the
Singapore Barbarians 50-5.

In the national final the Philippines beat Indonesia 27-5. The
16-man Indonesian squad had players from West Irian, Jakarta,
Kalimantan and North Maluku. All players received field time in
the five matches played on the weekend.

"Bringing together players from all over Indonesia is our
major challenge," said Andrew. "We are trying to establish
regional competitions in as many provinces as possible and
concentrate on rugby at school and junior levels."

All of this will take funding and manpower.

"Indonesia has a mighty rugby nursery -- the trick for us will
be establishing teams, providing coaching and facilities all over
the nation and then gathering them together under one umbrella
for national matches," Andrew said.

"The vast distances and costs of air travel and accommodation
mean we have a lot to work on." Indonesian rugby is an amateur
organization run by a committee that donates its time for free.

They are sponsored by multinational construction company
Thiess and the Kabelvision cable network.

With acceptance to the ARFU, Indonesia is expected to form the
Indonesia Rugby Football Union (IRFU) now operating under the
Indonesian Development Rugby (IDR) banner. The IDR will continue
to assist with development of national players and juniors, but
the IRFU will take over full responsibility for the running of
the game in Indonesia.

"We are now in a league of nations where rugby is largely
administered and coached by full-time professionals from around
the globe," Andrew said. "We are hoping businesses and
individuals in Indonesia will be part of our growing support
base. It'ss a big challenge but it's a challenge we are looking
forward to."

Indonesia's next major international is expected to be at the
2006 Asia Rugby Championships in Sri Lanka.