Touch rugby is the best route into Asia
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By Midfielder, 18 Mar 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- asia rugby, football, Fustol, International Rugby, Rugby Union
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If we were to go way back in time to around the 1920s, before rugby and football sat in somewhat a similar position, football was in front, but not by the margin it is today.
The difference is often put down to football being professional and rugby being amateur, which undoubtedly is true, and had an effect. Nevertheless another difference is the management and forward planning of both codes.
Football developed after WW1 a plan to move forward and spread the game. The World Cup was an early example of this. The European champions League, another. Further, an embracing of any form of football was seen as important.
This has taken decades and is still in play today in Asia and other areas where football is not as established as it is in other parts of the world.
The management of rugby was, and is, different.
Rugby is still in a position to expand, and to be fair to those in charge is doing so.
However, I think the brand of rugby to use as rugbys’ get in point in Asia is touch. Touch has the advantage of being easy to understand, with its fairly simple rules, and can be played with a small rock and with only a few players in small spaces.
Few get hurt with the limited body contact.
Rugby 7s comes next as a natural expansion of touch. From here, develop an interest in other brands of rugby.
As a person who is not a fixed to any particular rugby variant, I like them all.
But the one I still play is touch, the game I played in the street as a kid was touch, the game we played at training was touch – both in league and union.
In a similar position, football expands with Fustol, a game of five-a-side played on a basketball size field with a flat ball about half the size of a football.
Those running rugby have a natural product at their finger-tips but keep offering the most complex. This comes down to planning at senior international management levels.
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mattamkII said | March 18th 2010 @ 2:26am | Report comment
Nah mate, I live and play in Asia.
The key to development is getting people into each country who know what the hell is going on. Most unions I come across either want to develop too many locals (who dont have the skill yet), focus too much on expats or import Fijians. No one seems to be able to balance it out.
The other thing I notice is very few of the local lads who come through the school systems (rugby is popular in many countries in asia as a school sport) are not taught the ethos of the game.
A combo of the above is why so many local kids drop out…they are not trained to enjoy the ‘fight’ or challanges of the sport and normally struggle to deal when they come up against bigger more skilled expats or imports.
Antoine said | March 18th 2010 @ 2:48am | Report comment
I perosnally think that rugby is an old boys club and they want to take care of their own. If the irb really wants to grow the game they would have the world cups in areas that rugby can grow in.
Example 1 world cup of soccer in the USA. After the world cup is played in a country their is a clause that states that the nation must have a professional league once the cup is done. The states have the major league soccer compition and the last world cup of soccer the states were ranked in the top 6 in the world that was up 50 spots from when the world cup was played back in th early 1990s.
By placing the world cup in new zealand they only prove my point. If the IRB was really serious about growing the gAme gave the next world cup in north America or even in the south ameicas or even in japan or china
Peace out
Bruce Ross said | March 18th 2010 @ 3:58am | Report comment
Midfielder, touch rugby is a variant of rugby league. Its links to rugby union are extremely tenuous. Further, as a sport it demands aerobic fitness whereas rugby is very clearly anaerobic.
I certainly see no logical progression from touch to Rugby Sevens to 15-man Rugby
SA said | March 18th 2010 @ 4:30am | Report comment
Bruce thats an absurd statement. people play touch rugby all the time in south africa and there is only rugby union. it is played for fun and fitness and we play 3 touch not 6. people do progress from touch to 7′s to 15′s its the normal cycle here why cant it be in asia? oh and rugby demands fitness period i dont see the point trying to seperate different fitness levels.
Firebrand Sally said | March 18th 2010 @ 5:48am | Report comment
We all know that touch footy was invented in South Africa!
Try to convince yourself any way you want, but it won’t change the fact that touch rugby is closer to league than union, no matter how you try to spin the story.
Dave said | March 18th 2010 @ 8:12am | Report comment
Whatever ! Then the rugby ball and running and passing backwards is similar to rugby . Did you think about that too Sally ?
Firebrand Sally said | March 18th 2010 @ 8:31am | Report comment
Running and passing may sometimes break out in a rugby game. In league it happens for the entire 80 minutes which is the same as in touch.
Dave said | March 18th 2010 @ 10:34am | Report comment
So no scrums, kicking, goalkicking, field goals, sideline kick, penalties, video refs, injuries, restarts, 40/20, goaline dropkicks and play the ball in rugby league then ? Good try Sally.
Firebrand Sally said | March 18th 2010 @ 10:47am | Report comment
You can’t deny Dave that touch is more like league than union, no matter how hard you try to reason it otherwise.
Dave said | March 18th 2010 @ 10:52am | Report comment
You can’t deny that touch rugby is touch rugby, league is league and rugby is rugby are all independent sports with their own international and national bodies. Goodluck .
ohtani's jacket said | March 18th 2010 @ 10:53am | Report comment
Nobody knows what league is in Asia so it’s irrelevant.
Bruce is wrong in his assertion that there is no logical progression from touch to Rugby Sevens to 15-man Rugby because “tag rugby” is how the game is being introduced to elementary school children.
SA said | March 18th 2010 @ 6:05pm | Report comment
how is it closer to league Sally? do you tackle the player? its a fun form of rugby that is not to difficult to play. i will give you an example when South Africans kids start school grade 1 and 2 they play touch. grade 3 progress onto 7′s rugby learning the basics of a scrum and a ruck. grade 4 and beyong full blown rugby.
Ziggy said | March 18th 2010 @ 6:13am | Report comment
I’m approacing 90 and we played touch rugby as little nippers in South Africa. Never heard of rugby league until eons later. Can you please tell me how league invented touch rugby?
Firebrand Sally said | March 18th 2010 @ 7:56am | Report comment
Where did I say league invented touch?
What did you do when you were “touched”? Did you then have a ruck or maul after every touch? Or did you use a league play the ball? Touch is the same as league in that once tackled the play ceases.
Nothing changes the close similarities between touch and league, even if you’ve never heard of league.
Dave said | March 18th 2010 @ 8:19am | Report comment
I remeber putting the ball between my legs not playing the ball.
The Answer said | March 18th 2010 @ 6:14pm | Report comment
Do you remember getting six touches? Pure concidence?
Dave said | March 18th 2010 @ 6:21am | Report comment
Rugby touch is also played in the South Pacific everyday of the week before and after tranning. This is the main reason kids and adults in the Pacific Islands are so skillful when they play sevens rugby and open rugby in 15′s. You could easily get rugby players to play touch rugby but not the other way around.
sam a said | March 18th 2010 @ 12:35pm | Report comment
Bruce how is rugby “very clearly anaerobic”? The body needs oxygen for respiration over 80 minutes, making it very clearly an aerobic sport – unlike, say, the 100m sprint, which can be run over 10 seconds (or 20 seconds for an oldish tight-fiver like me…) without the need for aerobic respiration. Either you got yourself confused or you really need to brush up on your biology/anatomy/Phys Ed.
The Link said | March 18th 2010 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
the author had the name of the game correct in the article – its called Touch.
perhaps the editors added “Rugby” to the name.
I don’t think a game called Touch Rugby even exists?
ohtani's jacket said | March 18th 2010 @ 2:37pm | Report comment
We call it touch rugby in NZ. It’s sometimes called Six Down in South Africa.
Empire said | March 18th 2010 @ 6:24am | Report comment
Touch is played by both codes, either for training warm up, or for as a full on sport on it’s own.
Simply – in proper form it’s great for developing passing, speed and stepping skills, which obviously assists both codes.
However, it’s a hell of alot quicker than both, and when played correctly, it should be, and is, a sport in it’s own right.
It’s neither league nor union, so move along please. I have played touch at a rep level, and find code war comments like that a bit silly and uninformed.
As a development tool, perhaps it would be good as a way to break people into a rugby-style game, though I think with Olympic qualification, sevens will be promoted with more vigour everywhere.
And for the record, all three are aerobic sports. Not anaerobic. Period.
Paul J said | March 18th 2010 @ 8:35am | Report comment
Empire
I agree with your comments but touch is obviously far closer to league that rugby.
Your have the ball for 6 possesions and when touched you play the ball to the dummy half, it’s sped up rugby leauge without the hits and kicks.
I’ve always wondered how your could make a touch version of rugby that would have the ruck and maul that makes rugby what it is.
Nick P said | March 19th 2010 @ 9:40am | Report comment
they have lots of union-esc variations. they usually include the two nearest men to the tackled player doing a pushup or something to that end.
it really saps the fun out of it.
Midfielder said | March 18th 2010 @ 8:11am | Report comment
Touch is a simple game to understand and needs few assets… can be played by male and female often in the same game… is fast little body contact and therefore IMO is the perfect vehicle to expand rugby into Asia…
ohtani's jacket said | March 18th 2010 @ 9:31am | Report comment
They don’t play touch in Asia. They play tag rugby.
DaniE said | March 18th 2010 @ 10:26am | Report comment
I began playing some social touch rugby last weekend in Malaysia… was surprised to see a collection of Indian girls turn up and start to train with the teenage girls team. Turns out that the coach picks up these girls from a local orphanage and gets them involved. Certainly least spreading the word of ‘rugby’ of some sort in a culture that would not generally know about or participate in it. Every efforts counts, doesn’t it?
mattamkII said | March 18th 2010 @ 10:38am | Report comment
DaniE – you in Malaysia?
Playing rugby too?
DaniE said | March 18th 2010 @ 10:58am | Report comment
Yep in KL. Played rugby only once so far – almost killed myself as it was the first time lifting the heart rate since pregnancy (i.e. 2 years). The husband is going away on business today too so no babysitter = no rugby again for a while!
Dave said | March 18th 2010 @ 10:54am | Report comment
I played in the cobra tens tournament in Malaysia back in the early 90′s along with Wasps and other international teams.
Smokee said | March 18th 2010 @ 3:17pm | Report comment
What team was this for Siva?
Dave said | March 18th 2010 @ 3:40pm | Report comment
I remember watching Randwicks winning this tournament on a Singapore TV channel.
Dave said | March 18th 2010 @ 3:50pm | Report comment
WTF Smokee ?
Wayne Carey said | March 18th 2010 @ 11:35am | Report comment
Rugby and Asia don’t mix.
ohtani's jacket said | March 18th 2010 @ 11:39am | Report comment
Sure they do… So long as people don’t expect rugby to be a huge professional sport with teams that can challenge New Zealand and Australia.
Working Class Rugger said | March 18th 2010 @ 7:38pm | Report comment
Wayne Carey
Do yourself a favour and look up ” Rugby frowing rapidly in Asia”. I think you’ll find your assumption is incorrect.
Shahsan said | March 20th 2010 @ 9:11pm | Report comment
That is true to a certain extent, in the sense that Asian teams play rugby but have never and will never understand the skullduggery that goes with it, ie the off-the-ball punching, gouging, squrrel grabbing etc.
I spoke to some Aussie and international refs who officiated at the RWC 1999 qualifiers and they said Asian teams were a pleasure to referee because you only had to worry about laws being broken: there was very little thuggery and off the ball shenangians to deal with; no one was roughing up or testing anyone to see what they were made of, or getting square or intimidating them.
It has nothing to do with guts, as Asians have demonstarted their bravery and stoutness in countless battlefields throughout history. It is just that rugby is just a sport and not a test of manliness as it is practically everywhere else.
In tersm of skill, ask anyone who has played in Asia and they will say that some of the best players in each country can hold their own in any company — the problem is that there is not enough of them, and there is no critical mass of quality players. And the forward are generally not big enough.