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Just over a fortnight ago the division one championship of the Asian Five Nations competition structure was run and won by the host nation Sri Lanka.
There’s was some truly remarkable rugby played. Quick, open and skilful with plenty of big hits.
The likes of Kazakstan (once ranked second in Asia), Chinese Taipei and Thailand all displayed great nous, sharing the spoils with a victory apiece against one another, but it was the home team that were simply a class above the rest.
They comfortably sauntered back into the premier division for next year’s championship.
There is now a rapidly developing sense of parity across many nations, providing greater levels of competitiveness across the board.
While Sri Lanka were dominant, the other three nations were blooding young squads.
Many players were only tasting international rugby for the first time against a Sri Lankan side who have seen what it takes to compete with the likes of Hong Kong, South Korea and perennial powerhouses Japan and have gone about building upon there experience. They were very impressive.
However, there are still issues to be overcome. The major one being the gulf that exists between Japan and the rest.
The benefits of playing in an increasingly developed professional competition against other professionals has, among other things, provided Japan with a decisive edge. One that can only be countered with a move toward professionalism itself.
The question has always been how to best do this? Efforts have been made externally but the gulf continues to exist. Professionalism’s the only answer.
The easy solution appears to be to get more Asian players playing in Japan. There’s been some success come from that front, but to be honest it isn’t enough.
Suggestions have been made, that perhaps Japan, with a push from the IRB, could look to include teams from Korea and Hong Kong in the league structures.
This would provide the necessary levels of competition to help develop players from those nations. It would also add a dimension to the top league and first division in Japan.
I think that moves like the above should be only the start.
A second Asian structure needs to be developed whereby national squads act as professional squads. It needs to be along lines similar to that of Super Rugby, with a team from each of the remaining premier and first division teams where applicable (most of the Kazakstan squad play professionally either at home or in Russia).
Initially funded by the IRB, such a competition could contain teams from the Phillipines, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Sri Lanka plus teams from targeted unions from within the region of the likes of Malaysia, India and China.
The objective should be to first develop a strong level of competition alongside a small degree of sponsorship, so countries will be able to supply more than one team with the objective of each, in time, supplying two each.
A structure such as this would provide the necessary levels of competition with guidance to build competitiveness and interest over time. Many would be surprised about the level of coverage many of these unions enjoy.
This is just a very brief outline, meant to be a discussion starter. What do you think Roarers?
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