Song (centre) gives advice to players who have been picked for the coming Agong’s Cup.
SIBU: Sarawak Rugby Union (SRU) will appeal to the government for state land to build a rugby field so that the sport has a permanent home.
Its president Richard Song said the premises will also be an ideal place to organise more competitions, hence uplifting the standard of the game.
“It’s been long acknowledged that none of our affiliates, including Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu affiliates have a permanent home. Hopefully, the government will consider our requests,” he said during the closing of the 3rd Brother Albinus Rugby Challenge Cup here last weekend.
“As the parent body, this is SRU’s main agenda now and we want to make sure affiliates can develop further so that we can go back to our glorious days of making rugby our powerhouse,” he added.
Song acknowledged that SRU had been inactive for the previous three years and it was now his duty to work closely with the Ministry of Sports, Sarawak Sports Corporation, Education Department and Malaysia Rugby Union (MRU), the national rugby body.
“We need to develop from grassroots if we are really committed to make rugby our powerhouse,” he said.
SRU, he disclosed, had also drawn up a five-year development programme to scout talents and to prepare the players for Sukma and the Agong’s Cup.
“Apart from the club-level, we also need to start young, from primary school all the way up to secondary, college and even university.”
Touching on the Br Albinus Cup, Song said it was heartening to note that 14 teams, including those from Semananjung Malaysia, took part. Later, he spoke to the players selected for the Agong’s Cup to be held in Kuala Lumpur later this month.
“Train hard and ensure that you could produce some surprise results in the championship,” he said.
The Agong’s Cup is the nation’s premier inter-state tournament which serves as a platform to select players to represent the country.