Rugby: Cable and Wireless Island Nations Cup |10 July 2023
Black Parrots v Pirates (Photo: Roland Duval)
Sharks maintain winning ways to stretch unbeaten record
• Johannes Hanekom tops scoring list
After match eight of the series, unbeaten Sharks are comfortably sitting on top of the Cable & Wireless Island Nations Cup league table, having collected a maximum 24 points out of eight wins in as many matches played, while Johannes Hanekom, who also plays for Sharks is presently the league’s top scorer, having converted 68 points.
On match day eight on Saturday at Stad Popiler, Sharks were up against Flying Foxes who are presently second overall.
Despite some resistance from the Flying Foxes, Sharks managed to impose their game to win the match 37-24, maintaining their top spot on the league table, with Jean Rolland being voted as man of the match after contributing 10 points.
On maximum 24 points, Sharks have scored 322 points, while conceding only 85.
The Flying Foxes are presently occupying the runners-up spot on 15 points from five wins and three defeats
They have scored 284 points and conceded 200.
Snappers are presently third overall in the league, and in their eighth match on Saturday, they were up against Marlins where they sneaked away with hard-fought 15-14 victory trough a try by Pierrick in the dying seconds of the match.
It was young Gael Esparon of Marlins who was voted as man of the match, having scored all 14 points for his team.
Snappers have now accumulated 12 points from four winds and four defeats out of eight matches played, having scored 227 points and conceding 285.
As for Marlins, they are now fourth on the ranking on nine points from three wins and five defeats, having scored 169 points, while conceding 245.
Having collected a narrow 34-32 victory over Pirates on Saturday, Black Parrots are presently fifth overall on six points from two wins and six defeats, a similar statistic to sixth-placed Pirates.
The former (Parrots) boast a superior points’ difference, having scored 193 and conceding 285, compared to 142 for and 237 against for Pirates.
In Saturday’s encounter, Jadi of Black Parrots was voted as man of the match after scoring 15 points.
On the top scorers’ list, Gift Muthami of the Black Parrots is second overall after scoring 58 points, ahead of third-placed Hendrik Jan Mosca of Snappers who is third with 57 points.
Gael Esparon, the result of the SRU’s youth development programme
With only two years of existence, the Seychelles Rugby Union (SRU), the newest and smallest rugby union in the Indian Ocean, started its youth development programme as part of its five-year plan, having had introduced rugby in local schools and significantly promoted grassroots rugby throughout the country.
The SRU has recently started to hand over equipment to different schools in the country as part of it campaign to partner with local educational institutions, helping them set up, or improve existing school rugby programmes.
It is part of its mandate to promote and propagate the sport of rugby locally, especially at grassroots level, thus ensuring a healthy future for the sport, while the equipment is a donation of a batch of 150 balls the SRU received from the British High Commission, with the intention to equip local schools with rugby balls and equipment so that the sport can be played throughout the country by all.
Young Gael Esparon has been part of the youth programme and today, other than playing alongside the seniors in the local league, he has been voted as man of the match on more than one occasion.
Speaking to Sports NATION, Esparon said he joined rugby out of curiosity, since as a versatile athlete, he always wants to explore new avenues.
He started playing among his peers, but was soon promoted to attend training with the seniors, due to his remarkable ability and love for the sport.
Playing for Marlins in the Cable & Wireless Island Nations Cup, Esparon scored 14 points on Saturday against Snappers to collect another man of the match title.
He said even if he was discouraged by his friends who told him that rugby is a contact and dangerous sport, he was not discouraged, but rather eager to discover for himself what the sport is all about.
After being familiar to touch rugby, he started playing semi-contact, and according to him, it is no more dangerous as any other sports, since all sporting disciplines carry their own risks of injuries.
“As a rugby player, all you have to do is train hard, learn all the basic techniques, which once mastered, you will enjoy your game, rather than being on the alert all the time in fear of getting tackled,” said the young Marlins player.
He encouraged other youngsters to join the sport, which he said is not as dangerous as it is being portrayed, especially touch rugby which has very minimal contact.
Pulling out of the 11th Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG)
It was recently announced that the SRU has decided to pull out of the 11th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) scheduled to take place in Madagascar from August 25 to September 3.
Speaking to Sports NATION, chairman of the SRU, Captain Luke Fonseka explained that the decision is purely based on a lack of support and understanding, and despite the Games offering an amazing opportunity to grow and increase participation by exposing and educating more Seychellois about rugby, the only solution was to pull out.
In a written communiqué sent to president of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) Antonio Gopal, who is also president of the International Games Committee (CIJ), Captain Fonseka noted that the SRU being the newest and smallest rugby union in the region, the majority of its current players and members are long serving Seychelles residents, or are now residing permanently in the Seychelles.
He explained that, it is with great disappointment that the decision not to abide by the World Rugby Eligibility Rules, and specifically with point C – “the player has completed sixty consecutive months of residence immediately preceding the time of playing” has been made.
Instead, it has been fixed that players must have a Seychelles passport to take part in the IOIG.
Captain Fonseka acknowledged that Seychelles has very strict and restrictive guidelines on issuing of passports, with very few long-term residents ever qualifying to obtain one.
He, however, explained that in his role as the CIJ president, Mr Gopal has the opportunity to support the growth of rugby in Seychelles and the Indian Ocean by supporting the implementation of World Rugby Eligibility Rules.
Regulations relating to the eligibility of players to play for national teams in rugby union, both in the fifteen-a-side game and rugby sevens, are the responsibility of World Rugby, the governing body for the sport.
Players' eligibility to represent a country depends on whether they have a genuine, close, credible and established national link with that country.
As per regulation 8, Eligibility to play for national representative teams – 8.1 Subject to Regulation 8.2, a player may only play for the senior 15-a-side national representative team, the next senior 15-a-side national representative team and the senior national representative sevens team of the union of the country with which the player has a genuine, close, credible and established national link in which:(a) the player was born; or (b) one parent or grandparent was born; or(c) the player has completed sixty consecutive months of residence immediately preceding the time of playing; or (d) the player has completed 10 years of cumulative residence preceding the time of playing.
Captain Fonseka said, by not supporting these rules, Mr Gopal and CIJ have been a supporting factor in rendering it impossible for Seychelles rugby to be in a position to submit a team for the 2023 IOIG, based on an inconsistent application of the international rugby qualification rules.
He added that there is a good reason why the International Rugby Board adopted the eligibility rules that apply and the SRU is extremely disappointed that these rules have been ignored.
Therefore, the lack of will to support the SRU is a contributing factor in having to withdraw its participation, in short, the union has been failed, added Captain Fonseka.
Roland Duval
