Monday, July 14, 2014

Rugby whipping boys out to redeem themselves

Malaysia rugby player Marc Le (right) during training in Bukit Jalil for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow starting next week.
Malaysia rugby player Marc Le (right) during training in Bukit Jalil for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow starting next week.

KUALA LUMPUR: Professional player Marc Le (pic) doesn’t want Malaysia to become a laughing stock in the rugby Sevens competition at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

At the last Games in New Delhi in 2010, the national team suffered humiliating losses to finish last out of 16 teams. They were the whipping boys in the three group fixtures, losing to Kenya (40-0), Samoa (61-0) and Papua New Guinea (56-10). In the 15th-place playoff, Malaysia were beaten 26-14 by Uganda.

Malaysia conceded 183 points and managed only 24 points in four matches. It was Malaysia’s worst-ever performance in the history of the Games.

To make matter worse, Malaysia have been drawn again with Samoa and Papua New Guinea in Group C in Glasgow. Wales, the world No. 6, are the other team in the group.

Malaysian-born Marc, who lives in Wellington but plays for professional club Kamaishi Seawaves in the Japanese League since 2010, admitted that it would be another tough outing for Malaysia.

“We don’t want to be a laughing stock again. We want to redeem our pride by narrowing the losses against the three teams in our group,”said Marc, who missed the New Delhi Games due to an ankle injury.

The 27-year-old Marc, who plays as a winger, said Malaysia should not feel intimidated by the bigger physique Samoans, Welshmen and Papua New Guineas.

“We must have faith and believe in ourselves that we can create an upset against PNG.
“Nothing is impossible. We just need to stay focused and cannot afford to make the slightest mistakes in any of our matches,” said Marc.

The Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) have set a top 12 target for the team.

New Zealand, who will be gunning their fifth consecutive gold, are in Group A with Barbados, Canada and Scotland while Group B comprises South Africa, Kenya, Cook Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.

England, Australia, Sri Lanka and Uganda are in Group D.



by Aftar Singh - The Star

No comments:

Post a Comment