Nations in Asia, including Taiwan, are on the radar of World Rugby, former All Blacks coach Ian Foster said at an event in Taipei on Saturday, although local administrators face structural issues to capitalize on the opportunity.
Foster was in Taiwan to speak at the Taipei Rugby Dinner at the American Club Taipei. The event is organized annually by members of the Taipei Baboons rugby club to raise funds for the Rotary Taipei-administered Bali Trust Fund. The fund was set up to support people who were affected by the Bali bombing attacks in Indonesia 23 years ago and has evolved to help disadvantaged young people get into sports and sponsor sports programs across Taiwan.
The Baboons were in Bali on a rugby tour on Oct. 12, 2002. Five members of the Taipei club were killed when the twin blasts were triggered in a nightlife area.
Photo courtesy of David Lee
Foster on Saturday morning attended a match and children’s training session at the Bailing Rugby Grounds in Taipei’s Shilin District, where he praised the enthusiasm of club members.
“Probably the thing that I loved the most was standing on the side of the rugby field today and spending time with some of the young kids, and seeing the joy at being outside and running around and learning something,” he said at the dinner.
“It’s a real credit to this club,” he added.
Photo courtesy of the Bali Trust Fund / syunstudio
However, local administrators are grappling with a ceiling on player involvement.
“The problem is the structure in Taiwan,” former Chinese Taipei Rugby Football Union president Herman Huang said. “You can see players at university level, but actually the issue is that after high school, when they go to university, there’s no goal for them” in rugby.
“There’s nothing above them,” Huang said. “You can see they are very competitive in a school, but we [must] do something to keep hold of that.”
Photo courtesy of the Bali Trust Fund / syunstudio
“It is not worth looking to Australia or New Zealand, which are far from us,” he said. “I think about Hong Kong and Japan. They are easy for us to learn from.”
Foster, who coaches Toyota Verblitz in the Japan Rugby League One, would not comment on the specifics of Taiwan’s situation, but said that there is “so much interest in rugby growing in this particular part of the world.”
“World rugby is keen for rugby grounds to be a real part of life here,” he told the Taipei Times, adding that there is a “massive population and energy.”
“Look at the formula [for rugby] in Japan of high schools and universities. There’s no reason why there can’t be a lot more players coming from here [Taiwan],” he said.
“I guess it’s looking at the standard of what they’re coming through at that high-school age and somehow trying to find some connections into Japan,” he said.
Foster departed Taiwan yesterday, but vowed to return.
“First time in Taiwan. Loved it. Only been here 24 hours, leaving tomorrow, but I’m going to come back,” he told the dinner.
Separately, Taiwan were competing at the China leg of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series in Hangzhou. They lost to the hosts 39-7 and South Korea 17-5 on Saturday, before defeating the Philippines 19-17.
That put them in the playoffs yesterday, in which they lost 14-10 against Malaysia and 47-0 against South Korea to finish eighth in the 12-team tournament.
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