KUALA LUMPUR – The national 15s rugby squad has been thrown a lifeline to remain in the Asia Rugby Championship premier division, despite losing all their matches, including to newcomers United Arab Emirates (UAE), in this year’s campaign.
Speaking to Scoop, Malaysia Rugby (MR) secretary-general Fahmy Jalil revealed that Asia Rugby plans to hold a playoff match between Malaysia, the bottom-ranked team in the premier division, and the division one champions, Sri Lanka.
This was discussed by Asia Rugby president Qais Al-Dhalai with MR president Amir Amri Mohamad during a meeting in Dubai last Friday.
“This matter is still under discussion as Asia Rugby recognises the high standard in the Premier Division.
“The quality between Malaysia and Sri Lanka is not far apart, so they are planning to organise this match, with the winner guaranteed a place in the premier division.
“Based on discussions with Asia Rugby, Malaysia is likely to host the match, and it could take place around January.
“So we still have a chance to remain in that division,” said Fahmy.
He added that a decision from these discussions should be finalised by the end of next month.
Malaysia ended at the bottom of this year’s ARC premier division campaign, failing to earn any points from three matches.
Since their promotion to the division in 2018, Malaysia has not managed to secure any victories despite competing against Hong Kong and South Korea.
In contrast, Sri Lanka, newly promoted following their suspension, secured the division one title this year by defeating Kazakhstan 45-7 in the final match. – June 25, 2024