New IRFU Rugby Development Officer, Sam Refshauge, has arrived in country and is now busying himself doing what we here at the IRFU do best; developing the game here at the grass-roots level. With legendary former Queensland and Australia hooker Chris “Buddha” Handy visiting for the Indonesian Rugby Businessman’s Lunch last week, the pair got together to watch some schools’ rugby and pass on tips to the young players from Cita Buana and Lab Schools, who put on a game to remember. The Jakarta Globe was there to cover the story
Wimbo Satwiko
Two Jakarta High Schools Huddle Up for Rugby Lessons
On the field, just as in the classroom, students learn better by doing.With that in mind, some 30 boys and girls from two Jakarta high schools, Lab School and Cita Buana High, learned about rugby firsthand when the latter held a training session and exhibition game at its campus on Tuesday.
The session was part of a continuing effort to introduce rugby to Indonesia at a grassroots level.
Equally crucial to education is a good teacher, and the students had a wealth of knowledge at their disposal with former Wallabies and Queensland star Chris Handy on hand to offer tips.
Arianni Citra Frasdillia, one of the girls in attendance, said she wasn’t surprised that so many girls enjoyed the sport.
“It’s a team sport and it’s different,” she said. “Some girls like basketball and others like other sports. We just love playing
rugby.”The first session was held with mixed teams of three boys and two girls, and played with touch rugby rules, where a player is down when an opponent catches them with two hands. A five-a-side girls game followed, and Cita Buana displayed good skills and speed despite only training together for a month.
The boys played with standard rules, and though tensions rose when the game got tough, the coaches managed to keep their players in line.
Cita Buana got the better of the visitors, but Lab School coach Iswahyudi said he was grateful for the experience.
“Cita Buana is much better than us, as some of their players are very familiar with the sport,” he said. “But our team displayed encouraging performances, especially the girls. I think the Lab School girls team might be the only all Indonesian team.”
Lab School started rugby as an extracurricular activity in August 2008 and has grown steadily since then.
Cita Buana benefits from the knowledge of Iswahyudi, who is also the head coach of the SMA 3 rugby team.
Another local school, Pesantren Darunnajah, took part in the inaugural Indonesian Schools 10s tournament at the Pelita Harapan School campus in Karawaci,
Banten, in January.
