Roger Combs Joins Pakistan Rugby Union

Pakistan Rugby Union  announce the Appointment of the New Head coach for Pakistan National side  “ Mr Roger Coombs “

Roger arrived in Lahore from London yesterday and will take the post of technical director as well as head Coach of the National sideRogger who is originally from wales is a Level 3 RFU certified coach and has extensive Coaching Experience and has coached Teams all over the world  Including Premier League teams in including The London Irish where he worked under legendary coach Clive Woodward . He has also coached in Italy , USA Nigeria and the Caribbean. He also was head coach of the Bahamas National team for the World cup qualifiers

IN a statement to the Press President Fawzi Khaja said “ we are excited to have Mr Coombs join us who bring with him a wealth of  experience , and will help the growth of rugby. This is the 3^rd Foreign coach  We have brought to Pakistan the first MR Rambo Leung from Hong Kong then Mr mIke Pirrit From New Zealand and last year Mr Justin Fitzpatriq from Ireland, all of who have had a great impact on the Game in pakistan And we are sure roger will o the same"

The difference this year is that Mr Coombs is here for a longer period of time and will also work with PRU on grassroots junior  and also women’s game

The Pakistan Rugby union is holding a 15 a side camp this weekend witch Mr coombs will be able to see and work with the Best players of Pakistan, The camp is for the Pakistan National
Preparation for the Asian 5 Nation’s 2013  which will be in May In Dubai. Players from all member units of Pakistan have been invited including players from Punjab, Islamabad ,  Sind , Army , Fata , HEC , KPK Baluchistan and Police

The Camp will be on Saturday and Sunday in Lahore

Mr coombs said he was “Excited about the Work he has  up ahead and that the Pakistan Rugby union have been extremely cooperative and I can see it will be a good partnership in growing the Game of Rugby In  Pakistan”

 

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National 7s Team Leaves For UAE 7s

The Final squad of the Pakistan team was announced by the Pakistan Rugby Union. Pakistan will be competing in the inaugural Emirates International Sevens Tournament.

Pakistan will compete against Teams from Afghanistan, Egypt, KSA, Lebanon and hosts UAE this coming weekend, March 15th and 16th, at 7he Sevens ground in Dubai.

Games will commence at 15:30 on Friday and 10:00 Saturday Each team will play 3 qualifying matches on Friday afternoon and 2 qualifying matches on Saturday morning. Following the final qualifier the battle for Bowl, Plate and Cup honors will be played.

Pakistan is building a good 7s program and has built up a core squad for 2013 that they hope they can build on .and This tournament is a good preparation for the Pakistan 7s teams preparations  for the HSBC Asian 7s circuit Later this year . The  exact detail of the circuit host and times are yet to be announced. But Pakistan hopes to take part in at least 2 ranking events this year

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Pakistan 7s Camps

Pakistan Rugby Union National held the first of two Trail camp for the National 7s team,
The idea is to select a squad of players that will Train together for 7s rugby.

A total squad of 16-18 players will be selected in this squad that will form the Nucleus of players that will be selected for Pakistan Teams7s fixtures players were invited from all departments provinces and clubs to take part in the event the major players were from Army Punjab and Police rugby team

The Trial camp was Run  by Shakeel Malik Pakistan Rugby Full time development coach , a series of test were run to judge the Players  basic Rugby abilities each players did test forSpeed , strength and stamina after which all players did drills which judged Basic rugby skill such as passing tackling and Ricking . the camp ended with a series of games Pakistan Greeen vs Pakistan whites

This Year Pakistan will play in West Asia rugby 7s  championship in Dubai UAE which is being hosted by the newly formed UAE rugby Union  and then look at participate  in the prestigious  HSBC Asian 7s series

Which will be held in 4 different location in Shanghai China , Borneo Malaysia , Mumbai India and One other locations the exact dates are still be confirmed Pakistan will try to participate in at least two of the events .

 

This will be Pakistan Rugby union most  intense international season as it will participate  in possibly 3  international 7s tournaments in one year, Pakistan rugby union is looking at a long term develop plan for the National 7s team.

Rugby 7s has been included as a Olympic sport and Pakistan hope to build up the program to be in a place to start looking into the qualifying process with will star in two years time.

President Of Pakistan Rugby Union while speaking about the plans for the Rugby 7s High performance program “we are going give special attention to our 7s program this year and are planning to have a  4-5 day  camp every month for the selected squad beside the extensive  camps just before tournaments, PRU is also actively looking for a Foreign Coach to take on the 7s program”

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HSBC Rugby 7s Thailand : Pak Bowl Runners Up

 

Pakistan National 7s team Zafar iqbal of Army Rugby** Tahir Yaqoob of Army Rugby ** Fiaz Ahmed Dogar of Army Rugby** Khalid Mahmood of Army Rugby ** Basit of Bawalnager Dessert Camels Areeb Ali of DHA Rugby Club** Shakeel Ahmed of Lahore RFC Ayub of MULTAN RFC ** Khalid Hussain Bhatti of Police Muhammad Tahir of Lahore RFC/Punjab RA Umer Islam Butt (C) of Lahore RFC/Punjab RA Ahmed Mumtaz of SIND/LUMS** Captain is Umer Islam Butt of Lahore RFC Vice captain is Fiaz Ahmed Dogar of the Army Coach /player is Shakeel Ahemed Manger/Player is Ahmed Mumtaz of Sind/LUMS **first caps

Pakistan 7s team runners up in the Bowl championship The Pakistan National 7s team returned from Bangkok Thailand . After taking part in the prestigious HSBC 7s series tournament . Pakistan 7s team with included 8 New caps and 2 under 20 boys surprised all expectations by beating UAE team in the semi final of the bowl 31-7 and then finished runner up in the bowl the UAE team went on to win the Shield competition beating Philippines in the shield final . Pakistan final standing was 6th in the 8 team event which included the best teams in Asia. The PRU main goal was to give up and coming players the much needed match experience against the top rugby playing countries. The goal was more than achieved as Pakistan not only got to play against all the Top counties and was able to give them some tough compation. One of the highlights were the points scored against japan by scoring 2 tries

The team looking great through out the tournament showing good basic rugby and great athletic talent the make up of the team shows the great progress being made in the development of Rugby in Pakistan The Pakistan man of the match “Khalid Bhatti’ who was one of the best players of the whole tournament, was excellent in the tackling and defense both days. Pakistan were runner up in the bowl compaction of the tournament beating UAE In the Semi final who went on to with the lower shield competition . In the semi final Pakistan lost there captain Umer butt and Shakeel ahemd to injury who had been the main play makers though out the

 

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PRU Annual General Meeting

Pakistan Rugby Union holds its Annual General meeting the meeting was attended by preventatives of all the Members of the Pakistan Rugby Union

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Super 15s Rugby

PRU has launched its 15 a side domestic league “Super 15s Rugby”

The league initially will run from September –February Giving us a good build up for the Asian 5 Nation and in future will have a longer season

We have been playing this league in previous years but this year we will give it a little more structure and a kick start .

The first 2 games in the development league div 1 were played yesterday Saturday 29th September and the Div 2 will be played today Sunday 30th September
We are working on a program book and will be issuing a detailed press release this will be in conjunction with the launch of our new website /newsletter

 

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Lahore Win the Punjab Youth Festival 2012

Punjab Internaitnal Sports festival Rugby Event

Pakistan Rugby Union Host the first ever Lahore International Rugby 7s Event: Pakistan Rugby Union hosted the Lahore Rugby 7s as part of the Punjab International Sports festival, a multi-sport event sponsored by the Punjab Sports Board.

The sport of Rugby had the Biggest contingent in these games and inclusion of the sport in this event , was another step forward in its spread Of Rugby in Pakistan, Rugby 7s inclusion By the IOC as a Olympics sport has started opening new doors for Asian rugby Programs and the Game is getting a Lot more support from NOC and government sports organization As an example in the Opening ceremony of the games Rugby players stood tall aonth other athletes the so more established Traditional Sports in Pakistan such as Field Hockey, Kabaddi and Wrestling, Through the friendliness and enthuasum the Rugby players Won the hearts of People of Pakistan.

The Rugby event had 12 teams: 8 International and 4 Local. The International teams that participated were from Northern Ireland UK, New Zealand, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Delhi: India, Jammu and Kashmir: India and Cambodia.

The Punjab Sports Board, who were the Main sponsors, held the most amazing Opening Ceremony, a one of its kind, to welcome all the International players and athletes. The Chief Guest at the event, Chief Minister of the Province of Punjab Mr Shabaz Sharif, who saw his dream come alive as he was the brain child behind this mega event.

The Multi Sport opening ceremony and over all organization was spearheaded by the Director General of Sports Mr. Usman Anwar along with tournament sectary Amir Ali, The Punjab Sports Board, Pakistan Rugby Union and Staff who worked day and night to Make the event a sucess.

 Dan Witheral , Manager of Cambodia Rugby mentioned that how some of the younger players came up to him and commented on the opening ceremony saying " this must be how the Olympic athletes feel at the Olympics ".

The rugby event was Co-organized and sposored by the Pakistan Rugby union and the Punjab Rugby Association. The Pakistan Greens team was made up mostly of Punjab players including: Sair Riaz (Captain of the team) , Arsalan Zahid, Manan Naseem, Hassan Tahir, Malik Shakeel and Muhammad Babar. The Pakistan team also had three departmental players from Army namely Khalid, Fiaz Dogar and Zafar.

 First Day saw the Pool games being held and at the end of the First Day of Rugby, a total of 10 games had been decided. With all the matches being very competitive, an exciting week of rugby was in store for the People of Pakistan and Rugby lovers.

The College Riffle Riders from Auckland, New Zealand Led by Mr Mike Pirrit who was head coach of the National Team for the HSBC Asian 5 Nations in 2011 and is a key adviser to the Pakistan Rugby Union made a strong statement by winning their first game with a big Margin against the Pakistan Whites. The First Cup Semi Finals saw Pakistan Greens verses Cambodia, Pakistan winning the match 22-12. The other Semi Final saw the College Riffle Riders from Auckland, beat the Hollywood Rugby Club from Belfast, Northern Ireland, 19-7, in a match full of aggression and some solid hits.

 The stage was set for the Final between Pakistan and the College Rifle Riders Club from New Zealand, but the team had to face the traditional 'HAKA' first, a dream for any rugby team, which in this case, was the local Pakistan Greens Team. Being underdogs, Pakistan Team accepted the challenge presented to them by the far superior and more experienced team, and started the match in a way no one was expecting. Pakistan didn't let the Kiwis score in the first half of the game but then the Kiwi team showed their class and Pakistan had no answer to the brilliance of New Zealand Rugby.

The final was won by College Rifle Riders Club from New Zealand giving them the Gold Medal and Pakistan Winning well deserved Silver Medal. The bronze medal was won by the team from Northern Ireland. In other Finals, the Plate championship was won by Uzbekistan, who beat the Kabul United team 12-7, with Bowl Championship going to Pakistan White beating the Chinese University of Hong Kong 12-4.

On the last day of this wonderful tournament, an Exhibition match between Pakistan XV's and International XV's was shown Live on Geo Super for the first time in the history of Pakistan Rugby the Game was streamed Live around the world and broadcast where ever the Geo super channel is shown. The Game was a great end to a tournament with a Packed DHA stadium the Pakistan Team came back from behind a score of 12-0 to lead the match throughout 19-17, but a sloppy mistake at the end made sure the International XV scored and so they won the match 19-22 which was a heart break for Pakistan, who clearly were the better side and deserving winners.

To sum up, the Tournament was a resounding success, with Pakistan getting a taste of International Rugby and the International teams getting a chance to visit the Historic City of Lahore and getting to see Pakistan and the People of Pakistan in a way they might not have imagined, with many new found memories and new friends, hence confirming Lahore, a new destination for International Rugby.

Pakistan Rugby Union Host the first ever Lahore International Rugby 7s Event: Pakistan Rugby Union hosted the Lahore Rugby 7s as part of the Punjab International Sports festival, a multi-sport event sponsored by the Punjab Sports Board.

 The sport of Rugby had the Biggest contingent in these games and inclusion of the sport in this event , was another step forward in its spread Of Rugby in Pakistan, Rugby 7s inclusion By the IOC as a Olympics sport has started opening new doors for Asian rugby Programs and the Game is getting a Lot more support from NOC and government sports organization As an example in the Opening ceremony of the games Rugby players stood tall aonth other athletes the so more established Traditional Sports in Pakistan such as Field Hockey, Kabaddi and Wrestling, Through the friendliness and enthuasum the Rugby players Won the hearts of People of Pakistan.

The Rugby event had 12 teams: 8 International and 4 Local. The International teams that participated were from Northern Ireland UK, New Zealand, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, Delhi: India, Jammu and Kashmir: India and Cambodia.

The Punjab Sports Board, who were the Main sponsors, held the most amazing Opening Ceremony, a one of its kind, to welcome all the International players and athletes. The Chief Guest at the event, Chief Minister of the Province of Punjab Mr Shabaz Sharif, who saw his dream come alive as he was the brain child behind this mega event.

The Multi Sport opening ceremony and over all organization was spearheaded by the Director General of Sports Mr. Usman Anwar along with tournament sectary Amir Ali, The Punjab Sports Board, Pakistan Rugby Union and Staff who worked day and night to Make the event a sucess.

 Dan Witheral , Manager of Cambodia Rugby mentioned that how some of the younger players came up to him and commented on the opening ceremony saying " this must be how the Olympic athletes feel at the Olympics ".

The rugby event was Co-organized and sposored by the Pakistan Rugby union and the Punjab Rugby Association. The Pakistan Greens team was made up mostly of Punjab players including: Sair Riaz (Captain of the team) , Arsalan Zahid, Manan Naseem, Hassan Tahir, Malik Shakeel and Muhammad Babar. The Pakistan team also had three departmental players from Army namely Khalid, Fiaz Dogar and Zafar.

 First Day saw the Pool games being held and at the end of the First Day of Rugby, a total of 10 games had been decided. With all the matches being very competitive, an exciting week of rugby was in store for the People of Pakistan and Rugby lovers.

The College Riffle Riders from Auckland, New Zealand Led by Mr Mike Pirrit who was head coach of the National Team for the HSBC Asian 5 Nations in 2011 and is a key adviser to the Pakistan Rugby Union made a strong statement by winning their first game with a big Margin against the Pakistan Whites. The First Cup Semi Finals saw Pakistan Greens verses Cambodia, Pakistan winning the match 22-12. The other Semi Final saw the College Riffle Riders from Auckland, beat the Hollywood Rugby Club from Belfast, Northern Ireland, 19-7, in a match full of aggression and some solid hits.

 The stage was set for the Final between Pakistan and the College Rifle Riders Club from New Zealand, but the team had to face the traditional 'HAKA' first, a dream for any rugby team, which in this case, was the local Pakistan Greens Team. Being underdogs, Pakistan Team accepted the challenge presented to them by the far superior and more experienced team, and started the match in a way no one was expecting. Pakistan didn't let the Kiwis score in the first half of the game but then the Kiwi team showed their class and Pakistan had no answer to the brilliance of New Zealand Rugby.

The final was won by College Rifle Riders Club from New Zealand giving them the Gold Medal and Pakistan Winning well deserved Silver Medal. The bronze medal was won by the team from Northern Ireland. In other Finals, the Plate championship was won by Uzbekistan, who beat the Kabul United team 12-7, with Bowl Championship going to Pakistan White beating the Chinese University of Hong Kong 12-4.

 On the last day of this wonderful tournament, an Exhibition match between Pakistan XV's and International XV's was shown Live on Geo Super for the first time in the history of Pakistan Rugby the Game was streamed Live around the world and broadcast where ever the Geo super channel is shown. The Game was a great end to a tournament with a Packed DHA stadium the Pakistan Team came back from behind a score of 12-0 to lead the match throughout 19-17, but a sloppy mistake at the end made sure the International XV scored and so they won the match 19-22 which was a heart break for Pakistan, who clearly were the better side and deserving winners.

To sum up, the Tournament was a resounding success, with Pakistan getting a taste of International Rugby and the International teams getting a chance to visit the Historic City of Lahore and getting to see Pakistan and the People of Pakistan in a way they might not have imagined, with many new found memories and new friends, hence confirming Lahore, a new destination for International Rugby.

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The Most awaited Team Lead by Former Head coach Of Pakistan

The Most Awaited Team Arrives:

The most awaited team led by Former Head coach of Pakistan, Mike pirrit just got into Lahore after a journey of 8500 miles. It is an honor to have a team of such caliber in Pakistan and looking forward to playing and learning from them .With the New Zeland team, it makes 7 international teams in Lahore already including
teams from Afghanistan, Cambodia , Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, Northern Ireland UK.

PRU A5N Central Zone Camp

Pakistan Rugby union Concluded the last of three Camps that covered North South and central Zones with the central zone camp at DHA Rugby stadium in Lahore . the Lahore camp was part of the first stage of the Selection process for the National and development squad teams.

In the first stage Elete players were forwarded by all members of the Pakistan rugby union a total of 120 players tried out in three camps over the last month North Islamabad, South Karachi and Central in Karachi
Players from department were also given a chance at the All Pakistan inter department championships.

Through this process the boys will be selected to  3 squads  30 boys for Development team
30 boys  Pakistan Purples and 30 boys will Pakistan Blues the blues and purples will play by monthly camps from now on this will give a chance for the top 60 pakistan top rugby players to play against each other regularly . this with the ongoing super league should make sure the paksitan team will be ready for there matches in the HSBC Asian 5 nations.

The central zone camp was attended by Players from All over Punjab , Police , Wapda , HEC , Lums, Lahore rfc and DHA rugby Club

National Team coach and head selector Mr. Rizwan Malik commenting on the camps and selection process said “this year we are seeing that all the players have improved from last year and are  playing at a of a higher caliber even at this stage and the selection process will get harder for the selection committee . We still have a long way to go to be ready for our games but we have the potential for a good team this year.

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