Positives in defeat to South Korea

defeat to South Korea in their opening Asia Rugby Championship (ARC) match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday was not an ideal start to the tournament.

But Korea’s 35-10 win against a depleted national side, making their first ever appearance in the top-tier competition, also highlighted just how far World No 45 Malaysia have come in the sport.

The last time both nations played in 1996, Korea hammered Malaysia 112-5 in what was one of the worst defeats suffered by the national team.

The bruising encounter on Saturday, however, saw five more players added to the crock list.

Nathanial Tan suffered a broken jaw, Rosmanizam Roslan fractured his ankle, Sofian Mohd Kamil tore his right hamstring, Mohd Nur Ikwan Nordin tore his right cheek while Amirul Aqil suffered a concussion.

They will likely miss the next game against Hong Kong on Saturday.

Malaysia had already missed five key players for the Korea match — K. Dinesvaran, Etonia Vaqa Saukuru, Samuela Tamanisau, Jone Marawa Nasalo and Marc Le for various reasons.

National coach Lee Nyuk Fah is aware of the tough task at hand against Hong Kong but stressed that there is nothing to lose but everything to gain against the regional powerhouse.

“I am expecting Hong Kong to be tougher as they are ranked higher (22nd) than Korea (31st) and are also physically bigger than the Koreans,” said Nyuk Fah.

“We will work on the weaknesses we showed against Korea and will prepare the best we can. We have nothing to lose against Hong Kong. Either way, it will be a good experience for the boys.”

“We showed that we are closing the gap with Korea. Unfortunately, we picked up some serious injuries in the game and we will have to replace them with other players in our extended (squad) list.

“We are, however, hoping to have Etonia and Samuela back in the team for the next game and our medical team are working hard to ensure all our boys are fit and in good condition.”