Singapore offers rugby world a gateway into Asia
FAVOURABLE location has been at the core of Singapore’s existence.
Trade routes made it an essential port of call and South Africa expediently saw the attraction of the “Red Dot” when Super rugby was last restructured.
South Africa’s insistence that its travel load be limited meant Tokyo’s Sunwolves had to travel west for home matches in the city nation.
“We’re a venue essentially,” noted Inoke Afeaki, Singapore Rugby’s technical director and former Hurricanes lock.
“You may have a fantastic facility where people three years down the line still say ‘wow’, but if you don’t have a fan base it is going to be empty and it is not going to look nice on television,” said Singapore Rugby’s vice-president, Jonathan Leow.
“Because it was the first year we averaged between 8 000 and 10 000 spectators at our three games. One was over an Easter weekend.
“It was quite positive, but how do you sustain that? We’ve got some expat South Africans that come. We have 10 000 South Africans living here, 70 000 Aussies and 30 000 Japanese.
“It is how we take advantage of these fantastic things to grow the game,” said Leow.
To be fair, there were other considerations beyond hosting matches in the state of the art national stadium.
Singapore, more than Tokyo, is seen as the gateway to a largely untapped Asian market.
“Obviously being part of a former British colony, there is a history here,” explained Leow. “Rugby is strong in the schools. The game is very entrenched at the mission schools.
“Rugby in Asia is so diverse. It goes from us to Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan, India and so forth. We fluctuated between Division One and Two of a structure that has only been developed [recently].
“Ultimately, however, the proof of the pudding is how we do on the field.”
Questions remain about its future in the next bout of Super rugby restructuring.
It is part of Super rugby, but there is also a disconnect. Regular competition against established teams is the exposure it craves.
Problem is, the rand multiplies by 10 in the presence of the Singapore dollar.
“We could involve them but it’s too expensive to go there,” said an SA Rugby official. “What they should perhaps consider is to come here and play against teams like the Griffons.
“They need to play at a higher level first. Super rugby is not a developmental tournament.”