Report by Stephen Barber, PRUI Life Member 

Following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake which devastated many regions of Nepal last Saturday, there has been an outpouring of help from people throughout the World including the Asian Rugby family of which Nepal are a member country.”Tomorrow in Tokyo, the Japan Rugby Football Union will have a ‘public donation’ at Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground for the Nepalese earthquake tragedy prior to the match between Japan and Hong Kong”, advised Koji Tokumasu from Japan Rugby earlier today.  

Throughout this week representatives from the various Asian Rugby Unions have sent messages of hope and condolences to Chetan, from the Nepal Rugby Association as the magnitude of this tragedy and the loss of human life unfolded. These are the words that I sent on behalf of Indonesian Rugby:

Dear Chetan,

On behalf of Indonesian Rugby, I would like to send our deepest condolences to both Nepal Rugby and the people of Nepal following this terrible earthquake.

May your nation rise again from this tragic natural disaster.

Regards,

Stephen Barber
Head of International Relations
Persatuan Rugby Union Indonesia

To get an idea on Rugby’s footprint in Nepal this information was supplied by Matt Oakley from the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) this afternoon:

The Nepal Rugby Association (NRA) is in its infancy and only joined the Asia Rugby family in December 2013. There are approximately 300 registered players across 10 schools (see picture) and 7 clubs, but with extremely basic facilities and limited funds. The NRA working with ARFU aim(ed) to start the Get Into Rugby programme this month, but that has sadly had to be put on hold for now. The NRA held its first ever national (7s) competition on 31 January and alas, the National Stadium will now be badly damaged.

Matt also commented, “I have very fond, personal memories of my visit to Nepal on behalf of ARFU and feel privileged to have been sent there. I fervently hope that all the lovely people I met are safe and sound”.

Nepal Rugby is currently in the hearts and minds of involved in Asian Rugby and it is hoped that tomorrow’s initiative in Tokyo can raise some much needed funds for the people of Nepal.