Dr Mohammad Hashim, the official physiotherapist with the Pakistan Rugby Union, recently attended a ‘Strength and Conditioning’ course in Dubai.

Dr Mohammad Hashim, the official physiotherapist with the Pakistan Rugby Union, recently attended a ‘Strength and Conditioning’ course in Dubai.

 Conducted by the IRB (International Rugby Board), the course was attended by physiotherapists/coaches from about 10 countries and covered the following topics:

-Screening for fitness

-Long term player development speed training and drills

-Periodization

-Functional Screening

Dr Hashim tells, “All this will help to evaluate and improve players’ fitness, work on their weak areas and help them peak at the right time”.

He also wants to pass on the knowledge gained at the Dubai workshop to local coaches. Dr Hashim plans to hold a workshop in the middle of February for interested coaches and physiotherapists.     

After getting the certificate for this Level 1 course, for which he has to complete an online questionnaire before February 2, Dr Hashim intends to do the Level 2 course as well.           

'Get into Rugby' programme introduced in the Beaconhouse School System"

'Get into Rugby' programme introduced in the Beaconhouse School System"

For the promotion of the game at the grassroot level, International Rugby Board (IRB) has designed a 'Get into Rugby' programme.

Recently, the Pakistan Rugby Union (PRU) conducted a course in Islamabad to familiarise the P.E. teachers of the Beaconhouse School System with this programme. That would enable them to teach the sport to the children in their respective branches of the Beaconhouse School System.

The course was run by the PRU's director training Roger Coombs, also the coach of Pakistan's national team, and the development coach Shakeel Ahmad.
Attended by 20 (12 male & 8 female) teachers, the topics included introduction to the game, rules of the game and physical training.
At the conclusion of the two-day course, the participants opined, "The IRB's 'Get into Rugby' programme would go a long way in promoting the game among the school boys and girls, and help popularize rugby in the country."

The 'Get into Rugby' programme was introduced in Pakistan in 2013. In the first stage, introductory courses were conducted in the Southern Punjab towns of Multan, Muzaffargarh, Lodhran and Bahawalnagar.

Now, after Islamabad, soon, similar courses would be run in Lahore and Karachi. They will be held not only for the Beaconhouse School System but several other schools as well.

Arif Saeed, the secretary of the PRU expressed great optimism, "It is our endeavour to see the game flourish in this part of the world. In last few years, rugby has become an established sport in Pakistan. The number of grounds is increasing all the time. Today, many universities and colleges offer sports scholarships to rugby players. With the 'Get into Rugby' programme, thousands of school students would hopefully take up this exciting game".