The Gentleman and the Beastly Game: Zeeshan Syed Rizvi

 

Adeel Wahid

http://www.youlinmagazine.com/

www.pakistanrugby.com 

Common perception about rugby holds that it is a game of beasts. For Oscar Wilde, an Irish novelist and playwright of early 20^th century, “Rugby is a good occasion for keeping thirty bullies far from the center of the city”. But according to another clichéd saying, attributed to athlete Henry Blaha, “Rugby is a beastly game played by - [well] - gentlemen”.
One such “beastly” gentleman is Zeeshan Rizvi, captain of the Islamabad Jinns since January 2011. He is amongst the youngest of the lot, but his tremendous talent and international exposure make him an ideal candidate to lead one of the only two recognized rugby clubs of Pakistan (the other being the Lahore Rugby Club).

Lahore Division team win #Pyf14 Punjab youth festival Rugby 7s

Lahore wins the final of the #Pyf14 Punjab youth festival Rugby 7s provincial final Beating Faisalabad 31 to 0 retaining there tile

Lahore playing a very technical 7s game in the final against a very fast and fit Faisalabad team who had already upset last years runners up Multan in the semi final.

The Lahore team made up of the

All 9 division of Punjab took part

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".

Islambad Jinns Win First 15s match in 2014

Islamabad Jinns get revenge by winning the first fifteen a side rugby Match 15-5. The match was a warm friendly between the two Top premiere clubs of Pakistan  . Islamabad are last year Service Tyres super 15 cup champions and the  Lahore Rams were Last years Azadi cup champions. The first domestic match of year  twas played at the DHA ground in Lahore and Islamabad took the match 15-5 .

Islamabad Jinns 

Lahore Ramms

Coke-Cola U19 Rugby Championsip 2013   In the first game the Pakitsn under 19 beat the visitng Afghanistan by 44-5 in a grand event held at punjab stadium lahore

Pakistan 44 - Afganistan 5

Lahore and Islamabad clubs gain valued Experience at the Dubai 7s

The Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens Invitation Tournament, is one of the largest annual international rugby events. And the two teams inclusion in this prestigious tournament is Quite a step, the local club teams get a chance to play along side and against some of the best players in the worlds.

Lahore who got invited to play in the International Open category where Teams in this section are highly competitive comprising invited players who compete at international/county/provincial players from around the world found it hard to keep up with the teams but have gained good experience to bring back to the local circuit.



Islamabad playing in the International social category did well to reach the semi final of the plate competition beating Tehran rugby club in the quarter finals on their way in the semi final where they lost to a more experienced Moscow Dragons Russian club side



The Pakistan clubs participation in international tournaments where they compete against some of the best players in the world will only help raise the level of the game in Pakistan