THE national rugby sevens team could be without their two biggest stars at the Incheon Asian Games on Sept 19-Oct 4 where they hope for an unprecedented top-three finish.
Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) secretary general Suhaimi Zainuddin fears that New Zealand-based Marc Le and K. Dinesvaran, who currently plies his trade in Japan, might have club commitments and other issues that could see them miss the tournament.
Marc made his name at Wellington’s Marist St Pats before moving on to play for Japan’s Ricoh Black Rams and later Kamaishi Seawaves but is at the moment without a club.
Dinesvaran is currently on the books at Yamaha Jubilo, also a top league side.
“Both of them have verbally agreed to play for us at the Asian Games but for the time being we have no guarantees,” said Suhaimi.
“Dinesvaran is in pre-season (training) with his club and it is still not clear whether they are willing to let him play sevens rugby during their (15s) season which starts in August.
“If they do allow, we need to have him for at least two weeks before the tournament to let him adapt to playing sevens again and work out some understanding with the other boys.
“He will not be able to make the same impact if we can only get him three or four days before the tournament.
“Marc has told us he wanted to go back to New Zealand after the Commonwealth Games and rejoin us in the weeks before Incheon.
“He is currently without a club and should he sign a contract with a team, he might be tied up for some time.”
Malaysia finished fifth at the Guangzhou games four years ago behind winners Japan, runners-up Hong Kong, third-placed South Korea and hosts China.
It is set to be a busy second half of the year for the national team, who are set to face Wales, Samoa and Papua New Guinea at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow,
with the Asian Sevens Series set to kick off next month.
The Asian leg of Olympic qualifying has also been set for November though a specific date and venue have yet to be decided. By Fadhli Ishak