NATIONAL 15’s head coach Lee Nyuk Fah has rubbished claims of favouritism in his squad selection for the Vajiralongkorn Cup and the IRB ranking match against Thailand in Bangkok next week.
He said the 41 players he shortlisted for the matches are a fair balance between teams as well as individuals who did well in the recent Agong’s Cup, including 15 players recalled from the Asian Five Nations (A5N) squad that won the Division Two tournament held in Qatar in May.
Lee, who is also the Johor Agong’s Cup coach, had come under fire on the Malaysian Rugby Union Facebook open discussion group, which is made up of over 9,700 members, after certain quarters demanded that the bulk of the squad be made up of the top four finishers in the Agong’s Cup this year (Sabah, Terengganu, Kelantan, Pahang).
“All this talk about me choosing players that are only close to me is totally baseless. These people have not even seen the squad list and already they are alleging favouritism,” said Lee, an 11-time Agong’s Cup winner with Armed Forces.
“I believe a lot of this has to do with me also being the Johor coach but you have to understand that it is not possible for me to base my selection on only four teams.
“I have to choose the best player for each position and they may not necessarily come from Sabah, Terengganu, Kelantan or Pahang.
“I have decided to recall 15 of the players from the A5N squad as I believe it is important to have continuity. They did well in Qatar and deserve their places”
The breakdown of players shortlisted is Johor (eight), Kelantan (six), Pahang (six), Terengganu (four), Sabah, Labuan, Armed Forces (three each), Putrajaya, Police (two each), Kedah, Negri Sembilan (one each) and three naturalised Fijians who did not compete in the Agong’s Cup. The final 25-man squad will be announced today. By Fadhli Ishak