When the man dubbed rugby’s ‘most dangerous winger in the world’ expresses an interest in coming to Cambodia, it’s safe to assume the country’s love for funny shaped balls is finally coming of age.
Not before time: first introduced by expats in the 19th century, when Cambodia was part of French Indochina, this ‘sport for thugs, played by gentlemen’ is, for the first time since independence, reclaiming its place in the national consciousness.
And this time, the boisterous melee of rucks, scrums and mauls is no longer the sole preserve of visiting foreigners. Of the 340-something rugby players registered with the Cambodian Federation of Rugby (CFR) today, almost 300 are native Cambodians – and, by all accounts, they’re putting their international mentors to shame.
Little wonder, then, that Rory Underwood MBE – one of the sport’s all-time greats, with a total of 91 internationals and not a single second spent on the bench – will be touching down in Phnom Penh later this month. Half Malay, England’s record try scorer and one of the highest profile names in world rugby (he chalked up 85 caps and 49 tries for England during his two-decade career) has long harboured a love of Asian rugby. And it is the inexorable rise of the sport here in Cambodia that prompted his overture to its governing body.
“This guy called Tim who runs a rugby club in Dubai is a friend of the CFR and he knows all the ex-England players,” says CFR Tournament Director James Sterling, a fellow Englishman and former prop. “I got this random email from him saying: ‘Rory fancies a gig in Cambodia. How about it?’ It was that easy. I now have a list of other players who also want to come over, including Will Greenwood and Gavin Hastings.”
With Rory’s brother Tony on the opposite flank, the Underwoods became the first siblings since 1938 to represent England in the same team during its surge to the top of world rugby in the early 1990s. Rory, a one-time Royal Air Force pilot (much of his career came during rugby’s amateur era and when not scoring tries, he could be found at the controls of winged behemoths such as the Hawk TMk1A and Tornado GR1) was part of England’s famed midfield four, alongside Rob Andrew, Will Carling and Jerry Guscott.
A member of the England squad during the inaugural Rugby World Cup of 1987, Rory made his third and final World Cup appearance in South Africa in 1995. It was a tournament of mixed emotions: Rory scored two tries in the semi-final against New Zealand; the only problem was that the All Blacks had on their side a certain Jonah Lomu, who Carling famously referred to as ‘a freak’. Standing almost two metres tall and weighing in at 125kg, this Aucklander of Tongan descent – generally regarded as rugby union’s first global superstar – ran in a devastating four tries to dump England out.
Rory retired from international rugby the following year, but many of his statistics still outshine those of the best 15 years after his bowing out: the 49 tries he scored for England is still 18 ahead of joint second-placed Will Greenwood and Ben Cohen, with Jeremy Guscott next in the list on 30. Today, his focus is more on rugby development, hence his planned tour of the country’s most notable teams and guest speaking at the CFR’s annual fundraising gala dinner on May 26. And perhaps nowhere is rugby developing faster than right here on Cambodian soil.
“Our biggest hope is to boost rugby’s presence in the country,” says James. “The number of people coming to watch matches has increased massively. If it’s Garuda, which is a very Khmer team, you’ll get maybe 100 Khmers coming to watch. If it’s the Sisowath Knights, you’ll probably get about 200 expats coming to watch and at least 100 Khmers. It’s bizarre, but it’s getting there.”
The fan base may be a little lop-sided (at one final, 300 spectators turned up but they were all Cambodian and all rooting for the same team), but the CFR claims several coups. “We’ve had one huge coup: the undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports is a rugby fan and he’s signing off on rugby joining the state curriculum, on a voluntary basis. School kids have never been allowed to play before without permission. Most of our kids come from disadvantaged backgrounds. In the Russei Keo team, most of the kids are from the slums, but they play at the local high school and the students wanted to join in. Now, that’s no problem.”
Slightly less lop-sided is the teams’ gender make-up. “In Cambodia, there are three women’s teams and they beat the French every time. Last year at the Angkor 10s, on the main day, to give the guys a break, we put in two women’s teams – and the best match performance, as voted for by the 300 guys who were playing, was the women.
“Our head referee is a woman and we have eight or nine trainees, six of whom are women – they’ll all be going to referee school. All the women Khmer players came from the NGO Pour un Sourir d’Enfant. They’re all ex-rubbish dump kids – break your arms as soon as look at you – but they’re really good girls. At the Angkor 10s, they were all rough and ready, beating the crap out of each other on the pitch, then they turned up to the dinner afterwards in ball gowns. Lovely.
“What I find amazing is that we’re starting to get more and more into the social side of rugby, which is huge. Our national team is great fun – and they’re mostly Khmer. They used to be really introverted, but the social side is just kicking in. The men are really getting into it; the girls are slowly catching on. I can’t explain why; it just happened. They’re real party animals. Trust me, I saw them in Laos…”
What exactly transpired in Laos may be a closely guarded secret, but the now 12-year-old CFR is less reticent about its biggest milestone yet. “Nearly ready for release is the architectural tender for the Cambodian National Rugby Stadium, which we’d like to have completed by the Angkor 10s 2014. It’s completely donor-funded, with a national pitch made big enough so that we can rent it to people like cricket clubs and the AFL; two training pitches; a 3,000-people stand; gym; medical centres and everything.” Half the required funding has already been secured, thanks to Japan’s World Cup Legacy Fund (Japan will become the first Asian nation to host rugby union’s ultimate contest in 2019), and the rights to televise matches are currently being discussed with two Cambodian networks.
In the meantime, Cambodia is readying itself for a grudge match against Laos on June 30; national team The Koupreys are preparing to compete in the South East Asian Games in 2013 and the Asian Games in 2014; and the return of rugby to a place of prominence is a matter of national pride. “Pre-war, there were some French rugby teams here,” says James. “There’s a little old Khmer lady in Tuol Kork, the neighbour of one of my staff; we were talking about rugby and she said: ‘I remember rugby. I remember back in the 1960s and 1970s, kids playing rugby here. It’s great, I love it!’
“The Cambodian teams, particularly our young deaf team, The Tigers, are so excited that someone from England is coming especially to see them – and he’s famous.”
Tickets for the gala dinner ($85 in advance; $95 on the door) can be bought online via events@nullcambodiarugby.net, or at Score Bar, The Green Vespa, or Aussie XL.
WHO: Former England rugby player Rory Underwood
WHAT: Cambodian Federation of Rugby’s Annual Gala Dinner
WHERE: NagaWorld Grand Ballroom
WHEN: 6:30pm May 26
WHY: To help fund Cambodia’s growing love of funny shaped balls