Rugby team unprepared

Christoffel Scifo Diamantino, rugby national team captain, writes:

The recent success of the Malta national rugby team is no secret. Anybody mildly patriotic would be very proud of our winning streak over the past two years (nine wins and one draw at international level).

This pushed our international ranking up 39 positions. When putting things in perspective, our results show that no other Maltese national team competing at this level has ever achieved the same success in such a short time.

I can honestly say that some of our best days in rugby have been while playing and winning for our country. The feeling is second to none.

Sadly, now I'm discovering that our efforts have been in vain. The Marsa flood relief project has made training on our only rugby pitch (on loan to us by the government) impossible. What frustrates us most is that no alternative was ever considered when planning the project.

In a few days' time, the national team will be playing Switzerland (away) and believe it or not our locally-based players have not been able to play a friendly let alone a competitive game as yet. Here, I have to thank the golf club for their assistance in letting us use their facilities for training.

As captain, for the first time, I feel very unsure of myself and that's not ideal when I have to set an example for the rest of the team. The MRFU is still finding its roots after four years but it is well-organised. Our resources and funding are almost self-sufficient (through sponsors Barclays and Cisk mainly) and the IRB.

The plight of Maltese rugby was clearly illustrated in an article last month in The Times.

The response from the authorities was a phone call protesting "why the MRFU hadn't gone to them first with their complaints".

Our Youth Development Project was another success story but this time we've run into a brick wall. At the end of last season we had over 150 children training regularly (ages 6-18) under the MRFU's wing.

Training cannot be held as yet. Indeed, it is difficult to stand by and watch something you've created crumble after so much energy and time has gone into it.

Parents call us up asking if it's business as usual but, unfortunately, we have nowhere to host the children. I am a firm believer in sports education and I shudder when I think about the social implications of 150 youngsters missing out on their favourite discipline.

I'm afraid to admit that a very unprepared team for the World Cup qualifiers is off to play Switzerland.

We face Poland in four weeks' time at home. We also have two U-17 teams coming from Monaco and Israel to play our team on October 27. I dare to ask if a pitch will be available by that time.