ONCE a well respected team in Asia, the standard of Malaysian rugby has declined greatly due to lack of qualified coaches and interest among youngsters.

The Combined Old Boys Rugby Association (Cobra), currently the country’s top rugby club, have decided to do something about it. They launched a massive grassroots development programme earlier this year with help from England’s Penguin Coaching Academy.

The Penguin coaching team of Craig Brown, Tony Robinson and Stuart Power were in Kuala Terengganu from May 30 until Friday to conduct a week-long coaching course to train 33 selected school teachers from Terengganu and Pahang.

In February, they conducted a course in Kuala Lumpur. Similar courses will also be organised in Penang and Malacca in July and September respectively.

The three-year development programme provides Level 1 coaching courses for school teachers in the country, especially those in the rural areas where talent goes unnoticed.

Cobra vice-president Lt Col (Rtd) Tommy Pereira said they hoped teachers would promote the game.

"By the end of the three-year programme, we expect about 6,000 students, especially at the under-15 level, to know the basics of rugby with the help of these teachers," he said.

"This is just the beginning," said Pereira. To ensure continuity from the programme, teachers are required to conduct a monthly clinic for students.

Meanwhile, the Cobra 10’s Invitational rugby tournament will see three foreign schools from United Kingdom, Thailand and Singapore making their debut in September. They will compete with local school state champions.