Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/844299
maltatoday SUNDAY, 2 JULY 2017 Sport 54 RUGBY FOOTBALL Under 16s and 18s off to San Marino AFTER the successful event in 2015 with the under 18 team, Malta Rugby is proud to be part- nering again with the San Marino Rugby Football Union who will be hosting a contingent of Mal- tese Youth players for a training camp this coming week. The Training Camp, which will be held between the 4th and 8th July, will see a contingent of 30 Under 16 and Under 18 youth players from three local clubs, Falcons RFC, Gladiators RFC and Kavallieri RFC, going to San Marino where they will have the opportunity to train with players from San Marino and Cesana RFC, with both Italian and Maltese Coaches taking charge. The training camp will conclude with a tournament on the Friday where players will get the chance to not only try out any of the skills they may learn, but to also experience foreign competition, which will only further benefit the local game. The Maltese contingent will be led by MRFU Vice President and Youth Chairman Joseph Borda, Daniel Holliday as Head Coach, with Joe Borg and Glenn Doublesin completing the coaching team and Roderick Zammit as Team Man- ager. Events like this would not be pos- sible without the assistance and support of all the players' families, the Malta Olympic Committee and the San Marino Rugby Football Union. Malta Top of Group at end of Day 1 THE men's National Sev- en's team has come first in their group on the first day of the Rugby Europe Con- ference 1 Sevens Compe- tition in Burgas, Bulgaria. The team ended the day undefeated in Pool B, beat- ing Norway (19-14), Slo- venia (35-5) and Slovakia (21-19). The team will be moving into the quarter finals to- day when they will hope- fully maintain the same momentum they showed on Day 1. Malta's first match today kick 's off at 9:20am Malta time. For more information on the day's fixtures and to watch the matches live, go to w w w.rugbyeurope.t v. The Malta squad: Ju- lian Galea, Tom Hollo- way, Rodrick Borg, Chris Dudman, James Kirk, Rob Holloway, James O'Brien, Rhodri Apsee, Aaron Borg, Andrew Vella, Luke Watts, Daniel Apsee. Coach: Damian Neill Manager: Daniel Holliday Infantino says 'nothing in the way' of using VAR at World Cup FIFA President Gianni Infantino signalled that he is in favour of introducing video assistant ref- erees (VAR) at next year's World Cup following its success at the Confederations Cup, although he conceded the system needs to be improved. "Nothing is standing in the way of using VAR (at the World Cup), as far as I'm concerned," Infantino told a news conference in the Rus- sian city of St Petersburg on the eve of the Confederations Cup final. "So far it has been successful. We are learning, we are improv- ing, we are continuing the tests." VAR involves two video assistant referees watching the on-pitch ac- tion remotely and then drawing the match referee's attention to officiating mistakes. FIFA said the system corrected six game-changing decisions dur- ing the Confederations Cup. "Without the VARs, we would have had a different tournament," Infantino said. "And a tourna- ment which would have been a lit- tle less fair." But Infantino, who said that the system had been tested so far in 74 matches, added that certain aspects needed to be re- fined. "We need to work still on some of the details, on the communication and the speed of the decisions being taken," he said. The time needed to make decisions has been criticised. There has also been debate about which circumstances it should be used for as some close calls are decided without consulting the VARs. The use of the system has caused controversy at times, such as dur- ing Germany's 3-1 group stage win against Cam- eroon when referee Wil- mar Roldan needed two reviews of an incident to send off the correct Cam- eroon player. Chile were denied a legitimate- looking goal after video review in their 2-0 win against Cameroon on June 18, and it was again used at the end of the same match to overturn a linesman's offside call and award Chile a goal. Former World Cup final referee Pierluigi Collina, the chairman of FIFA's referees committee, said on Saturday that the system was a "very positive tool" to help refer- ees make the right calls and took pressure off them. "We are in a sort of work in pro- gress," Collina told reporters. "We see the very positive result we had but we are aware that we can im- prove. This is normal." Soccer's law-making body IFAB is expected to decide next March whether to allow video assistant referees to become part of the game on a permanent basis. Chile face World Cup holders Germany in Sunday's Confedera- tions Cup final. FIFA President, Gianni Infantino