KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — Malaysia could soon have naturalised players representing the country in rugby.

The plan is to offer scholarships to youngsters from abroad in the hope of luring them here to study and play rugby, something the football fraternity has done with players like Pahang’s Australian-born Matthew Davies and Johor Darul Ta’zim’s (JDT) English-born striker Darren Lok Yee Deng.

"It’s something we are looking at if we want to bolster the national team,” said national coach Lee Nyuk Fah.

"We’re also planning to attract a strong pool of rugby talent to feature in our local league. It will garner attention and add prestige to the competition.”

Naturalising players is not something new, as Japan’s recent showing on the world stage opened the eyes of many on the benefits of fielding naturalised players.

Japan had 11 naturalised players at the 2015 World Cup in England when they shocked the world by stunning South Africa 34-32 in an upset of the century.

Before that, Japan had only won one game from 24 World Cup matches.

Meanwhile, This year’s Malaysian Rugby League (MRL) season is from Feb 4 to April 1 and Malaysia Rugby (MR) are looking at the possibility of privatising the league next year.

MR general manager Mazuri Sallehudin said they may join forces with Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP) to market, promote and advertise the sport and the league.

"We’re aiming to go semi-pro by next year and to do that we need money,” said Mazuri.

"We had several meetings with FMLLP representatives and the signs are positive,” he said.

"We desperately need to raise our profile and get youngsters interested.”

FMLLP were hired by FA of Malaysia (FAM) to run the Malaysia league last year, but their handling of the football league has not been smooth sailing.

However, Mazuri felt FMLLP have the expertise and know how to help raise funds for local clubs as well as managing league games.

"By turning the league semi-professional, it means players will get allowances and incentives,” said Mazuri.

"This in turn will attract elite players to come and play in Malaysia.

"Broadcasting rights will be our main source of income if everything goes to plan,” he said.

This year’s MRL semifinals and final matches will receive live coverage.