KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — Putrajaya and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Serdang have been selected as suitable locations for the construction of a permanent rugby stadium to ensure national players have a designated ground to train.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said his ministry and the Malaysia Rugby Union (MRU) were holding further discussions on the feasibility of the two locations.

"We will announce our decision in the next few months after our negotiations with the land owner of UPM or Putrajaya Corporation,” he told reporters after a ceremony to announce 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games Run, here today.

The national squad is currently training at UPM or Cobra Club field in Petaling Jaya.

Meanwhile, Khairy also said that the ministry was negotiating with the International Rugby Academy of New Zealand (IRANZ) to open a branch in Malaysia apart from establishing cooperation between world champions, All Blacks of New Zealand and MRU.

"We will continue to work with MRU on the proposals to bring them into fruition especially our cooperation with IRANZ,” he added. — Bernama