Don’t let the Cup harm the game
Kandy vs Navy rugby encounters during the recent years have been full of surprises.
Rugby football is a global sport. It’s all over after the long whistle with a glass of a chilled drink followed by a social and musical extravaganza. Don’t allow unruly elements to raise there heads in some quarters to mar its values. This scribe has seen quite a lot of the game in Australia as well with the likes of Frankie David and Owen Mottau, the legend from Kingswood Kandy.
When rugby was first introduced to the island the game held little interest due to power hungry individuals, who wanted their own sports to flourish. Most team sports here have suffered as a result at national level. Money has been the cause for all evil. Apparently the administrators and players are answerable to this setback.
Rugby has generated quite a lot of excitement under the leadership of energetic young President Asanga Seneviratne and the battle of attrition which has existed between Kandy SC and Navy has increased during the last few years. Unruly crowd behaviour has had a damaging effect to it at Nittawela or Welisara with the will to win at all costs. You need two hands to clap. Navy coming into the limelight is good for the game.
Rugby no longer belongs to elite schools. Its wings have spread far and wide with rural youth taking to the sport and the services giving them the much needed exposure. The likes of late Cdr. Eardley Mc Heyzer, Brig. P.D. Ramanayake, Air Vice Marshal Harry Gunatilleke did everything for nothing to give rural youth the chance to go places in life via sport. Army, Air Force and the Police were front runners. Navy however struggled midstream. The game took a further step forward when Bryan Baptist the former Royal, CR and FC and Sri Lanka’s best known forwards took over the coaching at grassroots level and produced amazing results.
Imagine the sailors coming to the Clifford K.O, ‘A’ and ‘B’ Division runners-up.! Baptist not only taught them the skills. He also instilled them to play hard and clean and maintain the values of the game on and off the field. He spent his own resources and even went to the extent to buy vitamins for the players. Subsequently Navy was able to get a cash cheque from rugby promoter Malik Samarawickrema, which was handed over to the Chairman Rugby Thisara Samarasinghe, Vice Admiral retired. Harsha Mayadunne, an excellent player, administrator and disciplinarian, did quite a lot for the sport at national level.
Baptist bowed out of the scene when Navy drafted a professional coach. He was made a rugby consultant. The likes of Malawana, Kularachchi, Jamalon, Cdr. Nanayakkara etc., are now retired from the big league.Last year’s confrontation with Kandy SC was marred by unruly elements at Welisara. It was a heart throbbing contest. Navy nudged Kandy by one point. Many have sacrificed their lives. Parakrama Samaraweera, the lanky second-rower, is still missing in action. At present the Rajapaksa brothers Namal, Roshitha and Rohitha have donned the Blue jersey adding fire and spark to the game.
The players too are answerable with their ongoing behaviour on the field. Making gesticulations over referee’s decisions is rude. Play to the whistle. Apparently poor refereeing could mar a game and create spectator unrest. The coach has to educate the players not to win at all cost.
A good example, Royal playing Isipathana at the Complex it was a hard fought contest. Rajith Jayasundera a dazzling wing three-quarter (Royal) was playing for Sri Lanka as a schoolboy. His father late Daya Jayasundera, a rugby legend, was watching from the touchline.
The referee, if my memory serves me correct was Dilroy Fernando. He questioned the Ref’s decision. Royal’s Principal Mr. Upali Gunasekera hauled up Rajith, “You maybe playing for the country, but next time you question a referee’s decision you will be barred from playing for Royal.”Incidentally Mr. Gunasekera, did quite a lot for Isipathana when he was the head of the school. In another incident at Ratmalana between Air Force and CR&FC there was a confrontation between players on the field, before it was settled by the referee. The Air Force players on the bench ran to the middle and created an unwanted free-for- all.
Air Marshal Channa Guneratne was there. He was quick to move in and chased out the errant reserves and banned them from rugby for the entire season, even before the Rugby Union could take action. Rugby is a gentleman’s game. It is not meant for hooligans.
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