Rajans confident of dominant rugby reign
View(s):By Aubrey Kuruppu
The road ahead may be hard and rocky, but the Dharmaraja College rugby players are confident of a good showing. This confidence stems from having a settled side, one with experience and moreover one that has tasted success.
Dharmaraja College rugby squad
Four players have left school, yet the Rajans have the nucleus of a strong side, with two fourth years in skipper Rochana Hettiarachchi and Bhuvaneka Udangamuwa and four third year players.
The Rajans forte is their back division. They point to the fact that the scrum half, the fly half, the centres and the full back have played together for three years. Furthermore, their confidence is based on the fact that they won the schools Sevens last year. Successful rugby is all about keeping possession and running with the ball. This is meat and drink to the Rajans.
Skipper Hettiarachchi is a fairly astute player, who switches between passing and kicking as fly half, he has a big role to play. Centre Bhuvaneka Udangamuwa is a very dangerous player. He runs hard at the defence and, when on the offensive, zig-zags his way through at speed. He scored many a fine try last season.
Tilina Wijesinghe is a source of great strength to the side. This full back’s collection is good and he is not averse to joining the line to form the overlap. His kicks at goal are very accurate and his success rate is around 80 per cent. Tilina captained the Sri Lanka Schools Under-15 team at soccer. His kicking skills were obviously honed there.
Sri Lanka winger and full back Radhika Hettiarachchi coaches the side. The Rajans’ performance against Trinity was outstanding. With a little bit of luck, they could have defeated the Lions. They were ahead till the final moments of the game when the Trinity fly half manufactured a try.
Talking of past rugby players, the late Daya Jayasundera and S.V. Mendis played for the country though not playing rugby at school. Hemantha Yatawara and Indrajith Bandaranaike excelled for the country. The MIC, Saliya Alexander, is the man behind the team. His enthusiasm and attention to detail are exemplary.
| The Squad
Props: Pasan Bandara, Dulaksha Weerakoon, Charinda Kalinga. |
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