Maurice Joachim – that dedicated rugby man in the central hills
Maurice Joachim is a house hold name when it’s the game of rugby in Kandy. The former Antonian, Kandy SC and Sri Lanka fly half was a playmaker during his playing days. He was one of the most reliable place kickers with his top class accuracy.
Maurice Joachim today
Maurice played for Katugastota Antonians in (1983-1984) and later moved to Kandy SC, played along with some top class players such as Anil Jayasinghe, C.S. Ekanayake, Chandima Amadorou, L V Ekanayake, V Manchanayake, Ashan Ratwatte, Ikram Odayar and Viper Gunaratne (Jnr). The players in their field days did not have the luxury of Air conditioned buses or five star hotels while in Colombo. They travelled down to Colombo in the morning and returned same late night. Even the ground was very ordinary at Nittawela even without a permanent stand but they were never short of fans who always stayed behind the team in winning or losing. There was no talk of crossing over clubs for more rupees and cents. This was the era Maurice played for Kandy SC and continued to do so till he retired from rugby. He was a player who was loyal even after his playing days for his Up Country club.
Maurice played under Priyantha Ekanayake in his first year and later on under Mohamed Naleef. He played for the Central Province schools outfit. Later on he led the Kandy SC in 1990 and again in the knockout matches in 1992. Though the club was more than 100 years at the time of his leadership was never being able to secure a trophy at club level. He will go in to history by becoming the very first captain to secure the Clifford Cup Knock out tournament in 1992. During that year Kandy got down three super Fijians to play for the Kandy Club. They were Bati Ponia, Kitoni Ratudrada and Willie Moni Satala. He played along with some top class players such as Priyantha Ekanayake, L V Ekanayake, Shiyam Sideek, Inthisam Marrikar and Rizvi Suhaib.
Maurice played for the Sri Lanka under 24 team led by former Trinity winger and Rugby “Lion” Inthie Marrikar against Hong Kong. In 1990 Maurice was selected for the national duty in sevens tournament in Sicily.
He was looked after by Kalu Perera and Ajith Fernando at junior and senior level and at club level Alex Lazarus and Nimal Malagamuwa.
Speaking to the Sunday Times Maurice said “We went through hard times in our playing days. The facilities were very basic and we did not have any sponsors, travelled by C T B buses and no hotels and clubbing for us. Also all players were very loyal for the clubs where ever they played. We hardly switched clubs. We practiced daily for about one hour, no gym facility for us. Today we have sponsors, Gyms, and players are looked after really well. He went on to praise Malik Samarawickrema for bringing the club to this high standard. If not for Malik coming to Kandy our club would not have reached this top in rugby. He got the best sponsors through his business contacts and he is highly respected person in sports or business”.
Maurice ended by saying “I was also involved in the Singer Sevens organizing committee from the inception in 1999 till the end and at present the Ground Secretary at Nittawela”.