Kandy must guard against that end of term feeling
That Kandy SC was bound to win the league title and extend its dominance for a 17th year was a given even before the first-whistle was blown. When you consider the preponderance of national players in their ranks (some even adorn the bench!), anything less would have been a disappointment. The thing that stands out in this triumph is the way in which they overcame tough odds to succeed. That brilliant winger Anuruddha Wilwara was laid low before their first game. Half way through, they lost their inspirational skipper and play-maker, Fazil Marija. That was in the Air Force game and, in the very next match, the effervescent Lavanga Perera also hobbled out and has not been seen since.
The raison d’etre of Kandy’s continued success has been their thrilling, vibrant back division. That they continued to excite and thrill (probably a little less than previously!) was due to their readily available pool of talent and also to the fact that the coach and the Rugby Committee were able to talk to the players, get them to lift themselves, persuade them to go that extra mile. Many clubs are envious of the talent at their command. Given half a chance, there will be an exodus of players from Colombo to Kandy. There is a rumour doing the rounds that Sri Lanka’s play-maker supreme, in the absence of Marija, will sign on during the off season.
The Sunday Times broached the subject to Lasantha Wijesuriya, the Chairman of the Club’s Rugby Committee. He said a guarded ‘no’ but added, “not only that player, but lots of others want to join, too”. What’s so special about Kandy SC? Wijesuriya feels that the club is well-organised. The processes have been the same for almost the past two decades. There is a high level of discipline among the players. Most importantly, the players are looked after well. These are the elements that draw the players to the club and, also, make them stay. On the question of depleted attendance, Wijesuriya confesses that he was disappointed with the attendance at the CR game. He’s hopeful of a sell-out crowd at today’s Havelocks game, when the champions take their bow.
As for the Havies game, proper, the visitors will have to lift themselves and try to bring Kandy down (as in last year’s final game against the Navy) even though the silver-ware will continue to remain on the Nittawela mantel-piece, whatever the outcome.The Havies have been the next best as their seventeen point lead over third placed CR confirms. Their star-player, centre Dhanushka Ranjan, was injured and sat out quite a few games. He did play last weekend and gave glimpses of his undoubted talent. The acid test will be how he fares against the champions who have a hard-to-crack defence. Latterly, the Havies’ glamour-bay has been hooker Prasath Madusanka, who has scored lots of tries in his last few games. Is he up to maintaining that reputation? Time will tell.
Kandy will have to guard against that end of term feeling, lest the Havies sneak up and pull the rug from under their feet. Numerically, a loss wouldn’t matter much. However, going through fourteen grueling weeks and remaining unbeaten has an attraction of its own. Prop Dushmantha Priyadarshana, flyhalf Niroshan Fernando, No.8 Sudarshana Muthutantri and winger Sandun Herath, inter alia would dearly love to blot Kandy’s escutcheon. For Havelocks, a club with a long and distinguished history, victory over the recent enemy will give them fresh heart for the next confrontation.