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Kandy remains on top
Rugby future bright and breezy
By Vimal Perera
Kandy Sports Club beat CH and FC to take the “Caltex” Clifford Cup once again and impressed upon following the winning of the league title. This is in addition to being victorious in the first Singer circuit sevens for 2005. It might be interesting for others to look at the rise of Kandy since 1992 and their ability to remain at the top.

It may be worth to take a lesson or two from those who continuously taste victory and see whether there is anything to learn.
The year 2005 has been a better year for rugby in comparison to the recent past. The present governing body can look back and be satisfied with the performance. They can be happy that the crowds have been attending matches. They can be satisfied about those who saw rugby as a marketable product. The hope of sponsors have matched with their expectations. The sponsors may be happy in what they see and the future looks good for more support as the game becomes popular.

Rugby being a marketable product there is a need to keep the offering firmly placed in the minds of the spectator. There are many other sports and leisure events that compete for time. Rugby has to stay ahead to be in the forefront. Chief among them would be to serve the spectator with more quality. This will be in the hands of the clubs. The Union will have to provide the necessary guidance and the structure for the improvement of the game. Another factor that needs to be addressed is the hassle and fear free environment for the spectator to enjoy his or her sport.

This year the environment has been quite healthy. Yet there have been a few occasions of concern. Hooliganism must be wiped out at the root. Those who foster indiscipline while holding official status in the clubs need to be counselled. If this fails they have to be disciplined. There is a code of conduct circulated to the clubs. This should not be a mere page in the tournament manual. You have to make the contents bite. Particularly those officials, by action, who incite the players and spectators to be less controlled. Value addition has to be the key for retention.

Technical pests are another species that need to be got rid of. It is rugby that needs to be a winner and not technical issues. In major tournaments there is a cost of protest. This has to be brought into place and if successful could be refunded. Consider the hypothetical situation having to postpone the final on an issue. As has been, if it happened again the sponsors would have run into sea and abandoned the sport.

A player contract and transfer system needs to be in place to work out smooth transition. Crossover if you must. The transferee club has to get paid for its efforts of producing the player in need. Another issue is to blame the referee when matches are lost. The referee is the most incompetent to some, forgetting that you have lost by 40 points and your players dropped and or took wrong options every time the ball was with you. The referee has never played rugby as some think.

In the IRB referee panel ‘A’ are 16 referees and given below are the profiles of 5 of them-- Namely Steve Walsh of New Zealand, Stuart James Dickins of Australia. Kelvin Mark Deaker of New Zealand Mark Lawrence of South Africa and Andrew John Cole of Australia. One is to play another is to officiate. To those who wish to be frogs in the well there is nothing more than what they know of their experience in Sri Lanka.

During a recent conversation about rugby a stalwart of the game (my memory is of Y.C. Chang) referred to Kipling and his famous” If “ when talking of the travails of a referee. With due apologies to Kipling I quote another I read recently “ If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you... you're a rugby referee.

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