Antonians are taught to build pressure and more pressure – Nihal

Listening to Nihal Gunaratne (Viper Jnr) speak, one would think that he is a repository of most of the Buddhist virtues – inter alia, patience, tolerance, understanding and equanimity. The Antonian rugby coach, of the last three years, Nihal says you shouldn’t get carried away by either victory or defeat.

Kusal Rankoth (Capt.)

Having represented his Alma Mater in the seventies, he turned out for Kandy SC for a continuous spell of fifteen years. He played for Sri Lanka as a flanker for six years and was part of a formidable third row that included Hisham Abdeen and Angelo Wickremaratne, Among other tours, Nihal is proud that he was part of the national team at the 1982 Hong Kong Sevens. He gained his coaching laurels by being part of the Waratah’s Academy in New South Wales, where he was put in charge of the Hornsby Juniors for three years.

Last season the Antonians were in contention for the league title. However, they lost the last match to the Peterites by a solitary point and had to be content with the fourth place. They turned up trumps at the International Rugby Sevens at Nittawela.This season they have risen phoenix-like from the Ashes of a humbling 3-33 defeat at the hands of the Peterites in the opening game. The coach points out that they couldn’t practise for twelve days on the trot prior to this match, but decided to honour the fixture and came a cropper.

The Antonians were then sucked into a dull, listless and unimaginative game against Trinity where they squeezed out a win by a single point. They hit their straps in the next game against Thurstan in which they accumulate 50 points. Last week they beat the Thomians 32-0 and had the centres slung the ball out to their speedy skipper more, the half century mark would surely have beckoned.

Skipper Kusal Rankoth, Roshan Wijesiri, and Sashika Jayawardena represented the Sri Lanka under 19 team while Chanaka Gunaratne was a standby. Seven of last year’s players have left and the coach had his hands full meeting the challenge caused by the mass exodus.

The thoughts of Nihal are indeed interesting and quote-worthy. The Antonians, he says, have no particular area of strength but endeavour to play disciplined, positive rugby. They try to attack from almost every point on the field. They don’t really plan as such for the opposing team. The players are encouraged to make their own decisions. This may back-fire at times but as Nihal points out, they are learning from the experience.

From the first day, the players are put in pressure situations. Decision-making drills are employed. Support play is one of the features of their game. The coach describes his team as a patient one. They are taught to build pressure and more pressure until, ultimately, the opposition cracks. Continually questioning the defence is another tactic that the Katugastota lads have used with success. Nihal sums up the Antonians team’s way of life as flowing rugby, continuity and support play.

Nihal is skeptical about the value of foreign coaches for schools and asks how much of an improvement some of them have made. They take about six months to learn the language. The culture, the physique is different and they run into problems.

The Antonians pool comprises Kusal Rankoth (Capt.), Roshan Wijesiri (Vice Capt.), Sashika Jayawardena, Dinusha Ratnayake, Chanaka de Silva, Prasad Weerakkody, M. Farhan, M. Milhaj, M. Uvais, M. Irfan, Imad reyal, Chanaka Gunaratne, Amila Weligampola, Amila Bandara, Tharanga Bandara, Nalaka Ranaweera, Tharindu Chanaka, M. Irthishan, Nalin Perera, Rayan Firth and M. Rashad.

The remaining fixtures are as follows:
2nd June Wesley Colombo, 9th June Issipathana Nittawela, 15th June Ananda Colombo, 1st July Kingswood Bogambara. - AK