The chapter of the Asian 5 Nations which was brief short story closed with curtains falling on Sri Lanka as they lost the final match against Japan. For 25 minutes of history the scoreboard read 07 points to 5 and Sri Lanka was leading. A moment that coud have been captured on camera as that may not be a sight one may see in the close future.
It will now be a return to division one and another challenging journey to stay on track and get back to the top five next year. This is not going to an easy task if we go on the same road as we have been travelling in the past. That is the road which is similar to the rail track where they run alongside to promote rugby but with no possibility of meeting at any point down the road.
Right or wrong as some stalwarts of the game: who have run the administration, coached and played at the highest level commented “Sri Lanka was under prepared to face the challenge”. They believe that the pool should have started practice long before they did and a coach should have been in place. These together with the wait till the last stage to appoint a captain lead to a defeat and out of the A5N when we should have been there without much hassle. Then others in the game say that if the pool, the players and a captain was announced the rivalry of politics taking precedence would have started much earlier and the game would have suffered even more. The position taken is that we know the happenings of the recent past and we can easily predict the future.
An argument that is put forward and well cemented is that the team that won the A5N Division 1 in 2010 should have stayed together and could have been the nucleus around which the quest to remain in the top five built on. This never happened and is a cry of the past. As rugby took a back seat everybody concentrated in a war among top contenders to decide as to who should take rugby forward. All forgot of what they really have to achieve.
In the midst of the misadventure Ellis remains in Sri Lanka to take in charge of the under twenty side which again would have barely two weeks together as they take wing to for the Asian under twenty tournament . As I understood speaking to Ellis and others he would be here for one more year. This probably would be the right thing to do as you work to keep the team together as Sri Lanka prepare for the fight in Division 1. There can be no stopping if you want to be serious contenders to be back to the top five. Similarly there cannot be any more uncertainty and rival camps fighting to stay or come to power taking precedence if we are to succeed.
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| Sri Lankans suffered a heavy loss against Asian rugby giants Japan last week in Colombo. Pic by Ranjith Perera |
The choice of Ellis as the under twenty coach might cause heartburn to many others who would have aspired for the position. This will be another topic to have your say for many. The appointment has been made and now what is needed is to work together.Meanwhile the Caltex league is due to kick off in the first week of June. Jehan Canageratne former President of the CR and a new broom at the top is earnestly sweeping well as the Tournament Director. Jehan is much enthusiastic and is getting up and about his job with vigour. It appears that he has brought in his corporate experience and needs the support of all the council members and participants to work to achieve a better rugby season in 2011. The reason I say this is from what I saw at the A5N where one saw only a few of the council members diligently at work. It was Nice to see the old war horse Fazal Mohammed helping the organizers.
While this year the “ Caltex Tournament “ sees lot of pre-planning a good decision for rugby is the one that has been taken to help the clubs who were placed among the last four. That means that CH, Army, Police and Havelock’s will be allowed to have two foreign players on the field at any time. These clubs who at different times have been champion sides are feeling difficult to stay afloat and compete with the better sides. It is not only that they are finding it hard to stay where they are, they also find it difficult with sponsors when the teams are not doing well. In this sense it is a good decision that has been taken. To make use of the opportunity these teams need the lucre to keep them living to make use of the chances. What is hoped is that there will be more and better rugby in 2011 and that will help the clubs to draw more crowds just as you see them at schools matches.
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB
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