That Kandy’s foremost rugby-playing schools, Trinity, Kingswood and St. Anthony’s finished in third, fifth and sixth places at the end of the league season is as sad as it is surprising. Kandy schools have done, and can do, better than that.
Kandy SC, the premier rugby club in the country, has done the people of the area proud by having continued and almost unbroken success over the last one and a half decades. The club’s account is on fast, open play and the spinning of some dizzying moves by the back division, almost all of them Sri Lanka players. The performances of players such as Jayasinghe, Liyanage, Marija and Saliya Kumara have had a spin on effect and also served as a catalyst to schoolboy ruggerites. This is very evident from the play of the schools, almost everyone of whom like to throw the ball around and run with it.
 |
| Trinity experienced a memorable Bradby second leg against Royal at Colombo this season; a win that will be remembered for ages by Trinity and an encounter Royal would simply prefer to forget. (Pic by Sanka Vidanagama) |
It is commonly conceded that technically, and potentially, Trinity was the best school team around. Yet a one point loss to Science College seemed to take the wind out of their sails at least for the time being. Then followed the defeat to Royal in the first leg and, after it, a loss to Isipathana (another good side) on home terrain.
Yet they had three purple patches. The formidable Kingswood side was whipped 41-0, a performance which evoked superlatives from the defeated coach, himself a former Sri Lanka player. Next, they were up against the defending champions – the Peterites – at Bambalapitiya. Murad Ramzeen’s lads came up with a block-buster of a performance to put them firmly in their place.
The 40-5 knock out of Royal in the second leg and their annexure of the coveted Bradby after two failed attempts was in a sense their magnum opus. The blue and gold lads were stunned and mesmerized by the ferocity and brilliance of Trinity’s performance. In some games, however, Trinity made mistakes under pressure and their decision-making was questionable. Further, there were times when fly half Rehan Weerakoon, a key player, was slightly off colour. Skipper Ramzeen, No.8 Sean Foster, centre Kaneel Seneviratne and Thisila Karunatilleke, in addition to Weerakoon, were Trinity stars.
Runner-up least year, Kingswood took time to get off the blocks. Was the preparation started too early and did they over train? A further draw-back was the fact that they were one of the smaller teams in Kandy. The ball didn’t really run their way as they had two close skirmishes against Royal and Isipathana which they lost by 25-32 and 5-10 respectively. On top of that, a loss to Science College by the closest of margins didn’t help matters.
On the positive side, they had in the Perera twins - Oshan and Lavanga, two brilliant players. These two, started their rugby at Sri Rahula, Katugastota under the able guidance of former Kandy SC and Navy inside three-quarter Kalu Perera. Oshan and Lavanga blossomed at Kingswood and made it to the Asiad. A lad from Anuradhapura, Heshan Silva, as big as they come and a complete stranger to rugby was able to make the national team a mere two years after joining Kingswood. Skipper Jananath Dharmawardena, Chamika Abeygunaratne, and winger K. D. Piyasena were the pick of the players.
The Antonians had a good back division, seemed to play in fits and starts, and seldom scored like an eagle. The fact that players were moved all over the place (probably because of injuries) didn’t help their course. There is alas a school of thought that some of the players were too big built and tended to struggle a bit. In the sturdy Sanka Rajaguru, the Antonians had a very effective No.8 forward. I. D. Ariyapala (he tended to play all over), Dhanushka Dayan, Nirodha Sooriyabandara, flankers Roshan Roche and Sajid Laheer and prop Panduka Angammana stood out throughout the season.
For a school that had last year’s all island champion team to draw from, Dharmarajah’s performance was extremely disappointing. They lost five-in-a-row to begin with and only recovered towards the end. But a loss to bottom of the table S. Thomas’ has effectively sealed their relegation. They avoided the last time round, but came 20-12 and the door would have been shut in their face. Skipper and flanker Chanaka Jayawardena, Thilina Wijesinghe, the fullback and lock Lochana Ekanayake performed best. The last-named seems to have inherited the talent of his father C. S. – a former captain of Kandy SC.
Undisputed B Division champions, Vidyartha will be promoted to the big league next year and therein lays the challenge. Getting there was easy. Only Mahanama and Lumbini gave them a fight. Remaining in the A division will be much more difficult. In a largely lack-luster B division group, Vidyartha amassed a staggering 784 points in eleven games and conceded only 134. They set records along the way. Mahanama and Lumbini, won 37-36 and 36-32 by Vidyartha, proved only worthwhile opposition. Jason Dissanaike, who scored 34 tries, ended up in the Junior National side. Dhanushka Talwatte, a centre (32 tries) also excelled. Skipper Ayesh Galahagoda and flyhalf Ashan Bandara also had a good season. Vidyartha’s success is a feather in the cap of their coach Anil Jayasinghe, an old boy. |
E-mail
