U-20 Rugby: Zahira comes in from the cold, with a heritage to emulate

Zahira College, Colombo, is one of the oldest schools in the country to play Rugby. Zahira's Rugby kicked off in 1924, as the 4th school to play the game after Kingswood (1893), Trinity (1906) and Royal (1916). 

From the '20's to the '70's, Zahira played against their traditional opponents such as Trinity, Royal and St. Peter's. 

These four were the only schools to play continuously in the '20's and '30's prior to World War II (1939-1945), with the Petes starting Rugby in 1932. 

Though a force to be reckoned with, being crowned unofficial Schools Champions, beating St. Peter's, Royal and Trinity in 1962, Zahira has not made its mark in Rugby since the '80's, which may have been due to the School authorities not giving it sufficient prominence. 

During those early years, Zahira produced many Ruggerites such as Abdul Majeed, Tony Amith, Nalim Saleem, Omar Sheriff, Ibrahim 'Tanker' Hameed, A.H.A Samad, Kuthdoos Dorey, Hisham Abdeen (before joining Isipathana). 

In recent years Rizan Saldin, Azad Junkeer, M.J. Mushtaq and Ishan Noor (later played for St. Peter's) who donned the National jersey.

Zahira is now back in contention to win back its lost glory, as they are back in Schools Top Division Rugby after many years.

Next year they will play against top schools such as defending League and Knockout champions Isipathana, S. Thomas', Royal, Science, St. Peter's and Trinity. 

It was a noteworthy achievement by the Zahirians to finish at the top of 'B' Division. 

Survival in the Top Division will not be easy, and the Zahirians will have their work cut out for them to maintain their momentum. 

In the 2016 League season they beat Royal College, Panadura 87-0, St. John's College, Nugegoda 41-5, Lalith Athulatmudali Vidyalaya 34-12, Ananda College 50-0 and received a walk-over from C.W.W. Kannangara Vidyalaya. 

In the Plate Championship they drew with D.S. Senanayake College 25-25, lost to St. Joseph's College 20-21, beat Mahanama College 28-12, and Prince of Wales College Moratuwa 23-5. 

In the President's Trophy Knockout they lost to S. Thomas' College Mt. Lavinia by 10-43.
 
It was their coach Shamly Nawaz, who has guided and moulded this team to reach top Division. 

Nawaz needs no introduction to the local Rugby fraternity. 

He played for Isipathana College from 1996-1998 as a wing forward and number 8, and led the side in his final year. Later, he coached Isipathana and CR&FC. 

"I was approached by Fowzul Hameed to coach Zahira at the end of the season with Isipathana in 2013. At that time the coaches were Bimal Perera and Shantha Dharmaratne. I was in the role of consultant. In 2014, Zahira was in Division 'C'. My first impression of these players was that, they were strongly built and capable. Given proper guidance, they could become a force to be reckoned with. Now, I have been with Zahira for the last three years. We have never taken players from other schools. The team is well balanced. The Forwards and the Backs played well. I really want to see running Forwards. I want to see Props run like Centers. From this season, I can pick a few players who were outstanding, such as skipper Ramzan Amith, Wajid Fawmy and Zaid Sinhawansa. Even though 7 players will leave at the end of this season, we have a pool of 35 with the talent to pick from for next year. I must thank the Principal, Vice Principal, Prefect of Games, Muhiseen Ariff, Master-in-Charge Sooriyarachchi, Backs coach Anil Jayasinghe, Trainer Herathge Karunaratne and Physio Mohammed Istikar for their assistance which contributed in no small to Zahira's Rugby success story this year." 

Ariff said, "Though Rugby was a key sport at Zahira till the '70's, due to the change of Principals and Prefects of Games, the game was not given its due prominence. We achieved this success after 16-years. When I took over as Prefect of Games, my first task was to reconstruct the ground, which I did. We have a good Gymnasium as well. We are very fortunate to have a committed coach in Shamly Nawaz taking over Rugby here. With the Rugby Development Committee and many Old Boys giving their full backing, Zahira Rugby will prosper in time to come. Rugby is also an expensive game. I must thank Old Boys like Fowzil Hameed for taking charge of Zahira's Rugby. I must also thank the Principal Trizni Marikkar and Vice Principal Rauf as well." 

Chairman of the Sports Council, Mohammed Mazeer also added his thoughts. 

"As Chairman of the Sports Council, I am very happy to see our boys' success. There are Sports Councils for each sport at Zahira, under different persons, with separate committees. I was responsible for our boys' nourishment. And we got a very good coach for the last three years, in Shamly Nawaz. When the boys were performing this season, I did say they will make the Top Division next year, and it happened. I expect them to stay in Top Division Rugby for many years to come." 

With so much dedication commitment and hard work by the School Authorities and the Rugby Development Committee, the game should continue to be a success story in the years ahead at Zahira. 

The Zahira team was led by Ramzan Amath and had Ishak Hilmy, Yuzraan Lantra, Ashan Ahamath, Nirhan Gunavijaya, Wajid Fawmy, Azar Irfan, Mohamed Ayaz, Shifaz Amath, Hassan Razick, Hamid Safu, M. Abdulla, M. Iqbal Shameer, Akeel Kudhoos, M. Fayad Deen, A.R.A. Booso, Shameem Nassar, Shamahil Soewito, Minhaj Samsudeen, M. Sharik Usuph, M. Nizran, Muaz Muzaffer, Muhammer Deen, Umar Famis, Arshad Alam, Hafiz Rasiff, Zaid Thajudeen and Zaid Sinhawansa.