Rugby - more brickbats than bouquets

Dilanka MANNAKKARA

The long, exhilarating and enthralling rugby season in Sri Lanka ended on an all time low and has raised a few questions for the authorities,the players and the domestic clubs. The Sri Lankan team had a fairly long season with plenty of tournaments at a stretch but failed to live up to expectations.

Poor selection and axing of Kandy Players

The depleted Lankan rugby team without the Kandy stars Fazil Marija, Pradeep Liyanage, Saliya Kumara and the Weerarathne Brothers displayed a poor performance in the Carlton 7s as well as in the Asian games which were the last tournaments of the season.

The selectors would have to answer the public as to why the cream of Sri Lankan players were axed without giving a specific reason for it.

A Sri Lankan cricket team without the likes of Sangakkara, Mahela, Murali, Malinga, Mathews and Dilshan sent in to a World Cup would be quite unimaginable. If these cricketing greats are fit and in form and still not picked in the team due to baseless reasons and a second string team is sent to the tournament it would be virtually minimizing your chances of winning matches.

Unfortunately in rugby, the selectors have exactly done this and we cannot blame the replacement young players for getting thrashed by the opposition. It is ironic that the selectors still turn a blind eye on these issues due to reasons best known to them.

Fazil Marija earlier mentioned that he was declared unfit for the Carton 7s even without conducting a fitness test which was absolutely shocking.

Asian Five Nations triumph

Sri Lanka rugby began its year by winning the division two of the Asian 5 nation's fifteen-a-side rugby held in Singapore beating Chinese Taipei by 37 points to 7 and then the hosts Singapore with a score line of 23 points to 16. It's now accepted within the Sri Lankan rugby fraternity that when Sri Lanka is disciplined enough to field its best side, the results can be astonishing. The most encouraging feature about that team which did wonders in Singapore was that it was muscled with the cream of players from Kandy SC. Fazil Marija, Saliya Kumara, Liyanage, Sean Wijesinghe, Kishore Jehan, Sajith Saranga and Weeraratne brothers Gayan and Roshan of Kandy SC were in the team. This win promotes Sri Lanka to the top league of the Asian Five Nations. Sri Lanka's win at the Asian Five Nations can be rated as the highlight of national rugby this year.

Disastrous Sevens Tournaments

Thereafter the focus was on the sevens circuit with the opening of the Asian sevens season in Shanghai. The team skippered by Pradeep Liyanage lost to Hong Kong and China in the group stages but toppled the weaker Philippines team to get into the quarter-finals of the cup and then lost to Korea in the cup quarter-finals. The team that went to Shanghai was not at all a full strength side but was most definitely a formidable squad.

The next was the Commonwealth Games Delhi, in October. Sri Lanka were further depleted carrying even less experienced and were beaten convincingly by the much stronger opponents. Radhika Hettiarachchi who was the only senior player in the squad led the team of youngsters. The gang subsequently headed to Malaysia for the Borneo7s which is an Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) ranking tournament. The young lions did very well qualifying for the ever popular Hong Kong7s that is known to be the biggest and best sevens tournament in the world. The same sevens squad travelled to Singapore directly from Malaysia where they took part in the Singapore7s and finally won some silverware when they clinched the bowl championships. After just one week break the team took wing to Guangzhou China for the Asian Games where they had an up and down tournament coming out in 6th place. Back home the lions then ended their season by winning the Shield in the Carlton7s tournament.

Questions have to be asked why the Sri Lanka team suddenly lost all the first choice sevens' players. Careers (some players working for the Mercantile sector were not released because of the Mercantile sevens tournament), prior commitments and injury were some of the cited reasons for this. The belief is that players pick and chose the tournaments they want to play and many outside influences and prejudices from parties with personal agendas and vested interest control these players.

Humiliated at Carlton 7s

Sri Lanka managed to win a Shield trophy at the prestigious Carlton 7s tournament which is the lowest ranked cup of the tournament. Purists fear the day Sri Lanka will be fighting for a fork or spoon is not far off. In home conditions,in front of your home crowd and having a rugby tradition of over 100 years our rugby standards are just good enough for us to win only against teams like UAE and Malaysia. Sri Lanka who have played the game for more than a century started off with big guns like New Zealand, Australia, Samoa, Fiji and England but we cannot even compare the standards. We have to agree that these rugby giants had ample resources,proper administration,size advantage and the necessary guidance but if a country like China who started playing rugby in 1990 are beating us in our own backyard quite easily why cannot we do it?

Domestic rugby - It's Kandy again

The 15-a-side domestic competition turned out to be very interesting with Kandy SC coming under severe pressure from Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club (CR&FC) and Navy Sports Club like never before. Both CR&FC and Navy showed bright signs for the future in how they played the second round of the tournament. CR&FC were the first to break the iron grip that Kandy SC had on other teams. The decider in the league second round proved a thriller and CR&FC piped Kandy SC at the posts with a last gasp try by Vishwamithra Jayasinghe.

Despite losing, Kandy SC retained the league 'crown' for another year. Navy too did domestic rugby a world of good by emerging as the third force and knocked out CR&FC in the semi-finals of the Clifford Cup before going down to Kandy in the final. Yet Kandy once again proved that they are the kings of Sri Lankan rugby by clinching the triple crown.

Excellent school season

When the national team failed in the year 2010 the school team flourished with a wonderful display of rugby showing excellent standards and ruthlessness and the hunger to win. Last year's champions Royal had to face a tough battle against St Peter's who eventually turned out to be the invincible side in the school season. The Peter's line comprising the likes of Dhanushka Ranjan and Sandun Herath displayed some marvelous skills while the stand out player Shenal Dias was hand picked as a national second row forward.

The schools season was however marred when an injunction order prevented the schools knockout final between Royal and St Peter's. Sportsmanship, however, prevailed when the two schools agreed to play a friendly, which was well received by the large crowds which had flocked to the venue. Kingswood proved to be a big surprise, 'knocking the life' out of some big teams like S Thomas', Royal and Isipatana. Isipatana too had a good season finishing fourth.

It's Blue and Gold in Bradby

Royal under Duminda Attygalle retained the Bradby Shield with some excellent rugby on display. Royalists who came in to the Bradby 1st leg with three defeats in a row came out with their best as they won an absolute thriller in Colombo. Royal dominated the lions in their own den as they retained the Bradby shield by thrashing the Trinitians in Bogambara..

Youth rugby

The Sri Lanka Schools team led by Peterite Shenal Dias finished the Asian Youth Championships as the third best team. Sri Lanka continued their success run over South Korea winning 24-10. But meeting Japan in the second game proved to be too much of a challenge as Sri Lanka slumped to a 92-3 defeat. Sri Lanka got their chance in the third place play-off during which they beat Thailand 29-23. The team was coached by Sanath Martis and assisted by Nihal 'Viper' Guneratne.

It was a total mix bag for Sri Lanka as they fared well in the junior level but fell way short in the national level.