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The Sri Lanka Army has been in the forefront of 'A' Division rugby in the last three years. They emerged runners up in the Clifford Cup knock-out Rugby Tournament in all three years having fared remarkably well in the Caltex 'A' Division League Tournament.

In the year 2000 the soldiers led by fly half Ajit Peiris finished fifth in the Caltex 'A' Division League Tournament and stormed into the Clifford Cup final by edging out Havelocks (24-23) and CH and FC (25-24) in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively before losing to Kandy SC (12-39) in the final. In 2001 army led by prop froward J. M. Jayatilleke had a marvellous season when they emerged runners up in the 'A' Division League by winning 12 matches and losing only two and lost to Kandy SC by a whisker (16-17) in the Clifford Cup final.

Last year army enjoyed another memorable season captained by fly half Ajit Peiris. They ended up third in the Caltex 'A' Division League and went down fighting to Kandy SC (21-26) in the Clifford Cup final. Army's rugby resurgence began in 1999 when under the leadership of Kapila knowlton they won eight matches out of 14 to finish in fourth place in the 'A' Division League. The man who helped to bring about this remarkable change in Army's fortunes was New Zealander Kelvin Farrington who took great pains to mould them in to a formidable outfit.

In 2001 Asanga Seneviratne took over as coach and improved their ball handling skills making them a complete outfit with a superb set of three quarters and power-packed forwards which saw them indulge in a dazzling display of open rugby in most of the matches much to the delight of their supporters. This year the soldiers are going great guns having scored four smashing wins over Kandy youths (55-13), Old Zahirians (145-0), Air Force (56-10) and Navy (24-5) and will go all out to clinch the Rugby Double - the 'A' Division League and Clifford Cup. Leading army this year is flanker Colin Rodrigo who is a terrific tackler and a fine loose player.

Veteran J. M. Jayatilleke and S. Udayakumara will once again bind down in the front now. The other player who could fit in as a prop forward is Kotalawala. Y. P. Rajapakse who is a fine player in the loose will once again occupy the hooker's berth. The others who are eyeing this position are Udayakumara and Dabare.

Sturdily built Kanyan Edwin Shimanga has played a key role this year with his excellent line out jumping and power-packed runs and he will occupy a lock forward's position. Sri Lanka ruggerites Nishantha Jayasuriya and Sithara Fernando will battle in out for the other berth.

Sri Lanka player Herathge Karunaratne who is a solid tackler and a fine attacking player and skipper Colin Rodrigo will be the two flankers with Saman Madurasinghe and Karunatilleke making a determined bid to oust one of them. The No. 8 position will be filled by either the experienced Shiran Ganegoda or Samarasinghe.

Former Police, CR and Sri Lanka player Naufer Rahim will once again operate from the base of the scrum and will pair off with the experienced Ajith Peiris. This pair should hit it off smoothly and feed the three quarters with plenty of 'good ball'. The other player who could fit into the scrum half berth is P. G. Wijesinghe while Upul Kumara is the reserve fly half.

Two hard runners and fierce tacklers Kapila Knowlton and Vajira Jayatillake both of whom are national players will be the centres with Kanyan Pascal Wetukeha also staking a claim for a berth.

Nalin Vijitha and Mohomed Naushad will be manning the wings but face a strong challenge from Perakum and Tikiri Banda. The last line of defence will be manned by T. A. Silva who has piloted them to vitory on several occasions with his accurate place kicking. The other player who could play in this position is Upul Silva. The soldiers are hoping to obtrain the services of a New Zealander to coach them this year.

Till then Asanga Seneviratne is coaching them and has done a wonderful job so far. He is receiving all the encouragement and support from Major General Nimal Krishnaratne and Major Dhammika Gunasekera. (R.S.)

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