Meet the rugby clubs :

Kandy Sports Club out to make a clean sweep

by S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen

Glamour boys of the local rugby scene Kandy Sports Club will field the strongest combination among the clubs in the Caltex 'A' Division rugby tournament and will make a determined effort to retain the trophies which they won last year. Their trophies cupboard is overflowing and very soon they may have to find another cupboard.

Kandy Sports Club will be led by that dashing winger Sanjeewa Jayasinghe whose sizzling runs along the line are a treat to watch. In Sanjeewa Jayasinghe Kandy has a virtual match winner who could till the fortunes with an unexpected try at the time it is most wanted.

Though not a prominent athlete for his alma mater Science College, Mount Lavinia and did not play much rugby at school level it is at club level that Sanjeewa Jayasinghe developed himself. He played for Havelocks SC in 1998 and captained it in 2001 and in 2002 he found himself playing for Kandy.

Sanjeewa Jayasinghe is best remembered for the try he scored against All Blacks in 2001 at the Dubai Sevens as the captain of the Sri Lanka Sevens team. This is a very rare achievement for a Sri Lankan. Sanjeewa Jayasinghe is a very strong runner who could slice through any defence. Above all he is a team man who could get the best out of his team mates with his persuasive talk.

There is some disappointing news for rugby fans in Kandy as it would now appear that their coach of two years and shrewd tactician West Samoan Laga Tavita Tulagese may not come this year to coach the club as he had taken up a coaching assignment in New Zealand and is unable to get himself released.

Thus Kandy SC are looking for another coach probably a foreigner. Their skipper of 1994 Indrajith Bandaranayake who retired from the game last year will fill the gap until such time the new coach who ever it may be turns up.

Kandy SC have todate played five matches and won all and head the table of points. A peep into the history of Kandy Sports Club tells the story that the club is over 130 years old and over the years it has changed its name at least twice.

It started as Athletic, Boating and Cricket Club and rugby was introduced very much later. At one time it was known as Kandy Rovers till it became Kandy Sports Club. A club may change its name but it does not lose its history. it had figured in its first rugby finals in 1954 and then again in 1969 and the third time in 1979.

Then there was a lull in their performances but the stalwarts of the club strived hard to keep the game alive. There was a time that Kandy did extremely well in the home terrain but down in Colombo they lost badly as the club did not have the amenities that some of the Colombo Clubs had. It was a fight for survival.

In 1991 they had to play relegation match against Petersons SC to remain in the Premier League tournament. Fortunately for Kandy SC they managed to win this match which made them eligible to remain in the big Company. Who knows had they lost this match, the history of the club would have been different.

The year 1992 brought vast changes to the Club as a number of Sri Lanka players from CR &FC crossed over to the hill capital Club and that year the club was led by Kingswoodian Ananda Kasthuriarachchi.

The players who crossed over from the Longden Place Club over the issue of captaincy were the present President of the SLRFU and rugby legend Priyantha Ekanayake, his elder brother Lakshaman Ekanayake, Shyam Siddeek, Rizvi Suhaib Imthisan Marikkar, and were initially joined by two Fijians flanker Kiti Ratrudradra and centre Beti Penaiah and later by scrum half Fijian Vallimoni Satala and New Zealander Tony Greanney and centre Lasantha Wijesuriya. This made the Kandy side a very formidable unit and posed a major threat to the other clubs in the tournament.

Their first rugby trophy was the Celtell Sevens organised by Dimbula Athletic and Cricket Club in 1992. The same year they won the Clifford Cup knock out tournament which was their first major championship. Since then they have enjoyed a monopoly on the Clifford Cup having a stranglehold on it, winning it every year this tournament was conducted. They failed to win it only in 1998.

A record which may be hard to beat. Since then they have been triple champions on a number of occasions and have also annexed the rugby double on several occasions. The man responsible for this transformation who has pumped in the much needed finance to develop all aspects of the club is none other than former President of SLRFU and the present Trustee of the Club and old Royalist Malik Samarawickrema. Ruggerites were rewarded with lucrative employment and other benefits so that they would remain in the hill capital.

Gone were the days when ruggerites immediately on leaving school will travel down to Colombo looking for employment.

In fact this trend was not only arrested but reversed when ruggerites from Colombo looked for employment in Kandy.

The present Kandy side is strong in all departments and their larder is well stocked with youngsters. The average age of the side could be around 24 or 25 and this means that Kandy SC will continue their top performances for a number of years to come.

Last year saw two of the stalwarts of Kandy SC and both national captains Indrajith Bandaranayake and Asoka Jayasena retiring from the game. Pradeep Basnayake who captained the side in 2002 has still not turned up at the practices and it is likely that he too may hang up his boots. Radhika Hettiarachchi who skippered the side in 2004 is still nursing the injury which he sustained towards the end of last season. But he should be fit to play by mid July.

There is a glut of national players in the side including the present sevens skipper Sajith Mallikarachchi. The fight for places is going to be difficult and the players will have to show form to be retained in the side. Kandy SC does not believe in carrying passengers and fitness has been their forte as this was evidenced in their match against CH & FC when they tormented the Maitland Place Club in the last ten minutes of play to snatch what appeared to be a comfortable victory.

Full back Nalaka Weerakoddy is one of the most experienced players in the side having ten years of club rugby behind him and he will be entrusted with the spot kicks along with Amjad Buksh. The club's rugby pool has many big names and they will have to fight for their places with the emerging youngsters. The pool is as follows:

PROPS: Ajith Prasanna, Jeewa Galgamuwa, Duminda Pullukuttiarachchi.

HOOKERS: Lasantha Mallikarachchi, Anju Buksh, Malith Silva, Malith Hettiarachchi.

LOCKS: Kapila Silva, Saranath Hettiarachchi, Buddhi Talagampola, Sumedha Jayasinghe.

FLANKERS: Dilip Selvam, Sean Wijesinghe, Lasith Mallikarachchi, Mohammed Rizvi, Navinda Pullukuttiarachchi.

NO. 8: Imran Bisthamin.

SCRUM HALVES: Amjad Buksh, Prasad Chathuranga, Ashan Cooray.

FLY HALVES: Fazil Marija, Sajith Mallikarachchi, Nilfer Ibrahim, Yohan Weerakoon.

WINGERS: Sanjeewa Jayasinghe (Captain), Sameera Silva, Ruwan Hettiarachchi, Radhika Hettiarachchi, Mohammed Raumi.

CENTRES: Sajith Mallikarachchi, Chamara Withanage Pradeep Liyanage, Ruwan Hettiarachchi.

FULL BACKS: Nalaka Weerakoddy, Ashan Cooray.

Rugby Chairman: D. Siva Subramaniam.

Rugby Manager: Indrajith Bandaranayake.

Rugby Secretary: Saman Kotalawala.

Their remaining first round fixtures

July 3rd Vs Army at Nittawela.

July 9th Vs Police at Nittawela.

July 16th Vs CR & FC at Longden Place.