Rugby on the up and up ?

Congratulations to Sajith Mallikarachchi and his Sri Lanka rugby team on their superb 24-12 win over Kazakhstan in the 'return leg' to make it to the second round of the IRB World Cup Asian regional qualifying round tournament. It was a great comeback by Sri Lanka after they suffered a narrow 19-25 defeat in Kazakhstan two weeks ago.

The young Sri Lanka team proved their superior qualities in most departments of the game and made the maximum use of the home conditions to humble the former Russian republic. If there had been the current cold weather, things would have been better for Kazakhstan. But to the advantage of Sri Lanka, the match was played under humid conditions.

More importantly, Sri Lanka seems to have groomed enough stand bye players for each position. As we have emphasised before, at least two players should be nurtured for each position. That would give enough options not only to the selectors, but to the captain and the coach as well.

When a star player like Pavithra Fernando was ruled out due to an injury, the pressure was generally on the team. Though Sri Lanka missed the services of several reputed players of the calibre of Fernando, Senaka Bandara and Dusantha Lewke, there were equally good replacements to fill the vacuum. For example, Danushka Perera who came in for injured Fernando played superbly to make sure Sri Lanka does not feel the absence of the former Royal flanker.

Unlike in the past, Sri Lanka did not entirely depend on either their forwards or the backs to do the job. The heavy and mobile Sri Lanka 'pack' played well to combine effectively with a penetrative set of three quarters. Then there was that solid link at the base with Asanga Rodrigo making an effective distribution and leading the way for more than 75% of the back division moves, which ended productively.

Full credit should go to Sri Lanka coach George Simpkin who has transformed the team into the formidable unit from virtually nothing. He has worked tirelessly over the past few years to make a fighting unit.

There were times many questioned his presence and payments made. But whether the payments came or not, due to various disputes, Simpkin stood strongly for Sri Lanka rugby.

Simpkin has tremendous experience behind him, coaching several international teams. He is well aware of strengths and weaknesses of all Asian teams. He is a man with a vision and his continued presence is important for Sri Lanka rugby.

Especially, with Sri Lanka down to play China and Hong Kong in the second round of the IRB World Cup Asian region qualifiers, Simpkin has a greater role to play. He is the man who built the rugby image of these two countries and it would be interesting to see what his strategies would be against them.

Last but not the least, the administration of the game too has a big impact on a team's performance. Thanks to the efforts made by two of the greatest players that Sri Lanka has produced - Priyantha Ekanayake and Dilroy Fernando, that effective Kandy-CR combination, Sri Lanka rugby seems to be heading in the right direction, especially when one considers the administrative blunders made by the previous two-year administration under Mohan Balasuriya.

Ekanayake and Fernando are on their way to resurrect Sri Lanka rugby. They have tremendous top-level experience behind them in international rugby and are making full use of them to prove as able administrators. Of course, they have a few other areas to look into like the long-term development of the game, but so far, the duo is scrumming down well.

If we could maintain the current squad of around 30 players and add a few outstanding schoolboys and club players from next season, we should be able to groom a good squad with enough replacements. This young squad should be able to line out easily for a year without much worry.

The Sri Lanka team seems to be enjoying their best rugby after the period when Ekanayake and Fernando played. But there should be a continuous training program. Ekanayake and his team are well aware of the needs of the team and we hope the SLRFU would make the best effort to capitalise on our win and provide adequate training.

When the success of Sri Lanka rugby is talked about, one cannot forget the huge contributions made by sponsors like Caltex, Dialog Telekom and Singer, Sri Lanka, who have stood firmly for the game in good times and the bad. A big thank you should go to the three leading sports promoters - Kishu Gomes, Dr. Hans Wijesuriya and Hemaka Amarasuriya, for the roles they are playing to foster our rugby.