Dim-Dicks - two successive wins

S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen, Kandy sports corr.

RUGBY: Dim-Dicks have made their presence felt in the Caltex rugby league inter club tournament by scoring two successive wins in two weeks which augurs well for the future of the game in the plantations.

They have beaten Jawatte Lions 88-8 which is not only the highest score of the season but also the biggest margin of victory in the current Caltex Rugby League Tournament.

Dim-Dicks have appeared in big time rugby after a lapse of 30 years and the two clubs namely Dimbulla and Dickoya have taken the correct steps in combining the strength to form one club as otherwise there would have been a dilution of talent.

At the same time one must forget the valuable services rendered by Singer Sri Lanka (Pvt) Limited who had come forward to sponsor the club and without sponsorship it may not be possible to play this game considering the costs involved.

Dim-Dicks were an unknown quantity and their Chairman / Managing Director Hemaka Amarasuriya took the bold step of sponsoring them which has not only yielded results but also is helping to promote the game in the plantations and to bring back the spectators who had seen the likes of Larry Schokman, the Pilapitiya brothers Sona and Tikiri, Barry Cameron, just to name a few who had bestrode the local rugby scene like the mythical colossus.

One cannot also forget the expatriate planters in the hills who not only introduced the game to the plantations but also were on par with the leading clubs in Colombo. But the rugby fortunes in the salubrious hills took a nose dive with the exodus of planters in the wake of radical changes in the plantations.

They played in the lower division for many years. But stalwarts of the Dimbula Club like President Harin de Costa and Secretary Devaka Wickremasuriya, Dlakshan Ratwatte from the Dickoya Club are straining every nerve to bring rugby in the Nuwara Eliya district back to its former glory.

This has yielded results and there is no more to come, said a top official.