Ranaweera will lead CH and FC this year

Ranjeeva Seneviratne

The Colombo Hockey and Football Club which finished third in the Caltex 'A' division league and emerged runners-up in the President's Trophy knock-out tournament will field another strong team in the 2008 rugby season.

The lads from Maitland Crescent won eight matches, lost three and drew one in the Caltex 'A' division league and went down to CR and FC in the President's Trophy final by 11 points to 22.

CH and FC will be led by Sri Lanka prop forward Jayantha Ranaweera (who missed the Singer Rugby Asiad due to an injury) and will be once again a force to be reckoned with.

The forte of the Maitland Crescent Club will be their formidable pack which includes six national players - skipper Ranaweera, Achala Perera, Manjula Ruwantilleke, Dinesh Sanjeewa, Sumedha Malewana and Dilanka Wijesekera (who makes a welcome return to the side after undergoing an operation after the domestic season).

The back division will have players of the calibre of Tuan Shamrock, Sajith Bandara, Matheesha de Silva, Rukshan Wijesinghe, Dinuk de S. Wijeyeratne and Lakala Perera (who excelled in the Singer Rugby Asiad.)

Kandy Sports Club which reigned supreme in club rugby will field another formidable side under the leadership of Sri Lanka flanker Sean Wijesinghe and have been strengthened with Sri Lanka full back Radhika Hettiarachchi and centre Avantha Hettiarachchi joining the club.

Kandy SC had a marvellous season by retaining the Caltex 'A' division league title for a record seventh successive year and also bagged the Clifford Cup with a 16-5 win over CR and FC in the final and won both Sevens tournaments by beating CR and FC 28-5 at Radella and 15-7 at Longden Place in the finals.

President's trophy champions and runners-up of the Caltex 'A' division league and Clifford Cup CR and FC will be captained by Sri Lanka prop forward Shamil Mohamed and will also field a star studded outfit sans Radhika Hettiarachchi and his brother Avantha who have crossed over to Kandy SC.

The Red Shirts have been compensated by the presence of last year's Kandy SC winger Mohamed Jabbar and Sri Lanka under 20 full back Reza Mubarak (who stood out in the Youth Rugby Asiad in Brunei).