Lewke deserves captaincy honour

The national rugby selectors, after several years, have made a sensible move by appointing CR & FC and Sri Lanka number eight Dushanth Lewke as captain of Sri Lanka national side to the Asian First Division Rugby Tournament to be worked off in Taiwan in November.

During the last several years, it was a player from Kandy Sports Club who always led the Sri Lanka national team and there was hardly any due recognition for several other deserving players.

Perhaps there may one or two selectors who did not whole-heartedly support the appointment of Lewke, but full credit to the other national selectors who had the courage to make the right decision.

Sinister moves

Even after the selection of Lewke and the approval of the Minister of Sports, there has been some sinister moves to reverse the right decision of the selectors, who should be commended for the ‘fearless’ decision when there was big influence to bow down to petty club politics.

As we have often emphasized, the national interest should always come first, irrespective of one’s school and club backgrounds. Of course, the competitive levels should always be considered but petty club politics should not be allowed to rule. Under the circumstances, the national selectors have done right in naming the right man for the right job.

A captain should not merely be the most versatile player but he should be a person who could earn respect from the rest of the players. A good captain should give able leadership to his team, making the most appropriate decisions at the right time. He should be intelligent enough to compare the game plans of the respective teams and make instant but the most appropriate decisions in decisive moments.

Credentials

When one compares all those criteria, Lewke has all credentials to be the captain of the Sri Lanka national Rugby Union Test team. He is probably the only Sri Lanka player who has played the top most competitive level of international rugby with a successful stint in the premier division domestic competition in New Zealand, the home of the famous All Blacks.

Ever since his Sri Lanka debut in 2003, Lewke has been an automatic choice for the national team, representing the national team at the 2004 Asiad in Hong Kong and 2007 Asiad in Colombo. But he got the most vital experience in his distinguished career when he turned out for Sportswood Sports Club of Taranaki Province in New Zealand’s Division one Rugby Tournament from 2005 to 2007.

A proud product of Royal College, Lewke has been a versatile player both in attack and defence and played a vital role in the Red Shirts’ success this season. He has equally excelled when representing both the Kandy SC and CR & FC scoring 11 tries each in successive domestic Premier League seasons.

It would be interesting to see how Sri Lanka matches against China, Taiwan and Singapore in the four-nation tournament.

The Lankan tour squad is yet to be named, though the national selectors have already picked a provisional team of which the final 23-member squad would be picked.

Except for Taiwan, who has been sharing the Asian No.3 ranking with Hong Kong, behind Japan and South Korea, from time to time, the other two countries have not been big names in the region.

No match

China took to rugby in late ‘90s and they were no match to Sri Lanka in the early stages. But the Chinese, who proved their sporting capabilities at the recent 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, mastered the marvellous game played with the oval-shaped ball quickly and emerged a force to be reckoned with.

Though Sri Lanka convincingly beat China in the early stages, especially during the two-match Rugby Union Test series in 1998, things went beyond Lanka’s reach subsequently as the physical strength and the endurance of the Chinese enabled them to sharpen their skills in the international rugby arena.

By the late ‘90s, Sri Lanka almost shared the Asian No. 3 spot with Taiwan and had strength to beat Hong Kong, the former Asian No. 3. That was the time our lads even beat the Australian Northern Territories.

It is time to regain that lost prestige. The four-nation tournament provides the ideal atmosphere for a Lankan comeback. In the absence of Asian rugby heavyweights Japan and South Korea, I don’t see any reason why the Lankan lads cannot make their presence felt in the forthcoming quadrangular tournament.

Though Taiwan has a slightly better team on paper, Sri Lanka has all to match with the three teams which will take part.

Stagnant

But one should not forget that Singapore team too has made a significant improvement. We never took teams like Singapore and Malaysia seriously about a decade ago. But things have changed as Lankan rugby has stagnated while minnows have overtaken us.

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka still has the chance to make a come back. There is plenty of talent and what is needed is a continuous program to groom those youngsters carefully and make an investment for the future.

The key to Sri Lanka rugby’s success in the late ‘90s was the Development Squad, the brainchild of Dr. Maiya Gunasekera, who was the SLRFU Vice President then. A good feeder pool is always a plus point as it would give enough options for the national selectors in finding equally good replacements for the national team.

The SLRFU is making an effort to uplift the standard of local rugby. But that seems to be inadequate to match with the fast developing trends in international rugby. There are better competition opportunities for the national poolists.

If there is adequate funding available through sponsorships and IRB grants, the SLRFU could have a consistent plan to maintain its national pool in a more meaningful and productive manner.