Selectors drop a bombshell

Jatila KARAWITA

The appointment of two captains for the forthcoming tour of Chinese Taipei (Dushanth Lewke and Dilanka Wijesekera) took Sri Lanka rugby by storm yesterday as past players and critics of the game blasted the new selection panel over what they termed as the ‘joke of the year’.

In a dramatic turn of events Rohan Abeykoon led five-member rugby selection panel split the captaincy between Lewke and Wijesekera for the two games Sri Lanka is to play in the HSBC Asian Five Nations Division One Tournament to be held from November 12-15. Rugby critics pointed out that the choice of two captains for one single tour could seriously harm team unity and they wondered how Sri Lanka will be able to field strong teams in the tournament which is to be conducted on a knock-out basis.

They also questioned the wisdom of selectors in appointing the former CH and FC captain (Wijesekera) after the Minister of Sports had ratified the choice of Dushanth Lewke as skipper for the entire tournament by the previous selection panel headed by Brigadier Jupana Jayawardene.

The well-known rugby critics also took the 24-member squad chosen by the selectors to task saying that no less than nine Kandy SC players have been included in the tour party after they had quit national pool practices over the selection of Lewke as captain.

They emphasised that some players who had in the past struggled to find a place in the starting XV have readily found slots in the squad selected by Rohan Abeykoon and his co-selectors.

The rugby critics also noted that CH and FC loose forward Dilanka Wijesekera who has struggled to even find a regular place in the past fifteen-aside teams due to a recent spate of injuries have been entrusted with the leadership reins in order to pacify the Kandy SC players who initially revolted over the choice of Dushanth Lewke as skipper.

The whole domestic rugby crisis was instigated by former Sri Lanka winger Sanjeewa Jayasinghe who reportedly withdrew from national pool training over Lewke’s appointment saying there were more deserving players who needed to be considered for the post.

He was subsequently followed by another 12 Kandy SC players as only 38 Colombo based players practised diligently for over one and a half months before Minister of Sports and Recreation Gamini Lokuge intervened to defuse the crisis by inviting the rebelling Kandy SC players to practice.

The Minister on the advice of National Sports Council officials dissolved the Jupana Jayawardene led selection committee and formed a fresh five-member panel with the likes of Hafeel Marso, Chaminda Rupasinghe, Nazeem Mohammed, Rohantha Peiris being chaired by Rohan Abeykoon. Adding to the turmoil of the domestic rugby circuit there were unconfirmed news that the national team’s two South African coaches Dawie Snyman and Norman Laker were highly displeased with the selectors decision to split the captaincy between Dushanth Lewke and Dilanka Wijesekera.

It is reliably understood that the two South African coaches hired by the SLRFU as Assignment Coaches were unaware of the selectors move to slot in two different captains for the tournament in Chinese Taipei. In another blow to the national team its Manager Colonel Sunil Ranasinghe is said to have resigned from his post unable to have his say in the raging crisis which has engulfed Sri Lanka rugby for the last two months.