Army’s rugby on the rise

Ranjeeva Seneviratne

A team which is well on its way to recapturing its past glory in rugby is the Sri Lanka Army. The soldiers who went through a lean period from 2005 to 2008 are going great guns this season having notched up three victories in four outings.

They began the season with a smashing 33-0 win over Havelocks and followed it up with a hard fought 15-10 victory over the strong Navy team in Welisara. In their next match the soldiers confronted the mighty Kandy SC at Nittawela and went down fighting by 9-30 after leading 6-3 at the breather. On Friday they came up with another stupendous performance to notch up a glorious 21-12 win over the formidable CH and FC.

The man who has brought about this remarkable change in their fortunes this year is none other than their new coach Welshman Martin John who has taken great pains to mould the soldiers into a formidable outfit.

Army is presently placed third in the Caltex ‘A’ division points table and their aim is to finish within the first three in the ‘A’ division league tournament.

Army’s rugby renaissance began in 1999 when under the leadership of Kapila Knowlton and coached by New Zealander Kelvin Farrington the soldiers won eight matches out of 14 in the ‘A’ division league and ended up in fourth position.

In the year 2000, Army led by Ajith Peiris won seven games in the ‘A’ division league and stormed into the Clifford Cup final by beating Havelocks (24-23) and CH and FC (25-24) in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively before losing to Kandy SC by 12-39 in the final.

Kapila Knowlton	Maurice Abeyratne	Nushal Meepage

In 2001 the soldiers captained by J. M. Jayatilleke and coached by Asanga Seneviratne had a marvellous season emerging runners-up of the Caltex ‘A’ division league by winning 12 matches out of 14 and stormed into the Clifford Cup final before losing to Kandy SC by a whisker (16-17) in the final.

In 2002 the soldiers skippered once again by Ajith Peiris had another superb season by winning 10 matches in the Caltex ‘A’ division league to end up in third position and made a sensational entry into the Clifford Cup final with a stunning 25-22 win over league runners-up CR and FC before going down fighting to Kandy SC by 19-26 in the final.

In 2003 Army led by Colin Rodrigo enjoyed another fine season by winning nine matches out of 15 in the Caltex ‘A’ division league and in the following year (2004) they won the Club Rugby Sevens title with a smashing 33-21 victory over Havelocks in the final and notched up a sensational 24-22 win over Kandy SC at Galle Face to achieve the remarkable record of beating the mighty Kandy SC in Colombo for five consecutive years in the ‘A’ division league.

This year battle hardened prop forward Nishantha Kotelawala has been entrusted with the task of leading Army. He will bind down in the front row with Sri Lanka player Nushal Meepage. Sujith is the other player who could fit into the prop forwards berth.

That tireless player in the loose Asoka Jayalal will once again fill the hooker’s position with Fernando as the stand-by.

That fine line out jumper Ajith Susantha is assured of one lock forward’s berth while A. D. Perera and Ajith Pushpakumara will battle it out for the other position.

R. M. G. Ratnayake, G. Jayaratne and Jayasena are the trio who are fighting it out for the flanker positions. Strongly built Manoj Silva who is a fierce tackler and a fine attacking player will fill the No. 8 berth but faces a strong challenge from V. C. D. Suranga.

Newcomer T. A. Asiri will operate from the base of the scrum and will pair off with veteran Kapila Knowlton who has played a key role in their success this season with his accurate place kicking.

Knowlton who has represented Army for the last 13 years has also donned the Sri Lanka jersey on several occasions. Upali Wickremasinghe is the other player who could occupy the fly half berth.

Sri Lanka ‘Sevens’ player Asanka Perera, a hard runner and a solid tackler is assured of a centre position with Duminda Wickremaratne, Sampath and Wijekoon staking a claim for the other position. Young Saliya Handapangoda, the find of the season last year with his powerful runs down the flank will be manning the wings once again with either Lankatilleke or Maurice Abeyratne.

The last line of defence will be manned by Upul Kumara who has stood out with his safe collections and booming kicks to touch. Kapila Knowlton too could fit into this position if the need arises.

The Chairman of Rugby, Brigadier Evan Chandrasekera and Secretary, Major Upali Kotuwegedera are giving all the assistance and encouragement to the players.