Kandy Sports Club reign supreme

Ranjeeva Seneviratne

Kandy Sports Club which has reigned supreme in club rugby for the last 15 years maintained their supremacy by clinching the rugby double - the Caltex ‘A’ division league title and the Clifford Cup.

They retained the ‘A’ division league title for a record 10th successive year by staving off a fierce challenge from their closest challengers CR and FC. The lads from Kandy won eight matches out of 10 losing just two games to the vastly improved Navy (13-14) and CR and FC (14-16) in the last match of the league tournament.

Having received a walk over from Havelocks in the quarter-finals of the Clifford Cup the lads from the hill capital stormed into the final by overcoming a gallant Air Force outfit by 28-24 in the semi-finals. They went on to score a smashing 26-11 win over the formidable Navy in the final to win the richest prize in club rugby – the Clifford Cup for the 16th time in their history.

Under the leadership of Sri Lanka fly half Fazil Marija, Kandy SCs power-packed forwards outplayed their counterparts in the loose while the three quarters turned in a dazzling display of open rugby to the delight of their supporters throughout the season.

Kandy Sports Club had an abundance of talent with the reserves being as good as the regulars which was one of the reasons for their success with adequate replacements for the regulars who got injured during matches.

The lads from Kandy had one of the best third rows in the club rugby scene. No. 8 Sean Wijesinghe was a source of inspiration to his team-mates with his fiery loose play while Dilip Selvam and Sajith Saranga came up with fierce tackling and stood out in attack too.

Lock forwards Senaka Bandara and Buddhika Thalagampola excelled with their tireless loose play and towered above the rest in line outs along with Saranga, to assure them of plenty of ‘good ball’. Prop forwards Eranga Swarnatilleke and Kishore Jehan formed a solid front row while hookers Anuranga Walpola and Achala Perera not only assured them of an abundance of possession with their slick hooking but also stood out with their terrific loose play with Walpola coming up with a marvellous display in the Clifford Cup final.

Fly half Fazil Marija who missed the first round matches due to injury made a welcome return to the side and hit it off smoothly with scrum half Roshan Weeraratne with his daring breaks having the opponents defence in disarray.

Centres, Pradeep Liyanage and Chamara Vithanage sliced through the opponents defence with their side-stepping and speed while wingers Mohamed Sheriff and Sanjeeva Jayasinghe tested the opponents defence to the hilt with their daring runs down the flank. Incidentally Sanjeeva stole the limelight in the final against Navy with two scintillating tries.

Full back Saliya Kumara came up with a stupendous performance throughout the season. He was a tower of strength in the last line of defence with his safe collections and booming kicks to touch.

He also joined the line virtually every time when they were in an attacking situation scoring several tries and contributed immensely to the team’s success with his accurate place kicking piloting them to victory on many occasions.

Their coach South African Johan Taylor took great pains to harness their talent and mould them into a champion outfit ably supported by rugby chairman Lasantha Wijesuriya and team manager Kapila Silva. Kandy’s rugby renaissance began in 1992 when under the leadership of Maurice Joachim they won the prestigious Clifford Cup and continued their dominance by winning the Cup in 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2010 – a remarkable achievement indeed.

Kandy SC first won the ‘A’ division league title in 1994 under the captaincy of Indrajith Bandaranayake and since then have reigned supreme with the title eluding them only on three occasions – 1996 (CR and FC), 1998 (CR and FC) and 2000 (CH and FC).

They bagged the Rugby Sevens title for the first time in 1999 by overcoming CR and FC 12-5 in the final.

The lads from Kandy surrendered the Sevens title to Havelocks in 2000 and 2001 before snatching back the title in 2002 and since then they have dominated except for 2004 when Army bagged the title.