KSC rugby hero Jayasinghe hangs up his boots

Hafiz Marikar

Sanjeewa Jayasinghe a rugby hero of the Kandy Sports club for many a seasons said good bye and hung up his boots having played the game for over a decade.

The start of his distinguished rugby career began when he first represented Science College where he also excelled in rugby cricket and athletics. Sanjeewa brought in a wealth of experience as a player and his understanding of the game was invaluable. Until he hung up his boots he was considered the best rugby sevens player produced by the country after the legendary Hisham Abdeen.

Speaking to me a few days back at the Nittawella Grounds, he said that he decided to hang up his boots after the Carlton Super Sevens Competition. He first commenced his club rugby career representing the Havelock SC, where his talent was spotted by Ana Saranapala (former National coach), Chaminda Rupasinghe and Kolitha Guantilake.

He played for the park club from 1998 and since then has been an automatic choice for the national team bringing honour and fame to his motherland with his scintillating display in the rugby field.

He led the Park Club in 2001 at the age of 22. Having captained the side in 2001, he moved over to Kandy SC the following year and later captained KSC as well. Sanjeewa Jayasinghe retires from the game after a long spell of 9 years with Kandy to the entire satisfaction of the Club and the rugby loving fans. At the last league game 2011 he was given the honour to lead the side against HSC, to rekindle memories of having represented both clubs Kandy Sports Club and Havelock Sports Club respectively.

Sanjeewa was not only an attacking player, but also a fierce tackler which made him a complete ruggerite, who could have found a place in any sevens team in the World. The most memorable performance in his rugby career spanning 14 years was at the Dubai Sevens in 2001 where he was bestowed with the captaincy of the Sri Lanka Sevens team.

He stole the limelight by scoring seven tries in five outings which is perhaps the best performance by any Sri Lanka ruggerite in an International Sevens tournament in recent years. In the very first game in the Group “A” against the formidable Scotland RFC, he followed a grubber kicked by Nalaka Weerakody picked up the ball and ran over 20 meters to fall over for a glorious try.

In the next game against the mighty All Blacks, he scored perhaps the best try of the tournament. He collected a kick by a New Zealand defender in the Sri Lanka “40” meter and unleashed a breath-taking 60 meter run to score a spectacular try and received a standing ovation from the capacity crowd of over 12,000 at the Dubai Rugby Stadium.

I was there to see his great performance. He followed it up by scoring two scintillating tries against the strong Portugal RFC in their final group match. He proved to be a source of inspiration to his team mates in the Bowl championship quarter finals against Kenya by scoring two superb tries which saw the Lankans emerge victorious by 22 points to 14.

Sanjeewa scored another brilliant try against the mighty Welshmen in the Bowl semifinals which saw Sri Lankans put up a stupendous performance to go down fighting to Wales by 12 points to 24. It brought Sanjeewa’s haul to seven tries. What a remarkable display.

Sanjeewa thanked all who helped him from the beginning of his rugby career, starting with his two coaches Chandrashan Perera and Mahinda Jayawardene. Many have coached him and helped him to perform at his best and thanked all of them profusely, with special thanks to the Print Media for highlighting his performance which motivated and inspired him and also the Club officials, members and supporters in purticular the Kandy rugby fans. “Obviously, it’s going to be a very tough call for Sanjeewa.. Memories are short and, when one talks about Kandy Sports Club Rugby, they should not forget the yeoman services rendered by rugby stalwarts of the calibre of the late Col. Stanley Ratwatte, late Stanley Martin, Late Dr. K.B.Sangakkara, Late E.W. Balasuriya, late Dr. S. Nadasen, late Dr. John Karuanratne, late S. Pathinayake, late Dr.C.D.L. Fernando, late William Weerasinghe, late Dr. Dago Guanwardene, Late Chandra Wijanayake , Kishin Butani, and Malik Samarawickrema in particular for having transformed the Kandy Sports Club rugby to make it a Champion club today, Priyantha Ekanayake, Iswan Omar, Maurice Perera, Sarath Perera, DIG Nimal Leweke Rtd, Malath Fernando and the present committee headed by Dr. Sarath Kapuwatha, Senior Vice President Emil Van der Poorten, Vice Presidents H. Marikar, Nihal Ratwatte, Secretary Lesley de Zoysa, Treasurer Chamly Rajakaruna, Committee Members, Mahes Weeerasinghe, Rohan Daulagala, Hemantha Yatawara, Lasantha Wijesuriya, Sujeewa Liyanage, Nimal Gunasekara, Rangith Goonarthne, Anurudha Ranasinghe.