Herbert Fernando was a fearless tackler

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen Kandy Sports Correspondent

There appeared in the local rugby scene a wing forward who was mowing down opposing rugby players double his size with his hard and fierce tackles and that was how former Trinity, Upcountry Clubs and All Ceylon ruggerits Herbert Lakshan Fernando took the club rugby scene fifty to sixty years ago.

There is no doubt that Herbert Fernando was one of the hardest and most feared tacklers the local rugby scene has ever known. He is now in his early eighties and is the oldest living rugby player of Kandy Sports Club.

Barely fifteen years, he made it to the Trinity College rugby team as a winger in the mid 1940's and made an immediate impost as a winger where his hard running and bone jarring tackles were an asset. When sixteen he played hockey for the school and also for the Combined Upcountry Clubs against the visiting Dayn Chand's invincible Indian National team. It must be recalled that Dayan Chand was one of the greatest hockey players the world has ever seen and his exploits in hockey field is still talked about.

He won his rugby Lion in 1950 when the team was captained by S. Bambaradeniya. He was nick named ‘Gal Herbert’ for his crash tackles by which most of his opposing players ended up a ‘cropper'.

His undying love for rugby did not permit him to continue his hockey and soon gave up the game having played in a representative game at the tender age of 16 which denied him the chance of becoming a rare ‘Double International’ at that time.

On leaving school he took to planting as a career and first played for Kandy Sports club which was was dominated by the expatriate planters from England, Sootland and Ireland. In the Kandy Sports Club rugby team of 1950 and 1951 there were only three locals in Herbert Fernando, Sena Pilapitiya and R. Halangoda and the rest were burly expatriates. He also played for Uva while being at Bagala Group and also for Dimbula in the company of many illustrious ruggerites. It was during this time that he played for All Ceylon when matches against foreign teams were few and far apart.

From a winger he opted to play as flanker on the open aide where his hard tackles did not permit a scrum half or winger to gain any leeway as he was well and truly nailed. It has been said that whenever Herbert Fernando goes for his man, the player often drops the ball or quickly passes it for the fear of a hard tackle which takes many minutes to recover.

He recalled in one match against a planters club he gave a hard tackle to one of his opponents who was almost double his size and dropped on the grounds. This white man was so angry that he got up and not only used a four letter word but almost made a racial remark which made Herbert's blood boil. He was waiting for his chance and the next time this player got the boll, he brought him down with one of the hardest tackle he had over made and this player was on the ground dazed and had to be carried off the field he did not play in this match again.

Though Herbert's feats were gigantic he barely stood over five feet. He was a high powered mini bulldozer which could blunt its way through a fortified defence. From where did he get this power?. He said was the three “F's”.

Now what are these three F's. It stood for Fitness, Pearlessness, and Pighting spirits. If you don't have these, you can never be a successful rugby player he said. You need fitness to last the full game and he played during the era when substitution was not permitted. It was a cause of either you play or go off and your side will be minus one player. Fearlessness and fighting spirits were inborn qualities which the ‘genes’ gave him in abundance.

His fitness is simply amazing and in his eighties, be is still very fit and walks about without any assistance and even drives his car and his reflexes even more amazing. He gained most of his fitness by road where he runs and rotes in the backwoods of Kundasale where he was a resident. He is totally committed to whatever be does. Another thing which helped him in his fitness schedule was ‘shadow boxing’ which made his quick on his feet and go for his opponent. He empasised that off season training is very important which keeps you fit all through the year. He said that he maintained such a degree of fitness that when a match is over be is ready to play another match. Tiredness or weariness is something which he had hardly known.

In the late fifties with the changes in the plantations which saw the exodus of planters to other climes, he too went over to England as an accredited representative of the National Council of YMCA's in Great Britain. They ran a hostel for Juvenile Delinquents and drug addicts. It was a difficult task in handling them as they were rathless. One day 15 of them had smashed sixty cars. They were able to reform them through counselling and persuasive talks.

He was later appointed as Senior Administrative Officer of the Royal Horticulture Society of Great Britain in which Queen Mother was the patron. His experience as a planter helped him to carry out functions. He visited the Royal Palaces many times on official purposes.

Back in Sri Lanka he coached St. Anthony's College rugby team in 1967 and later when Kingswood College resumed rugby in the 1970's he was there to help them at the insistence of late Winston Hoole.

Though he is in his early eighties, put him into the rugby field, he will be prepared to play with his crash tackles it is not tag rugby but conventional rugby and he is an epitome of fitness. A legend of our time.