Air Force to make their presence felt

Thushan JAYASURIYA

The Sri Lanka Air Force, which has produced several outstanding players in the Sri Lanka Rugby history hopes to make an impact the Dialog League 'A' division title this year.

Former Sri Lanka Players Nalin De Silva, Tikiri Marambe, Tony Wimalasuriya, Rex Anthony, Chandana Deepthi, Ajith Prasanna, Suranga Arunashantha, Rohan Fernando, Chanaka Chandimal and Charith Seneviratne are some of them who played for Sri Lanka Air Force.

In 1986, the Airmen won the Clifford Cup and they were positioned among the top four in the rugby league till 1990. In 1990, the SL Air Force had to withdraw from the game due to the second eelam war.

Their rugby revival took place in 1995 under their coach A.Tennakoon after a lapse of four years. The Air Force team won the plate championship for three consecutive years 1998,1999 and 2000. They became the runners up in the Rugby sevens championship three times in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

This time, the team will be captained by Sri Lanka player Suranga Arunashantha with his deputy Dinesh Weeraratne.

Suranga Arunashantha (Captain)

Dinesh Weeraratne (Vice captain)

Their squad will comprise of several senior players including Saumya Silva, Pradeep Kurukulasooriya, CharithSeneviratne, Dinesh Weeraratne, Pushpakumara Samarahewa, Gayantha Iddamalgoda and Prasanna Soysa

Saumya Silva, Amal Dassanayake,Ranuka Medagedara, Jayantha Ranaweera and Chirath Attanayake will fight it out for the Prop Forwards berth.

The trio Lahiru Udayanga, Buddhi Bandara and Sampath Wickramasinghe will vie for the Hookers berth. The players who could fit in as Lock Forwards are Sri Lanka player Wasabha Senarath, Pushpakumara Samarahewa, Pradeep Kurukulasuriya and Prasanna Soyza. The Flankers are Nuwan Dharshana, Shiran Hettiarachchi and Yohan Dilanjaya.Dinesh Weeraratne, the Vice Captain of the side will play in his pet position as Number Eight with Navindra Pulukuttiarachchi also eyeing this position .

The Scrum halves berth will be filled by either Lanka Perera, Ranjan Baddegama or Isuru Jayaratne. Sri Lanka player Charith Seneviratne is the first choice among the Centres.

The others who are battling for the same position are Suranga Arunashantha, Rumesh Wasantha and Dilusha Pathmakumara.The players who are fighting for the Wingers position are Eranda Ranaweera, Lahiru Weerasinghe, Srinath Perera, Sandaruwan Fernando, Suranga Balasuriya and Mithun Gunasekara, The last line of defence will be occupied by either Asanka Perera or Dushshanka Hapuarachchi.

Chandana Deepthi, former Sri Lanka Player and Isipatanian who moulds the pack into a formidable outfit says that there was an exodus of senior players. So, they have suffered three sucessive defeats at the hands of CR and FC (27 - 44), Havelocks (05 -47) and Navy (15 - 55) and hope to fare better as the season progresses. Incidentally, Air Force is the only team in the Dialog 'A' division league who are playing without foreigners. He said that the hieararchy of the Air Force are of the view that the money spent in recruiting foreign players can be utilized better by giving nutrition and other benefits to other local players.He is confident that the Airmen can be a force to be reckoned with sans foreigners.

The team gets the full support from Air Force Commander Air Vice Marshal Harsha Abeywickrema and Chairman of Air Force Rugby Air Commadore Leonard Rodrigo. They are being sponsored by Janashakthi Insuarance and Dialog Axiata PLC.

The Air Force Rugby Squad

Prop Forwards : Saumya Silva, Amal Dassanayake, Ranuka Medagedara,Jayantha Ranaweera and Chirath Attanayake.

Hookers : Lahiru Udayanga, Buddhi Bandara and Sampath Wickramasinghe

Lock Forwards : Wasabha Senarath, Pushpakumara Samarahewa,Pradeep Kurukulasooriya and Prasanna Soyza.

Flankers : Nuwan Dharshana, Shiran Hettiarachchi and Yohan Dilanjaya.

Number Eight : Dinesh Weeraratne(Vice Captain), Navindra Pulukuttiarachchi.

Scrum Half : Lanka Perera, Ranjan Baddegama and Isuru Jayaratne.

Fly Half : Gayantha Iddamalgoda.

Centres : Charith Seneviratne, Suranga Arunashantha, Rumesh Wasantha and Dilusha Pathmakumara.

Wingers : Eranda Ranaweera,Lahiru Weerasinghe, Srinath Perera, Sandaruwan Fernando, Suranga Balasuriya and Mithun Gunasekara.

Full Back : Asanka Perera and Dushshanka Hapuarachchi

Coach : Chandana Deepthi
Physical Trainer : Kapila Munasinghe
Manager : Anil Janaka

Remaining Fixtures

July 8 : Vs Army SC at Ratmalana.
July 14 : Vs Kandy SC at Ratmalana.
July 21 Vs Upcountry Lions at Nawalapitiya.
July 28 : Vs CH and FC at Ratmalana.
August 3 : Vs Police SC at Police Park.