Sarath de Zoysa Hardest tackler

Hafiz Marikar

Former Thomian Sarath de Zoysa is a well known rugby stalwart, during his rugby playing days, he was known for his hard tackles and was rated as one of the hardest tacklers in the country. He was a great rugby promoter who fought for the cause of up country rugby and a dynamic and forceful leader when it comes to organizing any sport.

I met Sarath at the Royal - Thomian game last Saturday at Havelock Park and he was happy to see his school winning the game. Sarath de Zoysa first played for his school team, S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia in 1956 and was the vice captain of the 1st XV in 1959.

He played for the 1958 Outstation Schools team with S.P de Silva, Ken de Joodt, P. Bultjens, Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Mike de Alwis D.Janakiram, E.Roles, Nimal Maralande, J. de Dias de Singhe, D.Hermon (Trinity College), Charlie Joseph (St.Anthony's College), D. Ferdiands, Fair Weather and S. Sinathamby (S.Thomas' College) to beat Colombo 13-00.

Thereafter, he played club rugby up to 1983 in his long rugby career of twenty eight years. After leaving school he played for the Royal Ceylon Navy and then as a planter continued playing for the Uva Club. In the good old days popularly known as the "Merry men of Uva" one of the top teams in the 'A' division rugby tournament organized by the parent body CRFU [currently known as SLRFU].

He was a utility player who fitted into any position and he has played as a prop forward, flanker, centre three quarter, standoff and a reliable full back.

Sarath was a member of the Outstation Schools team that beat the Colombo Schools in 1958 and 1959. He played as a full back and also played in the All India Rugby Tournament in 1960 as a wing forward in Madras. He also represented up country in the Capper Cup against visiting foreign teams.

Sarath first played for Uva in 1960, when he was under training as a Naval officer cadet at Diyatalawa. During this period there were only two "Ceylonese" in the team - late S.B. Pilapitiya who was at that time the Ceylon scrum half and Sarath played as a third row forward and full back. In 1964, the Uva team captained by Vivian Blaze reached the Clifford Cup finals, only to lose to CR&FC by a mere two points at Longden Place.

Sarath captained the Uva team that beat all other up country teams including Kandy, in 1968 with players in the caliber of late T.B. Pilapitiya, Franklin Jacob, John Boyd Moss, Clifford Elhart, late Lucky Withatna, David Whitham, late Charlie Joseph, late Ronnie and Brian Munaweera and Hafi Abdeen (Sarath's brother-in-law) who was a 15 year old schoolboy then. In his last year of rugby in 1984, he played for the up country side in the 3rd row, along with his son Gihan who led the Thomians in 1983.

Sarath de Zoysa, while serving as a superintendent of Mooloya Estate, Hewaheta in the mid seventies and again in the early eighties whilst serving as superintendent of Westhall Estate, Kotmale traveled four hours up and down from Mooloya and Westhall to Nittawela daily to coach the Kandy Sports Club. In 1973/74, his chairman, late Kenneth Ratwatte allowed him to coach Kandy Sports Club as his brother late Col. Stanley Ratwatte and his good friends late Chandra Wijenayake, late Dr. C.D.L. Fernando, late Dr. Dago Gunawardene, late Dr. K.B. Sangakkara and late E.W. Balasuriya formed the powerful Kandy Sports Club committee and this writer was the team manager when Sarath coached Kandy Sports Club.

Sarath a keen lover of rugby coached the Sri Lanka Army Seven's team to reach the finals in the SLRFU Club Seven's Tournament in 1989, whilst serving in the Army Sniper Training School, at Diyatalawa.

He also coached the JEDB Planters' team that beat the rival State Plantation team in 1984 and 1985. Sarath served the SLRFU as a council member, chairman -up country rugby and a National Selector in the late seventies up to mid eighties.

He also pressurized Y.C.Chang who was the SLRFU big boss to shift the Clifford Cup Knockout Tournament to Kandy in mid 80's when the quarters were played in Kandy with the vision that rugby should be resurrected in the up country clubs where it flourished for over a century during the time of the British planters. In 1985, Sarath joined the Sri Lanka Rifle Corps, previously known as the renowned Ceylon Planters' Rifle Corps which has a proud record of serving in the two World Wars. Thereafter, he was involved in training snipers as the Army coach for practical shooting since 1990. He is still serving the National Rifle Association (NRA) as the National coach for practical shooting in rifle, shotgun and handgun disciplines.