Sports

Sports

Dazzling rugby at schools level, but do they have a future?
By Bernie Wijesekera
Excitement to the core and talent to boot. That was the order of the day at the recently concluded inter-school rugby tournament. The crowds too came in their thousands to witness the games and went home satisfied that they had witnessed good matches.

With all this talent coming out of the schools one would expect the future club season to be a haven. But sadly most of these rugby players give up the game after leaving school as they have little scope in club rugby. Is there a future for them?

Royal College, last year's unbeaten champions, who carried all before them under Zulki Hamid didn't have their own way. They had to grind hard to emerge Milo league champions, under ace centre Rajitha Jayasundera, who also hails from a rugby stock like Zulki. His father "tanker' Hamid played for the Police and for Sri Lanka, while Daya Jayasundera, a versatile sportsman played as a forward for the Police and for Sri Lanka.

Fast improving Wesley College knocked the day lights out of Royal in their own backyard winning a cliff-hanger. This was their maiden win over the Reid Avenue school which they richly deserved. Wesley played better rugby on this day. The Campbell Park school, too had a granite hard set of forwards, which holds good for the future development of the sport.

Though Royal with ten freshers in their fold was a seasoned outfit hard as oak, under coach Chandana Abeygunawardena. C.P is a man-of-steel with his no nonsense approach. He doesn't believe in individual brilliance, but all had to bind together to produce the goods.

No dirty play
There was no dirty play and the spirit of the game was maintained at all times.That is how coach C.P. Abeywardena groomed them. It was due to his hard training that Royal was able to produce (though small in size), a nippy set of forwards when compared to their erstwhile rivals Trinity. Without doubt Chandana is the best schools coach in the circuit today.

Trinity after last year's debacle gave a stupendous performance - thanks to their rugby scrummage headed by Ravi Balasuriya. They were able to get the services of an Aussie coach from Sydney, Geoffrey Garland, thanks to Dilip Kumar, a staunch supporter of Sri Lanka rugby. The 'lions' really gave a close run to Royal in both legs in the Bradby. They had the fans bewildered.

The scrummage should be commended in their endeavour to uplift this manly sport which was held in high esteem in the past. Credit should also go to Alex Lazarus for giving Garland all support.

Dr. Maiya Gunasekera, the chairman of the national rugby panel commended the Trinity forwards. They are big made and physically strong, but lacked speed unlike the nippy Royal forwards, thanks to coach C.P.'s hardwork. In about three years time the 'lions' tough forwards will be able to generate fire and spark and be better drilled for the national cause. The views made by Dr. Maiya were confirmed by Bryan Baptist, a knowledgeable student of the game.

Took wings
Imagine an ardent old Royalist, now living in London who after over two decades made a special trek to watch the first-leg in Kandy. He had a problem of getting a ticket, apparently due to poor distribution by Kandy organizers. After watching the first leg, he took wing to England. But decided to return to the country for the second-leg, too. Bitten by the "Bradby" rugby bug.

Two other schools from Kandy, too were to the fore. St. Anthony's and Kingswood. The Katugastota team has improved vastly. Here again thanks to their old boys, who have inspired them to reach greater heights. Some of them are big made tough forwards, who play a terrific game in the loose. They, too have a dream of performing at the highest level in the future like brothers L.V. and Priyantha Ekanayake.
Kingswood, who emerged 'B' Div. league champs, came from behind to win the K.O. 'A' final defeating S. Thomas' in a thriller.

These schools are working on the right structure and making the Hill Capital at present the hub of Sri Lanka rugby. Today Kandy SC is dominating the local scene due to their professional structure. They are fortunate in having an old Royalist, an administrator par excellence in Malik Samarawickrema. He has engineered the Hill Capital rugby revival with a dedicated committee which has put the controlling body to shame.

Filling silver trophies in clubs and schools should not be the main criteria, be it by the Rugby Union or by the schools section. The SLRFU must have a vision with a right structure for the future development of this beautiful sport. There is massive support for rugby coming from the private sector for the schools - headed by Singer Sri Lanka. They are sponsoring a number of schools at grassroots level - thanks to their sports promoting Chairman Hemaka Amerasuriya.

Cricket has gained international recognition by winning the W.C. in 1996 under Arjuna Ranatunga. This too was achieved, thanks to individual brilliance of the players. No one can deny. But the most popular sport in the country (spectator interest) is rugby.
Dilip Kumar, who was here recently to watch the Bradby first-leg told The Sunday Times that schools rugby is far ahead comparing to some of the S.E nations.

There is talent aplenty. Incidentally Dilip is a senior member of the IRB,who is prepared to help Sri Lanka rugby. But the existing structure must be changed both in playing point of view for promotion and development of the sport. IRB will certainly help, but the controlling body must show a progress chart. Kumar was prepared to get a professional administrator from Australia to help the structure, but how far has the Rugby Union moved to make it a reality

Dr. Gunasekera, despite his professional commitments still has the time to watch rugby - especially school games - the nursery for the sport to climb the Asian ladder. Give them the exposure at youth level and keep them in continuity with a permanent Dev. Squad. Attend to their needs (personal) or otherwise, with much focus for the Asiad here in 2006.

Today rugby is no longer the sport (for the exclusive schools). Its wings have spread far and wide. Rugby crazy Isipathana who has made a name is in the forefront. S. Thomas' Mt. Lavinia too came back to their own, thanks to their junior programme.
There was tremendous competition among the emerging schools. Ananda was one of them when they knocked the daylights out of the Thomians. Here again the old Anandians have rallied around to promote the sport. Hisham Abdeen has been drafted to coach and is doing an excellent job. Ananda has a future in rugby.

Why condemn the pitch
South Africa took a 2-1 lead in the series in progress against England with a victory in the fourth game at Headingly, Leeds. Headingly is one of the oldest test venues and one that by English standards developed quite slowly. Situated in Leeds it is the home of Yorkshire cricket - a county that has produced many legends of the game.

Being a city in the very Northern part of England, the ground - experiences a fair amount of rain and cold weather. This accounts for the dour, stubborn approach of many of the batsmen who have emerged from the county. Sir Len Hutton and Geoffrey Boycott are glittering examples. So too seam and swing bowlers perfect their craft. Freddie Truman and Darren Gough come to mind immediately.

Europe as a whole has been experiencing heat waves and dry weather and with it numerous disasters. The Headingly outfield told the story. Normally lush green, this year it was patchy and browning in many areas. There must be an irrigation system on that ground. Even that does not help because the water availability starts to reduce and though there is a system, there is no water to pump out. The advice that governing councils around the world issue in such a situation is to stop watering grounds, parks and lawns.

With this being the case and hardly any rain having fallen on Headingly for nearly two months before this game the pitch was damp at the start of the game! This is considered the driest summer since 1975 - the year of the inaugural world cup. It is unlikely the grounds-man having had previous experience of preparing pitches in these conditions. Every grounds-man or curator responsible for preparing a test pitch aims at providing a surface, which will last the length of five days.

This requires systematic application of water for a period of eight to twelve days leading up to the game. The quantity is governed by the prevailing weather conditions. The grounds-man at Headingly obviously applied too much water and this caused indentations on the surface. With it uneven bounce of the ball some climbing steeply and of course plenty of criticism.

The side batting first should have received the worst. They did and were 147 for 7 at one stage. Then the vastly experienced Garry Kirsten, together with new boy Ondeike and the tail added 200 runs. Kirsten and then Mark Butcher of England demonstrated how to play on such a pitch. They did it not once but twice. Watch the ball on to the bat. Play only the necessary deliveries. Nudge as many singles. Be prepared to cop plenty of bruises. Kirsten and Butcher did all that magnificently.

It is also essential for all those who get to contribute whatever runs they can. South Africa did that and England failed. The six TV commentators - all former test players and four of them absolute greats - condemned the pitch from the word go. Was it fair? One of them made a statement mid way on day three:

"The pitch is deteriorating by the minute!" What a shocker!! The game ended before lunch on day five. England could have and should have played far better. That would have ensured a better contest. It was not what could be termed as a real good pitch but not to be condemned either.

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