Kandy stands strong as a mountain in rugby decider against CR

By A Special Sports Correspondent

Kandy Sports Club stamped its class in domestic rugby by beating CR & FC and finishing first in the points table of the ongoing inter-club league rugby tournament.

It was a win that was essentially needed, not just to prove their might this season, but to avenge last season’s double defeats at the hands of the Red Shirts. Kandy blew CR’s defence into pieces with a power packed display of fast open rugby. The winners ran down five glorious tries and the victory was spiced by the hard work put in by the old hands at the Nittawela Club. This is a time when many youngsters are knocking on the Kandy Sports Club door to win the red, white and blue jersey. But players like Dhanushka Ranjan, Tharinda Ratwatte, Kavindu Perera, Nigel Ratwatte and skipper Srinath Sooriyabandara led from the front through rousing displays in the sport of rugby union, which, if captured on camera and retained for posterity, could be used to positively influence the next generation of players.

Kandy SC has enrolled some of the best schoolboy players of recent years. Kandy now has players like Dahan Wickremaarachchi, Kenula Mihisara and Shahid Zumri in their ranks. Wickremaarachchi was at his brilliant best last Sunday scoring a cracker of a try and being one of the mainstays in the Kandy SC’s marauding ‘eight’. Winger Kavindu Perera was also a sensation and touched down twice in the game against CR.

There was a time when Kandy SC had players like Nalaka Weerakkody, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, Radeeka Hettiarachchi, Haris Omar, Indrajith Bandaranayake, Sajith Mallikarachchi, Prasad Liynage and Fazil Marija who were household names with the rugby fans of the Central Hills. Just take one look at the Kandy SC three quarter line and you realize that the Nittawela side is once again riding on a wave of success that ensures ecstasy as well. The Kandy three quarters comprising the Ratwatte brothers, Ranjan, Kavindu, Dinal Ekanayake and Sooriyabandara is good enough to make up a virtual ‘Sri Lanka’ national team back division. And whenever the backs start running, the forwards complement them with a power house display of ‘slap bang’ rugby that bruises the ribs of anyone standing in their way.

Kandy SC has worked its moves around two players, skipper and full back Sooriyabandara and centre Tharinda Ratwatte. The latter has his ways of bamboozling players in the opposite teams. This he does with his ability to slice through a defence using quick thinking and weighing his options when encountering a tackler. ‘Soori’- the name fondly used by Sooriyabandara’s teammates when addressing him- on the other hand plays so well in the corners of the field in attack and by jealously guarding the Kandy SC goal line as the last line of defence.

Mention must also be made of Kandy’s front five comprising Malitha Wijesundara, Dilshad Fareed, Milan Weerasinghe, Thilina Bandara and Chathura Soysa for carrying Kandy’s hopes in the forwards’ battle. This is a year where the Kandy coaching staff began earnestly in adding strength to their ‘eight’ and its enlightening to see how wonderfully these forwards have shaped up this season in meeting rugby’s challenges with gusto.

For the record, Kandy SC finished on top of the points table after the first round of the league tournament. In second place is Havelocks SC followed by CR&FC and Air Force in third and fourth places respectively. These four teams now battle it out in the Super Round of the league tournament with Kandy SC slated to meet Air Force on March 1 in Ratmalana and CR&FC expected to scrum down with Havelocks Sports Club on March 2 at Longden Place.

Also this piece on the first round of the league rugby tournament is followed by a sad note on the demise of former rugby referee Anura Rankothge who has passed away. His funeral will take place today (Wednesday) at the Mahaiyawa Cemetery in Kandy.