Sports

Are rugby players cracking up under the rigours of heavy training?

Published

4 years ago

2022/02/23

by a Special Sports Correspondent

Former rugby player and now a coach and strength and conditioning professional Bilal Yusuf is concerned about the quantum of training done by both school and club rugby players.

It is no wonder that players today are taxed more than their systems can take. The reason, according to Yusuf, could be because these players are following a professional training routine in an amateur system.

Gone are the days when hordes of ex-schoolboy players, just out of school, awaited their turn to play club rugby. Very few among these school leavers walked in straight to the club sides of yesteryear because there was a gap between club and school rugby; in terms of the capacity needed to play senior rugby. But now the training load is basically the same for both club and school players.

And as how Yusuf sees it the players are being over trained. “The present training regimes are extremely demanding on the players. Players are training five days of the week and sessions are held twice a day. At the end of the season there is mental and physical fatigue,” said Yusuf who has also had stints both as a school and club rugby coach and also as the junior national coach for the under 20 Asian Championship. At present, he is a strength and conditioning coach for Sri Lanka Tennis.

There have been occasions where even some of the foreign coaches who have undertaken assignments at local rugby clubs having cautioned that the Sri Lankan players are trying too hard. The game has changed over the years and become more physical and the coaches now demand that their chargers pack on the pounds and spend more time in the gymnasium.

Yusuf sees the present system being counterproductive. “Sometimes doing more might make the players mentally tougher, but certainly it would not do good for the game,” he said. According to him rugby clubs around the world, where the players are not professionals, get their players to train twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday) with a game on Saturday.

But here in Sri Lanka players have to hit the gym in the morning, then shower and go to work and comeback in the evening for rugby practices. Even the sleep they get might not be sufficient. “This is a vicious circle and clubs might not be able to sustain the players in this manner,” opined Yusuf.

But a side like Kandy Sport Club could be an exception because the players are professionals and don’t really have to work, so after the morning training they ideally get to have nap and take a rest. When they comeback for training in the evening their batteries are recharged.

However, club rugby coaches and administrators might not listen to the views of a rugby coach cum trainer like Yusuf because the demands on the coach are high. Most coaches are desperate to hold on to their jobs, so they tax the players to the hilt. Yusuf cautions that school rugby players might be training more than club rugby players, hence the former might be close to total burnout when a season nears an end. We also hear of stories where the schoolboy players in their final year of rugby are skipping the GCE A Level Exam because the demands of rugby training don’t allow these players to balance sport and studies. “The problem with the system is that we might not be grooming these players to balance sport, family and life. The joys of a coach is to see them play top level rugby and when you bump into them in latter years to see them having turned out to be happy and responsible citizens,” said Yusuf.

The taking of supplements in rugby is part and parcel of the game. But some players are becoming too big too soon. “Sometimes the mass they are gaining is unbelievable; which makes us wonder whether these supplements that are given to them contain any illegal substance. The supplement taking of players must be properly monitored. We have enough doubts to suspect that some of these supplements may have performance-enhancing substances,” he said.

Insecure coaches can poison a system and make the players believe that more training is good, when the opposite is true. But there is also another issue regarding the psyche of the players. The majority of schoolboy players who have the brains and capacity to study and make good progress in life give up the sport and concentrate on higher education. The sad part of the equation is that the players who are not academics continue with rugby hence this would mean that ones who are playing club rugby might not be able to think for themselves and can be manipulated. But Yusuf cautioned by saying, “Even if you know that a certain way of eating and training is harmful you just have to follow the demands of the coach because rugby is a team sport and you are not playing for yourself”.

Yusuf concluded the interview by quoting what a foreign coach once gave as his response when someone asked whether he considers himself having done his job properly and having given something back to the game. “This coach said come and meet me in ten years time and ask me how my players are doing and whether they have become better human beings. And if they have then I think I could be considered a successful coach,” concluded Yusuf.

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Sports

Power World joins hands with Kings Hospital

Published

3 mins ago

2026/04/26

Thilina Walpola

Left to Right: Christopher Prins – Head of Corporate Partnerships of Power World Gyms; Sohan Colombage, Vice President, Marketing – JXG (Janashakthi Group); Anil Jayatunga, Deputy General Manager of Power World Gyms; Thanushka Jayasundera, Director/CEO of Power World Gyms; Badrajith Siriwardana, Chief Executive Officer of Kings Hospital Colombo; Dilip Weeraman, Deputy General Manager of Kings Hospital Colombo, Sales & Marketing; Aasiri Ediriweera – Head of Human Resources of Kings Hospital Colombo

Power World Gyms, Sri Lanka’s leading fitness brand with over 30 years of promoting healthier lifestyles, has partnered with Kings Hospital Colombo as its Official Wellness Partner. This collaboration brings together expertise in fitness and healthcare to introduce a dedicated wellness programme for the hospital’s staff, supporting their physical and mental well-being. Through this partnership, Power World reinforces its commitment to making fitness and preventive wellness accessible, impactful and sustainable for those who care for our communities every day.

Sports

Maliban strengthens commitment to Sri Lankan rugby

Published

8 mins ago

2026/04/26

Thilina Walpola

With international rugby taking center stage in Sri Lanka, Maliban Biscuits continues to play a pivotal role in advancing the sport, coming on board as the title sponsor of the New Zealand U85kg Rugby Tour 2026, the Official Premium Partner of the New Zealand U85kg team and the Main Sponsor of Sri Lanka Rugby.

This multi-tier partnership reflects the brand’s deep and ongoing commitment to growing rugby in Sri Lanka while supporting meaningful international sporting exchange.

As one of Sri Lanka’s most trusted household brands with a legacy spanning over 70 years, Maliban’s continued involvement with the touring side-marking the second consecutive partnership that highlights its sustained investment in sporting platforms that inspire young athletes and elevate the standard of the game locally.

The tour will feature key matches at the Colombo Racecourse Grounds on 25 April and at Nittawela Grounds on 3 May, promising high-quality rugby action for fans across the island. Beyond the competition itself, the New Zealand side will also engage in community outreach initiatives, contributing to the development of the game and encouraging greater youth participation in sport.

Sports

The South African dream

Published

9 mins ago

2026/04/26

Thilina Walpola

Gary Kirsten has big plans for Sri Lanka

When Gary Kirsten fronted the media for the first time as Sri Lanka’s head coach, he didn’t pad up with clichés. He went straight on the front foot, making it clear that the 2027 World Cup in his own backyard is the big ticket item.

This was no airy-fairy lip service. Kirsten, as methodical during his playing days, mapped out the kind of personnel required for South African conditions, quicks who can make the ball talk and climb awkwardly off a length, batters who won’t flinch when the ball spits at chest height. In short, horses for courses, not square pegs in round holes.

That’s vintage Kirsten. Whether with India or his native South Africa, he has built success brick by brick, not by rolling the dice. His coaching mantra could well be: well prepared is half the battle won.

Sri Lanka have 17 months and roughly 25 ODIs to get their house in order. That’s enough time to build a core, provided they don’t keep shuffling the team like a pack of cards. More importantly, the bowling template needs a rethink. For far too long, Sri Lanka have leaned on spin. But South Africa is no place for gentle tweakers, it’s a quicks’ paradise where seamers earn their bread.

Even at home, where the slow tracks of RPS traditionally favour spin-heavy combinations, there’s a case to start backing seam-bowling all-rounders. It may seem like swimming against the tide, but World Cups aren’t won by playing safe in familiar waters.

The last time South Africa hosted the World Cup was back in 2003, a different era altogether. Nelson Mandela was still a towering presence, while across the border, dictator Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist. Kenya, then more than just makeweights, punched above their weight to reach the semi-finals, a fairy tale that now feels like ancient folklore.

Fast forward to today and Kenyan cricket has fallen off a cliff, replaced in the hosting roster by Namibia.

Sri Lanka have a template from that 2003 campaign, one worth dusting off. They made the semi-finals then, and not by accident. It was a well-oiled machine, driven by sharp minds and strong leadership.

At the helm was Hemaka Amarasuriya, a corporate heavyweight who handled off-field storms like a seasoned captain riding out a bouncer barrage. When the ICC’s ambush marketing clause triggered a global player revolt, with Indian stars leading the charge, Sri Lanka’s dressing room too got restless, nudged by Charlie Austin. But Amarasuriya, unfazed, played it late and under the eyes, guiding matters through choppy waters until contracts were signed.

Selection, meanwhile, was in the safe hands of Guy de Alwis, a man who didn’t blink, even when the heat was turned up. When then Sports Minister Johnston Fernando tried to poke his nose into team affairs, Guy de Alwis stood his ground like a batter refusing to be sledged into submission. No excuses, no conspiracy theories that we see these days from selectors, just accountability. A trait that seems to have gone missing these days.

On the coaching front, Dav Whatmore and Duleep Mendis plotted their moves with chess-like precision, while team manager Ajit Jayasekara ensured discipline didn’t slip through the cracks. A senior Air Force officer, Jayasekara was a god fearing man and a gentle soul off the field, but one who could lay down the law when egos within the dressing room threatened to run riot.

Then there was Sanath Jayasuriya, the captain who led from the front, scoring runs for fun and brooking no nonsense. Legend has it he gave his deputy Marvan Atapattu the cold shoulder for a fortnight after a dropped catch off Brian Lara.

Add to that the wizardry of Aravinda de Silva and the raw pace of Dilhara Fernando, whose bouncer famously floored Ramnaresh Sarwan. It was a side that could dish it out as well as take it, a rarity in those days.

Sri Lanka’s semi-final exit in 2003 still stings. They had Australia on the ropes at Port Elizabeth, restricting them to 212, but fluffed the chase despite batting deep. A missed opportunity, no doubt, but the campaign proved one thing beyond doubt: Sri Lanka could hold their own on seaming, bouncy tracks.

Kirsten would do well to note that Whatmore had a strong support cast, men who knew their roles and didn’t drop the ball. The current set-up, by contrast, doesn’t inspire the same confidence.

Still, hope springs eternal. The South African dream isn’t a pie in the sky just yet. After all, Sri Lanka remain the only Asian side to have conquered South Africa in a Test series, proof that when they get their act together, they can punch above their weight.

by Rex Clementine