One-way traffic at rugby and a farewell to Guneratne

By a Special Sports Correspondent

The domestic rugby season commenced with the most likely results with the two Colombo based clubs CR&FC and Havelocks along with Kandy Sports Club (Central Province) producing wins in the first week of the inter-club league rugby season. Will such match results in the domestic scene take the interest away from the game? When the league tournament was launched at a well-attended media event the chief representative of rugby’s main sponsor- Nippon Paint-spoke about there being a prediction that the tournament this season would produce a new winner. Only ‘time’ will tell!

However, despite the thumping wins and point margins in these victories the keenness shown by some of the losing sides to stay competitive suggests that the top runners in the tournament will have a tough time as the tournament progresses. A good example is CH&FC. The players from the Maitland Crescent Club gave Kandy a hard time and the reigning champs had to draw strength from past experiences and the home turf advantage to make it look a comfortable win in the end. Kandy ran down four tries which came off the efforts of Thilina Bandara (2) and Nigel Ratwatte (2) who did the honours in the try scoring department. Even though the Kandy SC back line was bubbling with enthusiasm the eight member ‘pack’ was wanting in the scrums; an area where coach Fazil Marija will have to do much hard work. Kandy had no clue about how to steady that scrum and were lucky to be the winning side.

Senior referee Priyantha Guneratne called it a day with the whistle after officiating in the CH&FC vs Kandy SC game played in front of a large Sunday crowd.

Havelocks SC had an easy time at the Park and the only little contest that existed between the two teams was seen in the first half. At half time Havies had scored twice and the scores read 13-8 in favour of the host team. Debutante Dinupa Senewiratne produced a hat-trick of tries for Havies in a match where the host team crossed the Air Force goal line on seven occasions. Watching the second half was ridiculous as the players wearing the pink and chocolate jersey ran at will and made the opposition look like a schoolboy team. Sri Lanka Rugby cannot reduce gap in ability between the teams that are fancied and those which are not by offering additional help to less fancied teams. But the purpose of the tournament’s organizers to play matches under lights and attract more crowds for matches is defeated when the losing side simply folds up in the second half and allows the other team to have a ‘walk in the park’. The final score read 49-8 in favour of Havelocks SC.

Another team that had it easy in the first week of domestic rugby for the 2023/24 season was CR&FC which demolished Army SC by 55 points to 8 after leading 36-3 at half-time.

Referee Priyantha Guneratne is seen officiating
in his last game which was
between Kandy SC and CH & FC and
played at Nittawela on Sunday.
(Pic courtesy SLR media)

CR is still celebrating its hundred years and this win really boosted the morale of the Longden Place Club which is giving signs of finishing off on a high this season. Last season the Red Shirts finished second in the league tournament and won the prestigious Clifford Cup knockout tournament. By half time the fate of Army SC (the host team) had been decided. As many as eight tries were shared between seven players; which underscores the fact that more than half of the players in the CR&FC side have it in them to emerge as potential try scorers. Thenuka Nanayakkara was impressive during the game and slotted in five conversions apart from producing two tries. The Red Shirts are playing competitive rugby and much is expected of them this season.

Up in Nittawela last Sunday, senior referee Priyantha Guneratne called it a day with the whistle after officiating in the CH&FC vs Kandy SC game played in front of a large Sunday crowd.

Guneratne has made his contributions to rugby in the form of a coach and referee and is a respected individual in the rugby fraternity. He has officiated in crucial matches and done yeoman service to the Society of Rugby Football Referees in Sri Lanka (SRFRSL). He got his big break as a coach when he was selected as the assistant coach of the Sri Lanka national team when the islanders compiled a team to contest the Asian Junior Under 19 rugby tournament in Hong Kong. Guneratntne was presented with a memento at the match in Kandy by the SRFRSL President Dinka Peiris. Rugby will miss him, but the memories of the pint-sized Guneratne controlling 30 muscular men on the field with whistle in hand will never fade away!