The return of the educated rugby player

By A Special Sports Correspondent

Kandy Sports Club dominated a third week of rugby in the domestic inter-club league tournament and what made the club even more proud was the stellar performance produced by centre Tharinda Ratwatte.

Kandy SC got the better of Police SC (33-19) in a game where Tharinda dazzled and also stood in the way of the ‘cops’ causing any form of an upset. He knew the length and breadth of the field and applied pressure on the right occasions to keep the policemen in check. We have to keep using his first name in this column because there is another Ratwatte (Nigel) playing in the same Kandy SC team. Nigel plays as fly half.

He scored twice in the game; the second was a beauty where he smothered a kick, collected and scored to stun the police team. Tharinda has a package to offer during a game where his amazing running skills are complemented by his defence work and accurate place kicking. Opposite teams have no clue what combinations he’ll produce during any given match day and it makes it even harder for the opposition because there are other hungry team members wearing the Kandy SC jersey and raring to go. Still Tharinda has been a cut above the rest thus far this season.

We have to look at what has gone into producing this player. He was educated at Trinity College Kandy and is the son of Trinity ‘Lion’ Ashan Ratwatte, who captained the school’s rugby team in 1983. Tharinda captained Trinity at rugby in 2014. And the great accomplishment by him is that unlike his father the son has always been in Bradby Shield winning sides. Ashan was once quoted making this statement in a newspaper about his son, “I thought I was a great player, but my son is better than I in every sphere. He has never lost a Bradby in his life”. Now that’s quite a statement made by a father whose name is written in the annals of ‘Trinity rugby’ as a player to remember.

The Ratwattes have deep roots running in the sport of rugby. From Dennis (Ashan’s father who also played the game) Ashan also saw his bothers Sheran, Roshan and Dilkshan also playing the game at top level. Interestingly Tharinda and Nigel are cousins, but the latter couldn’t play for Trinity’s First XV side because he left school prematurely to continue his education in South Africa.

Then there is this atmosphere at Trinity where the sport of rugby just makes you fall in love with the vibe that it creates. This is experienced by even the students who don’t play the game. The rugby culture at Trinity embeds in you that the school team can have bad days in rugby, but it cannot lose the Bradby; which is played against Royal College Colombo.

One wonders how it was for Tharinda to cope with pressure because it is not easy to play your game when everyone watching you from friends and relations to family members know the game inside out. But still he finished his school career on a high and won a ‘Lion’ for himself.

After leaving school he joined Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club (CR&FC) and had four seasons with the Red Shirts. While playing competitive rugby he completed his law degree and is an Attorney-at-Law at present.

He is 28 years old at present and when he looks back at the decision to crossover to Kandy SC it serves both the Nittawela club and himself; the latter from the perspective of doing national duty. When Tharinda was appointed as captain of the Sri Lanka representative side to contest the ‘rugby sevens’ event at Asian Games he grabbed the reins of the side quite boldly. This was a time when Sri Lanka Rugby was serving a ban and uncertainty engulfed the minds of the players in the island nation; where rugby is equally popular as cricket. The national team was forced to compete under the Olympic Council of Asia flag, but still the team went to China with high spirits to perform at their best. The results produced were not convincing, but the cream of the island’s rugby players were not left out of the Asian Games and that’s what must be applauded. Tharinda’s presence in the national squad as a player from Kandy SC is also encouraging because we’ve had a history of the players from the Nittawela Club making themselves unavailable for national duty on many occasions. He has made a couple of tours with the national side and had a proud moment when he got to score a try against New Zealand in ‘sevens rugby’ at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He also got to captain the national under 19 team at the Asian Rugby Championships.

Coming back to Kandy SC the side saw the exit of key players like Fazil Marija, Gayan Weeraratne, Damith Dissanayake, Roshan Weeraratne and Vishwamithra Jayasinghe who retired from the game. This sees the side playing rugby with just a handful of quality players. This side needs a hero and if Kandy SC is searching for one that search has ended. Tharinda has the potential to marshal the players even though he is not the skipper. He is also earmarked as one of the future captains of Kandy SC. There is something inspiring about him when he is on the field. If he ‘sneezes’ something positive on the field he is certain that what he discharges can be very infectious.

This rugby season is all exciting with teams like Police and bottom seed CH&FC showing vast improvements in the first three weeks of rugby. Kandy SC plays against Air Force SC on Saturday (December 30) at Ratmalana. Kandy should be at full strength for this game and much is expected of Tharinda who is in fine form.