Forget 2008, work with vigour for better 2009 RUGBY season!

By Jatila KARAWITA

RUGBY: The year 2008, which is about to end could best be described as a calamitous year for Sri Lanka rugby. All associated with the game would prefer to forget the past season as ludicrous and demoralising events which took place off the 'paddock' than on it.

The year will be forever remembered for the farcical events and scenes which were enacted by players, officials and administrators, with even the deeds of the players who played not reaching any great height to crows-about.

The most damaging and appalling incident took place around September, when Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, a former Sri Lanka captain walked out of national pool training, saying he and a few other deserving players have been usurped for the captaincy of the national team for the Asian Five Nations Division 1 tourney in Chinese Taipei in November, with the selection of CR & FC number 'eight' Dushanth Lewke as skipper by the Jupana Jayawardene - led selection committee.

The selection panel also consisted of Graham Raux, Lanil Tennekoon, ASP Norman Silva and Savantha de Saram.

Sanjeewa Jayasinghe's move which virtually came out of the blues as it were, stirred a 'hornets nest', in the sphere of local rugby never before witnessed with another 12 Kandy Sports Club players also withdrawing from pool practices due to what they termed 'personal reasons', to show solidarity with the wing-three quarter Jayasinghe.

This course of action by Kandy SC players triggered a chain reaction in rugby circles and turned the rugby arena on its head. Only the Colombo based players reported for practices and this turned out to be a force and the Minister of Sports and Public Recreation Gamini Lokuge was forced to appoint National Sports Council (NSC) head Dr. Maiya Gunasekera, to listen to the grievances of KSC players and report back to him as part of a fact-finding mission.

The result of the Dr. Maiya Gunasekera led fact-finding mission led the Minister to axe Japana Jayawardene led selection committee amidst charges that they had not been in favour of Kandy SC players returning for practices, given their previous in unbecoming behaviour and at the same time giving into the alleged influence of Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) President and Senior DIG Nimal Lewke to install his son (Dushanth) as skipper over any other deserving player.

The Minister then formed a fresh selection committee under the chairmanship of former Sri Lanka, CH & FC and Trinity centre Rohan Abayakoon, but they too ran into 'stormy waters' before quitting in disgust after just nine days of being in office.

The main grouse of the Abayakoon - led selection committee was the eleventh hour inclusion of a player - Police SC captain Nilusha Fernando at the expense of Kandy SC 'number eight' Imran Bisthamin to the original 24-number squad by them, by the Minister of Sports.

Team - not best

The selection committee were categorical in stating that they did not want to be a party to a squad which was not the best that Sri Lanka could field, hence they took the measure of holding a press conference to berate the Minister before leaving posts.

Minister Gamini Lokuge 'stuck to his guns' and approved the team but the Dushanth Lewke and Dilanka Wijesekera led national team returned home from Taiwan empty-handed, failing to qualify for the top-five of Asian Rugby.

As these off the field incidents were swept-aside by the sands of time, another incident which occurred in November also off the pitch, was treated with utter shock and disbelief by rugby experts and analysts alike.

This incident involved one of the brightest of young stars to emerge on the domestic rugby scene Kandy SC 'number eight' Imran Bisthamin, who met with a freak accident in Kandy and suffered a serious head injury from which he is yet to fully regain consciousness at the time of writing.

It was the consensus among former players that - the former St. Anthony's College, Katugastota captain Bisthamin was the most dynamic 'number eight' seen on the rugby scene right now since the days of ex-national captains Hisham Abdeen and Priyantha Ekanayake. Rugby followers wish for a speedy recovery to the gifted back-row forward.

These off the field events apart, which Sri Lanka rugby could certainly have avoided, it would have been better.

Nothing spectacular

Sri Lanka's Sevens team led by Pradeep Liyanage played in two major international tournaments - the Singer Sri Lankan - Air Lines Sevens at home and the Rugby World Cup (RWC) Asian Sevens Qualifiers in Hong Kong the team didn't leave anything to write about.

The 15-a-side team as stated earlier, fared no better with the fall-out from the Dushanth Lewke episode proving to be decisive in the team failing to best either Singapore or Chinese Taipei and thus cutting a sorry picture overall.

The National team was led by two different captains in the said tournament, definitely an unprecedented move in over 100 years of rugby football in this country.

As for the domestic competitions, Kandy Sports Club (KSC) studded with the finest talent available in the country, continued to hog the limelight for the upteeth.

Time, while in the schools arena, St. Peter's College and Kingswood College, Kandy emerged victorious in the Milo President's Trophy Knock-Out Singer League Tournaments respectively.

As Sri Lanka rugby enters 2009, the onus will once more lie with the administrators to put its house in order, lest the game will further spiral downhill.

Among top priority for officials of the sport's local ruling body (SLRFU) would be to appoint administrators who meet the criteria laid down in the constitution of the SLRFU which must be adhered to by all future officials.

It must be considered a sine qua non and no room must be left for administrators to hold positions in the Council for those who have not played 'A' division rugby according to the constitution.

More tourneys

Another moot point to mull over for the new Council which is expected to assume office around February next year, would be to procure or garner more international tournaments, which as of now remains pretty bare to say the least.

For the next 12-month period, the only international tournament in the pipeline for the players in the Asian Five Nations Division Two to be played in either Arabian Gulf or Thailand with the Sri Lanka stars having to play their trade for local clubs by and large.