Birthday present started off rugby in Ceylon

by Dilwin MENDIS - Moratuwa Sports Corr.

RUGBY: Rugby Football has caught the fancy of players and spectators alike here in Sri Lanka. There are many clubs and schools who have taken to the game, not only in Colombo and its suburbs, but in distant places like Badulla, Radella and other distant towns.

Many followers of the game, however, may not really know how the game came into being as a sport here in Sri Lanka. It was none other than Sir Hugh Clifford - a former Governor of Ceylon who introduced the game of Rugby Football to then Ceylon. The story goes that it was as a birthday present to his wife Lady Clifford that Governor Clifford introduced the game of Rugby Football to Ceylon.

The first game was scheduled to be played on August 26 in 1911, but due to unforseen circumstances the scheduled date was put off by a week and it was played on September 2nd 1911. The inaugural match was played between All Ceylon and the United Services. Both teams were represented by Europeans because no Ceylonese knew what this game was all about. It was a blessing in disguise and in that historic match the United Services quite easily beat All-Ceylon by 25 points to nil. The game rapidly caught interest as the years went by. Some of the early results: 1911: United Services beat All-Ceylon 25-nil, 1912: All-Ceylon beat United Services 8-nil, 1913: United Services beat All-Ceylon 3-nil.

Came World War I and this annual fixture just started had to be suspended. After 1913 it was not held until 1925 because of the War.

Then the structure was somewhat changed when the fixture was re-arranged. In 1926 the Low-Country team came into the picture with Ceylonese coming into the picture. In 1926, Low Country beat United Services 14-3. Up-Country too came into the game and they won in 1927 beating the Ceylonese 11-8. In 1928 Low-Country beat Ceylonese 15-11, 1929: Low-Country beat United Services 23-3, 1930: Low-Country beat Ceylonese 14-3, 1931: Low-Country beat Ceylonese 27-6, 1932: Up-Country beat United Services 14-10, 1933: Up-Country beat United Services 20-3, 1934: Low-Country beat Ceylonese 17-nil, 1935: Up-Country beat United Services 11-nil, 1936: Low-Country beat United Services 9-3, 1937: Up-Country beat United Services 25-0 and 1938: Up-Country beat Ceylonese 10-nil.

After World War 1 this country was plagued by World War II and this fixture which turned out to be very popular, was cancelled and the competition for the Cup was re-organised in the post war period from 1950.

Havelocks won in 1950

The first winners then were: Havelocks Sports Club who won in 1950 and 1951, then CR and FC won it in 1952, Dimbula 1953, CR and FC from 1954 to 1960, Havelocks in 1961, CH and FC in 1962, Havelocks 1963 and 1964.

After World War II, the locals came into the picture from 1950 and it caught the interest of the sports-loving people of Ceylon.

The then Royal Ceylon Air Force were very eager to enter the fray and when they entered, two other service teams - Ceylon Army and Royal Ceylon Navy and the Police too came into the picture.

The Royal Ceylon Air Force had a real great rugby fan in their Commander Air Vice marshall Harry Gunatilleke - a product from Royal College, Colombo. Harry Gunatilleke put everything he had in him to lift the standard of rugby football in the Air Force.

When Commander Harry Gunatilleke took up coaching the Airmen, there were only five players who had played rugby during their schoolboys and the others were novices.

There was great enthusiasm among those Airmen who attended practices and the Air Force went from strength to strength, thanks to the interest taken by Air Force Commander Rohan Amarasekera and the other senior officers and past players.

There is a saying that hard work has to have rewards.

This came true in 1965 when the Air Force reached the final of the Clifford Cup in 1965 to match their wits with the formidable CR and FC.

It turned out to be a keenly fought out game in 1965 - August 14th to be exact at Longden Place. It was somewhat of a jolly day for the Airmen who came in truck loads to Longden Place and I also could not resist the temptation to make the trip for the match.

It was a keen tussle for top honours and after a hard - fought game, the CR emerged champions by 11 points to 5.

CR and FC: H. Karunasekera (Full Back), N. Perera, D. de Almeida, M. Azain, B. Van Twest (three-quarters), M. Sahayam (Fly-Half), Tony Sirimanne (Scrum Half), M.H. Omar, C.H. Seneviratne and F.A. Ohlums (Front Row), P. Abeysekera and D. Samarasekera (Second Row), Sari de Sylva - Captain, Eic Roles and H. Perera (Third Row. Reserves: T. Rankin, C. Perera, K. Vidanage.

Air Force: Bertie Ekanayake (Full Back), Gerald David, P. Segarajasekaram, Rodney Soysa, Jeff Ratnam (Captain), Three-Quarters; M. Maheswaran (Fly-Half), Eddie Buel (Scrum Half), C.R.A. Fernando, F.A. Gomes and Douggie Perera (Front Row), E. Perera M. Hussain (Second Row), T.M. Khalid, Hillary Sella and R.D. Paul (Front Row). Reserves: M.R. Vijaya Bandara, W.K.D.M. Abeysekera.