British and Irish 'Lion' Eric Miller will coach Trinity Ruggerites
this year
By Hafiz Marikkar
New coach arrives today .... British and Irish 'Lion' player Eric
Roger Patrick Miller arrives today (Sunday August 24) to take charge of
Trinity College Rugby as their new Consultant Head Coach, replacing
outgoing coach Neil Foote. Coach Miller takes over his new assignment on
Monday, the Juniors will be handled by that famous Samoian Laga Tavitala,
who played for CR and FC, Kandy Sports Club and later coached both the
clubs and also Havelock S.C and Sri Lanka.
Last year's under 18 coach Thusitha de Silva and old boy will be the
local coach to the 1st XV coach.
The new coach is scheduled to commence his assignment after the
school re-opens for the 3rd term.
Eric Roger Patrick Miller, born on 23rd of September 1975 and is the
former Irish Rugby Union and Gaelic football player. As a rugby player,
Miller played for among others Old Wesley, Leicester Tigers, Ulster,
Leinster, the Barbarians, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. After
retiring as a rugby player, he took up football.
Eric Miller played several sports. He was educated at Wesley College,
Dublin. Where he played both rugby and cricket. At the same time, he
played association football for Leicester Celtic, a team whose former
players also included Damian Duff. He also played gaelic football for
Ballyboden St. Enda's and, together with Brian Stynes, he helped them
win a Dublin under 21 Championship title in 1995. Miller eventually
opted to concentrate on rugby union and spent the 1995-96 season playing
for Old Wesley. He also represented Leinster for the first time at
senior level.
Eric Miller played for Leicester Tigers
In 1996 Miller joined Leicester Tigers and went on to make twelve
appearances for them in the Heineken Cup. His impressive performances
for the Tigers saw him make his debut for the Ireland National team and
then represent the British and Irish Lions. While playing for the
Tigers, he also attended both Loughborough University, where he obtained
a degree in Physical Education at the Sheffield Hallam University. Coach
Miller played for many teams.
Between 1997 and 2005, Miller made 48 appearances and scored 30
points, including 6 tries for Ireland. He made his international debut
in a friendly game against Italy on 4 January 1997. He went onto play
for Ireland at both the 1999 and 2003 World Cups. He scored two of the
six tries in one game against Namibia during the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
He made his final appearance for Ireland in a friendly against game
Japan on 19 June 2005.
After playing just four senior internationals for Ireland, Miller was
selected by the British and Irish Lions for their 1997 to tour South
Africa. He played in five games during that tour, lining up against the
Border Bulldogs, Northern Transvaal, Natal and the Free State Cheetahs.
A bout of flu saw him miss the first test against South Africa, but he
recovered in time to feature in the second test on 28 June 1997.
However, injury saw him miss the third test.
At an age of 21 he was youngest member of the touring party. He also
played for the Barbarians several times. In May 2004 he was included in
their squad for games against England, Wales and Scotland.
Trinity College will benefit a lot from coach Miller. Trinity will
have over fifteen players form the last seasons squad, some of the
players who will be out of the last team are skipper Tarinda Ratwatte,
his cousin Dinuk Ratwatte, Sachana Shiek, Anurudha Karuantilake - the
Vice Captain, Lochan Girihagama, Umesh Samarasekara.
The Trinitians who will be in the run are: Isuru Rangala - a senior
player of the side and the most likely played to lead the side for the
ensuing year. Diendra Ratwatte, Rushan Sasmin, Rayan Weerakoon, Kenneth
Gamage, Rajitha Samarasekara, Nathen Yee, Newthmal Sakalassooriya,
Sanaka Etulgama,Nagitha Ridhimlayade, Sechan Perera, Saranga Gunatilake,
Sanushka Abeyawickrema are some of the players who are likely to make
the Trinity College Rugby team for 2015.
|
