Rugby today, ahead and yesteryear

by Hafiz Marikar

With the hype and the excitement of the 2015/16 rugby League entering the seventh week and a number of surprises in the matches seen so far in the tournament, Kandy and Havelocks will be the two teams to watch in the new year.

Kandy Sports Club who headed the points table going into the new year, still remain a very confident bunch and is the team to beat given their high level of skill.

Today there will be no club rugby if not for the big money and sponsorships that have raised the stakes.

Rugby has a dominant place in Sri Lanka culture to an extent that is unmatched in almost any other sport, except, perhaps cricket.

Some have a flourishing professional club structure while others have big-time players who are huge stars recognized wherever they go.

Every weekend well over 120 players lace up their boots and run onto rugby fields to represent their clubs.

Sri Lanka took to rugby at the same time as neighboring India did and the first club was Colombo Football Club which was founded in 1879.

In 1896 the Colombo Football Club amalgamated with the Colombo Hockey Club to become the Colombo Hockey and Football Club (CH and FC). The first ever club game kicked off on September 7, 1880 between Dickoya-Maskeliya CC and Dimbulla ACC at Darawella with Dickoya winning the game 9/3.

In 1908 a historic meeting of the Ceylon Rugby Football Union (Ceylon RFU) took place at the Grand Orient Hotel in Colombo with representatives from CH and FC, Uva Gymkhana Club, Kelani Valley Club, Kandy SC, Dickoya-Maskeliya Cricket Club and Dimbulla Athletic and Cricket Club..

HBT Bourcher (the representative from Uva) was elected as the first president with J. G. Cruickshank elected honorary secretary.

In 1922 the first rugby club to include Ceylonese players, Ceylonese Rugby and Football Club (CR and FC) was formed.

The country's first involvement in a rugby tournament was in 1926 when Ceylon RFU sent an all-Ceylon team (composed entirely of Europeans) to compete in the All India Rugby tournament (originally known as the Madras Presidency Rugby tournament) held in Madras.

It was also the maiden overseas tour by a rugby team from Sri Lanka.

In 1968 four club sides were invited to participate in the All India Rugby Tournament, Havelock SC, Police SC, CH and FC and CR and FC against four Indian teams, Calcutta, Madras, Armenians and Maharashtra Police.

The eventual winners were CR and FC who defeated Havelocks 8-6 in the final.

In December 1973 the Ceylon RFU was renamed the Sri Lankan Rugby Football Union (SLRFU). The SLRFU was admitted into the IRB in 1988 as a member of the Asian Rugby Football Union.

Today most clubs charge that the refereeing is disappointing. But in rugby the referee is the sole judge of the game and laws and is held accountable for all decisions that are made or not made during the game.

Unlike many sports that have more than one referee, umpire or other official in which to share the burden of responsibility, a referee in rugby has to take full responsibility making it extremely important to develop top class referees for rugby.

But like rugby is a beastly game played by gentlemen, the need today is also for gentlemen in whistling.