ASHAN GALLAGE TO LEAD "GREENS "THIS YEAR !!!

4th  year coloursman Ashan Gallage will lead the isipathana rugby team for the coming 2010 inter school rugby season. Despite being on the road to recovery from a knee injury Ashan has been selected to lead the famous schools rugby team in sri lanka. A lot will be on his shoulders this year as isipathana authorities have already made it clear what their targets are for the 2010 season by taking a bold decision not to take part in the western province tourney, a tournament they have consecutively won since 2006, where they won the last two editions of it with out conceding a single point to their opposition as well as the all island 7s tourney which they won from 2006 to 2008, clearly indicating their intentions.

Ashan who is a utility player in the back division will play in the pivotal centers birth, where he will be supported by his deputy NO-08 tharindu siriwardane .in addition he will have the services of some experienced senior players,in the likes of Devinda Prasad, Muqsith Jaleel, Deshan Subashana, Dhanushka sooriyaarchi, Saajid shuaib and Mohomed Rizwan. The side will be under the guidance of shamly nawaz and sajith mallikarachchi, two great legends produced by isipathana and with most of the other players having already worn the green jersey much will be expected from this year’s side. However it’ll be interesting to see whether ashan Gallage and his players will be able to cope with the pressure and enjoy a successful season.

*****KINGS OF RUGBY ***** Wishes Ashan Gallage and his side all the very best for the 2010 inter school rugby season!!!

SAAJID SHUAIB- “NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH PASSION AND COMMITMENT”

                                  He’s known for his daring runs, superb jumping skills and handy tackles. He might not be the biggest player in the park but his mentality and great character makes him stand out. Of course these qualities are of none other than pathana,s ace second rower Saajid shuaib. Speaking exclusively to ***** KINGS OF RUGBY***** Saajid shared his experiences of his promising college rugby career.

According to Saajid he was better known for his Basketball talents And his excellent jumping skills caught the attention of former isipthana star Mr.Thushara bandara who was the U-13 coach at that time. Noticing his promising skills He didn’t hesitate to invite Saajid to attend rugby practices for which Saajid duly obliged. Saajid whom first played for the U-13 “B” team was quick to prove what Mr.bandara saw in him as he made rapid progress  which made him a regular player in the U-14,U-16,U-18 teams as his career progressed and he has managed to win the champions medal in all those age groups which he says is a rare and proud achievement he treasures . For Saajid this was the start as well as the turning point for a glittering career up ahead.”After I started playing rugby for Isipathana  I felt like nothing could stop me. Earlier I used to be a normal guy where know one knew me. But after I started playing rugby every one in school and even out of school took notice of me and this encouraged me a lot to carry on” said a smiling Saajid.

However just as any other rugby player Saajid too had his obstacles with his parents who didn’t want him to play rugby being the major issue.“ My parent s didn’t like me playing rugby because I was playing Basketball as well and they were concerned about  my studies”. However Saajid managed to convince his parents and continued with the sport and also played for the 1^st XV team in 2008 where he was sitting for his O/L examination that year. Saajid also proved that it’s not impossible to manage ones studies with sports when he got through his O/L exam with good results notching up 3 A,s and  2 B,s as well.

Saajid recalls his first appearance for the “green shirts” which was against Trinity in 2008. “I just can’t express the feeling you get when you ware the green jersey and after you do so you feel like nothing can stop you”. “I’m so proud that I’m a member of the college 1^st XV team”. With the 2010 season just around the corner Saajid says  he wants to win the League title and the knock-out tournament. “To be a good player you have to be honest and you have to respect the coach, captain, and your team mates and even you opponents. Win or loose you should be able to accept it and the important thing is you should stick with your team”. Saajid who is currently  will be able to play up to 2011 says he has no intention of playing club rugby and hopes to go abroad for his higher studies. However he said  that his love for the game  might make him change his ideas.

In conclusion he wanted to thank Mr thushara bandara for getting him into the rugby field and current head coach Mr.shamly nawaz for improving his skills. He also thanked his parents  as well as his friends whom he says they with him all the time.

*****KINGS OF RUGBY***** wi shes Saajid all the very best in his future endeavors !!!

ISIPATHANA RUGBY CALENDER – 2010

THE 2010 rugby season is just around the corner. so get ready you "GREEN FANATICS”,  This is our Legacy , This is our Pride , This is our History…our Present and our Future. This is what we live for and die for....!!

Rugby is not a sport , not a passion not a Dream ,BUT it,s our life at PATHANA . Dear brothers every one knows about isipathana,s famous 16th player when it comes to rugby..its us!! the fans!! so let ’s begin, let’s Roar together alongside our proud jersey for another Successful season lying in front of us. some of You may be far away from our beautiful Island but I sense your spirit , I see your shadow, I hear your roar.  Your voice echoes my ears. Lifts my voice.so lets get together and roar that famous chant ‘' GO PATHANA GO ’ when our green warriors make that thundering charge towards the goal line..Remember We were the Legends , We are the Legends and we will be the Legends in schools RUGBY ..   Keep your dates reserved , see bellow on the tentative dates of the entire 2010 Rugby season.


*** UNDER 20 LEAGUE TOURNAMENT ***



DATE                         OPPONNENT                                                VENUE


24th  APRIL                  ST PETERS                                        HAVELOCK PARK
30^th APRIL                  KINGSWOOD                                  HAVELOCK PARK
^08th MAY                   ST THOMAS                                     AWAY
^15th MAY                    WESLEY                                           AWAY
^29th MAY                    ST ANTHONYS                               HAVELOCK PARK
05^th JUNE                  ROYAL                                             HAVELOCK PARK
^12th JUNE                  TRINITY                                           HAVELOCK PARK
^19th JUNE                  PRINCE OF WALES                        HAVELOCK PARK
 ^{26 th} JUNE                 DHARMARAJA                                 KANDY




 Dear Brothers  .....,
 please dont  forget , Let 's  join hands together...and give them strength and to make sure that the Pathanians walk out as Champions. So don't miss the action. Be there......,,,
Keep In Touch With our  Green warriors....!!!

-   CHEERS FOR PATHANA RUGBY -

Former Pathanian Rizah Mubarak off to South Africa ...

First time in Sri Lankan rugby history Rizah Mubarak and Dhanushka Perera of CR&FC will be off to Cape Town, South Africa on January 22 th for two months on a special scholarship. This full time scholarship was awarded to Rizah & Dhanushka as they were the most prominent players of the 2009 season (as per to SLRFU’s special notice).
Rizah, a fine product of Isipathana Collage who represented the collage 1st XV from 2005 to 2007. Packed with immense talent, young Rizah stated his sporting career in football. He represented collage U-13, 15, 17 & captained the U-19 football team.
With the desire to rugby this multi talented lad switched to rugby in 2005 and he was an automatic choice for the team. To me his golden year was in 2007 as he was a an sparkling member of the dashing sevens team. He was selected to Sri Lankan Youth team on the same year and he did us proud in Brunai.
After the collage success he joined Longdon Place Club, with the red-jersey he matured ever so in the game. 2008 is another milestone for Rizah as he was selected to National Team for the Asian Five Nation tournament. At present he is most prominent rugby player both at CR&FC and in Sri Lanka.
We wish him success in his career and to serve Sri Lanka as I clearly see he will be caring the legacy of the Sri Lankan GOLDEN BOOT of King Charly (Charls Wijewardana).

'' STRIVE WITH DETERMINATION ''

Report By - Prasad Jayanga / Dushan Wickramasinghe

GRIITY PETERITES SHATTER ROYAL,S DERAM OF A 7,S TITLE !

St.peters college came on top at the Carlton 7,s tourney when they beat the fancied royal outfit 17-12 in the schools cup final.they certainly exeled in all departments of the game and virtually ran away with the trophy.the reid avenue lads will only have to blame themselves as they simply couldnt impress unlike the other games where they dominated from start to finish.also the royalists will be quite upset as they lost a golden opportunity of winning a 7,s title which they have never been able to acheive  for almost a decade.

ISIPATHANA FALL SHORT

ISIPATHANA played there hearts out against the peterites in the semi finals but the absence of satr winger wishwmithra jayasingha and the injured duo of ashan gallage and umayanga sooriyabandara was clearly evident as they seemd to lack the resourses to muster out a win.st.peters took a early 10nil lead before isipathana made it 10-07 courtesy of a superb effort by M.Rizwan.after the break the bamba lads increased the lead 17-07 through superb try.isipathana had glorius chansed missed when the ball was dropped right in front of the try line eventhough shanka poornage was the culprit at first gaknce it was prasad devinda,s lapse as he could have continued his run and scored with out opting to pass.however isipathana hit back strongly and made it 17-14 thanks to superb  Niroshan Fernando try.however it was all too late as the peterites walked away as winners thanks to their early blitz.

Tough task ahead for the Lankans

Hosts Sri Lanka may wait till as late as Wednesday to name their final playing squad of 12 for the sixth and final leg of the inaugural Asian Sevens rugby series organized jointly by the Tharunyata Hetak Foundation and the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) titled ‘Carlton Sevens’ which is set to kick off on Nov 27 at the Sugathadasa Stadium. The Lankan contingent have an indoor practice session (Pic Sanka Vidanagama) The tournament has been divided into four groups with Asian rugby powerhouse Japan, Kazakhstan, Iran forming group ‘A’, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Jordan being in group ‘B’, China, Malaysia, Brunei from group ‘C’ and Sri Lanka, South Korea and Pakistan filling up group ‘D’. Sri Lanka’s relatively young team, face a stiff test. The David’s of rugby have to beat both Pakistan and Goliath South Korea to avoid facing Japan in one of the Cup quarter finals. Sources said it is not about picking the best 12, but rather dropping three players as there are only 15 to choose from anyway. With drop outs and injuries, Sri Lanka will require the few seniors they have to lead from the front. Third rower Ashen Karthelis along with ace flanker Dilip Selvam and centre Chamara Vithanage will have to be at their very best. These three will also have to shepherd players like Rajan Dharshana Ettipola, and Pathan Vishwamithra Jayasinghe. Ettipola was outstanding in the Youth Asiad played earlier this year. Whether he can duplicate the same kind of form against much stiffer opposition, if picked in the final 12 - remains to be seen. Arguably the one department Sri Lanka does not have to worry about is place kicking with both wing three quarter Nuwan Hettiarachchi and Samantha Lakshan able to make maximum use of any mistakes by the opposition. Though young Kingswoodian Roshan Weeraratne is quick from the base and his contribution both for ball retention and to gain possession will be vital. Saliya Handapangoda is very quick but was not a regular member of Army during their Caltex league campaign. The seniors in the squad will also need 100 per cent from players like Niranjan Wickramaratne, Suranga Pushpakumara, Sharo Fernando and Dinusha Chaturanga to name just a few. Should the hosts get past South Korea and Pakistan, they will in all probability face formidable Kazakhstan in the quarter finals. Thus the path to Cup glory has many obstacles and it remains to be seen whether the Lankan Lions can get past all of them. Meanwhile as mentioned in these columns William Rider also known as Little Serevi will be part of the Fijian contingent that will take on Australia Legends, New Zealand Legends, South Africa, Western Samoa and Papua New Guinea in a separate sevens tournament that will be played along with the Carlton Sevens. Incidentally Papua New Guinea is coached by Waiseli Serevi. The team includes; Montgomery Diave, Alex Huau, Benjamin John, Buckley Joseph, Karo Kauna, Lawrence Kuso JNR, Albert Levi. Sova Milfred, Bobby Pao, Gare Ponda, Leo Tikot JR and Kojo Ware. Fiji from; Seremaia Nakala Buroto, Pio Tuwai, Watisoni Votu, Setafano Osonamoli Cakaunivalu, Apisai Masiyasa Naiyabo, Ratu Emosi Vucago, Jiuta Beletinikoloni Lutumailagi, William Rider, Lepani Botia Nabuliwaqa, Ratu Osea Ramodi Kolinisau, Niumaia Gaunavinaka Rokobuli and Vimaele Tuidraki.

Killing the game for the love of a chair !

Rugby is the ultimate team sport. All 15 players have to be focused on identical team goals -- to play with an intensive, aggressive style, to communicate effectively; and to perform high speed decisions and skills in synchrony. At international level every player must be strong, quick, highly skilled, well versed in the knowledge of the game. This was the opening paragraph of the foreword: The Mindset of a Champion in the book “Rugby Tough”. Food for thought for those, who are, making a mockery of a game that, had a place in the sporting history of this country. I thought to myself as I remembered the above paragraph that rugby was moving from rags to riches as news spread of the Carlton Sevens. The participation of 12 teams from the Asian region: it was not such a long time ago that countries kept away from Sri Lanka and we lost the IRB satellite status. Does it matter that Hong Kong and Singapore are not there? Additionally we have Top Rugby Nations taking part in a showpiece event as described by George Simpkin. Six teams from New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa , Fiji , Samoa , and Papua new Guinea are to play alongside as Asian teams contest for the Carlton Sevens. Opportunities for rugby followers to see teams from top rugby playing countries compete. Yet the buoyancy of interest I believe depends on the attention of the spectator who draws his inspiration which flows from the National team. What of the National team that is expected to give the push to a game that is being taken to the undertakers? The National team that has an opportunity to redeem some lost prestige of being ranked 10th in the Sevens circuit in Asia seem to be the least worry of the Administrators. With the tournament to be played on the November 27 and hardly 12 days away the team is still to start practice. The coach is yet to see seven players on a ground as a team. News is that team practices are cancelled and will start on November 17. No time to practice? The sad moment is to see the President of the interim body going on record in a morning daily stating: “I don’t know anything about this and what is happening. The best thing will be to contact the coach”. Where will we ever get if we are not focused on team goals. The irony is that with the best out of the game through suspension the not so best do not see the need to practice. The interim which is more involved in issuing statements which flare and die a natural death with no use to the game should now take the bull by the horns. It is they who theorize that national duty was priority are now humbly conceding to players who prefer a domestic tournament. There apparently is no mindset of a champion among those tasked with being caretakers of the game. What is present resembles cartoon characters that draw attention but has little to offer in concrete terms. It is not that the game has not had controversies and conflicts in the past. It always has had its moments but issues have been smoothened out and the game has continued. I remember among others: two issues of conflict the referees had with the governing body. One was when the strong willed Mohan Balasuriya who calls a spade a spade was President. When misunderstandings arose the normally stubborn Mohan initiated a dialog with the referees and sorted out the problem. Though unlike of Mohan the game being at heart he did what was best. The referees who are generally a maligned lot whose parents are remembered most of the time disrespectfully will react when they feel they are let down. It was when Harsha Mayadunne was President that another incident when the referees threatened the game. Again Harsha entered into dialog and sorted out matters as the game was more important than personalities. The question is whether the same can be said with the way things are handled where ego takes a prominent perch with no interest for the game. Towards the end of 2004 I wrote in this Column “How will history remember today's leaders of Sri Lankan rugby, compared to those giants of the past? Going by the discussions of recent times the consensus seems to be "the organization of rugby is led by small thinking people who have failed to deliver what was required of them". The passage of time will either elevate or reduce their reputation depending on what will happen in between. A lot will have to be done to transform the body that administers when the new custodians of Sri Lanka Rugby take office, early, in 2005.” It seems now those who were thought as small minds would stand taller when compared to the comic characters that adorn office courtesy the political administration. Is rugby a dying sport in Sri Lanka? We will talk about it another day if space permits. Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB