Foreign coaches, nutritional supplements and expansive budgets. The bitter truth is that school rugby lies in these three terms, as all schools enlisting in the race to the league title accept that the key to their team’s success in the Sri Lankan format lies with these three secret ingredients.
Every year, the respective rugby development committees come into action, working hard to provide their teams with the afore-mentioned paraphernalia. But, what if a team has no access to these luxuries? What if a team finds it difficult to fund a local coach and getting themselves someone with foreign expertise is beyond their wildest dreams? What if the team’s main nutrition came from the fields of Sri Lanka and not as protein packed in milk cartons. What if their budgets barely get clothing on their backs and boots on their feet. Then what if, despite all these pitfalls, this team broke the hoodoo of the rugby stereotype in the country and went on to be victors of the Presidents Knock out Trophy? Doesn’t it make one heck of a story.
We roll back to the early 2000’s where rugby was tagged to be a sport only played by “elite” schools. It was a myth that discouraged the rest from taking up the sport and playing in the top draw. Seven years into the 21st century, a set of respectable alumni from the school that sits hidden in the Mount Lavinia greenery envisioned; a visualization to bring their alma mater up the ranks from being an unknown entity
In the bid to bring Science College to the top bracket of rugby, the old boys rolled out a plan. When the committees met, they set themselves a target of reaching the top division by 2010 and moving up the ladder. Making the best of what they had, Science steadily progressed from the ‘C’ Division to the ‘A’ Division in a matter of three years. A major obstacle in Science College’s journey was the lack of a proper playing field. An insider, who spoke to ThePapare on Science College’s success story, had this to add.
“We practiced at the Ratmalana station grounds. It was a dirty ground with cow dung and other dirt scattered around everywhere and one which was populated with peddlers selling drugs. We decided that we needed a ground, if we wanted to push our rugby forward. Next to the school were paddy fields that were uncultivated and with funds pooled in from the old boys and the parents of the rugby players we started work on leveling the field into a ground.” The playing field was an important addition to the school’s progress because even some of the top level schools in the country did not have that luxury.
Science College was faced with yet another obstacle when they entered the top division as outlaws who challenged the system. Science bore heavy criticism, with claims that the sport should only be played by the top teams in the main tier and that Science were the black sheep in the draw. Not backing down in those situations, Science College stood strong and took the 2011 season by storm coming in as underdogs.
From their humble beginnings in 2011, Science College went on to be the dark horse in school rugby over the past three to four seasons. The journey from 2011 to 2015 was a passage of endurance and hard work, as no win came their way without a constructive effort.
It was in the year 2015 that things shifted gears for the Science boys as they went on to win their first piece of silverware, creating the biggest upset in this decade. Starting their season with a bang defeating their neighbors S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia 26-17, Science College recorded wins against St. Anthony’s & Dharmaraja in the first round of the league.
It was the second round start that gave the lads from Mount Lavinia a boost to climb up the tournament ladder: starting off with a close win against St. Joseph’s which was later followed by wins against Kingswood and St. Peter’s. The win against St. Peter’s brought the headline ‘Bamba Massacre’ as Lasindu Ishan’s Science team outwitted a strong Peterite outfit to win 41-03. Science finished their league season for the year 2015 in fourth place which was an all time high for them.
Science College came out of their comfort zone in the last quarter of the season and proved to be unstoppable from then on. Entering the President’s trophy with a bang defeating St. Peters twice in a row, they crushed the league title holders Royal College 52-26. Gaining entry to their first ever final in the President’s trophy, Science College were on cloud nine when they defeated the defending champions Isipathana College to take home the President’s crown.
When Science’s Sajith Silva ran the 50 meters to the try line that day against Isipathana College, little did he know that he was sprinting into history. It was the beginning of a dream from years back reaping its rewards, a day where the contributions of the coaching staff & the rugby committee and sacrifices from a bunch of gutsy player saw the long-awaited fulfilled.
In any success story, there are always people in the background, whose efforts are overshadowed. Amila Chaturanga is one such individual. Playing the sport for Science College in 2004, Amila took up the duties of coaching his successors from 2005 and has been a loyal servant of Science rugby since then. Seeing his ten year coaching effort rewarded was, as described by him, “a priceless moment”.Foregoing the reliance on foreign coaching and against all other odds, Science achieved the unimaginable. While other schools hold on to seven figure budgets for their rugby, Science spent a handful of that to bring results. Rugby was the game changer at the heart of Mount Lavinia according to the alumni, as the sport shaped the school’s image immensely. “We were a school that nobody cared about but now everyone knows Science College. Our school has a total of nine classes for grade one admissions and earlier it was hard for us to even find enough students to fill in three classes. But now we have an excess of admission applications and it is all because of the sport”.
Previously, when someone spoke of school rugby, there was no mention made about a Science College in Mount Lavinia that excelled in the sport, but now its on everyone’s lips.
Their achievements have been a result of literally their blood, sweat and tears. One is left to wonder how they survived through the hardships and funds shortages. We found some answers when we stepped through the gates of Science College. Science College is home to an array of schoolboys who represent various social backgrounds. Nothing satisfies them more than seeing their team win. We came across many schoolboys who told us how they never used to miss a rugby match played at Mount Lavinia on a weekend and that they saw their players as heroes.
We spoke to the consultant coach Collin Denesh who added the finishing touches to this success story “These boys played with their heart. It is their heart that kept them going. Any coach’s dream is to coach a team that will give anything for their college. I am honored but this is for the boys and the loyal supporters in the Science fraternity. They kept the boys going.”
Achieving greatness in a span of a decade in this sport is a remarkable feat for any school. Even the elite schools took years to equip themselves with winning outfits. With a proper junior program in place, the future of Science College rugby looks fruitful. They are sure to look at bigger things in the next season and schools rugby and Sri Lanka can expect the next team to come out with a bang.
“There will come a day when Science College will top the rugby arena and that day will be the day that the architects of this revolution will cherish and celebrate in silence”
For us at ThePapare Rugby’s escalation in any form is a victory and we Congratulate Science College and wish them well.
