Samoan and Sri Lanka rugby’s familiar name Tavita Tugalese who is fondly referred to as ‘Laga’ will take on the duties of Head Coach at Havelocks Sports Club for the upcoming 2015/2016 club rugby season.
‘Laga’ needs no introduction to the Sri Lankan rugby fan having played most of his rugby in the island. Starting to play in the country way back in 1996 representing CR & FC upon the invitation of Asanga Seneviratna, he dominated the rugby field donning the #8 jersey. He was a master of the rolling maul and it is because of his efforts that the Longdon place club was able to clinch the league title after a long lapse of 22 years.
He later joined Kandy Sports Club in 2003 to assist the team in a dual role of coach and player. It was during those years that the hill country club started its climb to supremacy. Under Laga’s coaching in the year 2006, Kandy Sports Club went on to win a double crown winning both the league and the sevens title but missed out on a rare occasion to win the triple.
Known for his earlier stint as coach in the park road club, Laga transformed an ordinary 31 man squad to become a league winning outfit in the year 2012/2013. Training an inexperienced Havelock outfit to win the league title after a long lapse of 31 years was one of the biggest tasks that the hefty Samoan undertook in his coaching career. Havelocks Sports Club under the leadership of Henry Terence went on to break the 12 year old hoodoo defeating the unbeatable Kandy Sports Club and creating a new milestone in the club.
In addition to the club outfits he coached, Laga also was a part of the coaching unit of Royal College in 2001 that ended up winning the Bradby Shield defeating an invincible Trinity in both legs and later took Royal to a record winning 83-00 in 2002. Laga also acted as a consultant for the Trinity College 1st XV team in 2014 that ended up becoming the runners up in the league.
As the Havelock’s celebrates its centenary this year, Laga will be hoping to take the club to greatest possible peak this coming season by winning the league title and give the best shot at the Clifford cup.
