Rugby like cricket is popular among Sri Lankans that parents send their son for rugby practices when they reach the age as early as 9 years. Some fall off that wagon but the others go onto represent their school and even club and country.
Then there are players who are naturally talented, skillful but have not played the game in their schooling career. Such time without playing the game can be deemed as a road block for a career start, especially when school’s rugby is the foundation of Sri Lankan rugby. One such exception is Police SC’s towering second row forward Romesh Archirige.
A Born Athlete
“It has been an incredible 8 years of playing rugby” a beaming Romesh Archirige told ThePapare.com as he sat down to reminisce about his career. “My career was born and nurtured at Police SC. I never expected to play rugby when I joined the Police.”
Romesh joined the Special Task Force in the year 2006 straight after his secondary education at Mahinda College, Galle. He was a naturally gifted athlete, displaying his talent in athletics and volleyball and went on to win school as well as national colours in athletics and volleyball. Straight after his education he joined the Special Task Force.
Police has a well-established development programme in which they identify future Police sports talents through an inter-division tournament which is held each year and the stand out players are given an opportunity to represent Police in their respective sports. The talent which is identified in Rugby is nurtured as a 2nd XV and the best players from that side are included into the 1st XV squad and the inclusion of experienced schools’ rugby players will give Police SC an added bonus.
“I was encouraged to join rugby and play in the Inter Division tournament by my senior officers.”
His impressive performance in the tournament landed him a place in the development side and within no time he was an integral part of the Police side. “Back then I had no idea about rugby but I had the passion to learn and with Coach Sudath Sampath’s help it all came naturally to me. I started my career as a second row forward and as flanker.” Archirige added.
Police SC is breeding ground for champion sportsmen, rich in history and tradition. After winning their first League title in 1980 Police went on a record breaking decade as they consecutively won the ‘A’ Division League title which was then known as the ‘John Player League’ from 84-89. During that time they had Seven’s tournament wins. The most significant years during that time was when Police won the Treble, (‘A’ Division, Clifford Cup and Seven’s) in 1985 and 1989.
During the years, many Rugby greats have donned the Police jersey; Anton Benedict, Daya Jayasundara, Majeed, Sunil Perera, Rohan Gunarathna, M.H. Massom, Siriwardena, Nizam Jamaldeen, Sudath Sampath, Niranjan Abeywardena, Nilantha and Hemantha Lakshiyawa, Aruna De Silva, Roger Rodrigo, Hector Gunathilaka, Asoka Jayasena, W. Thilakarathna to name a few.
“I took heart from the fact that many great rugby players who started at Police SC never played rugby before. It fueled me on. Plus we have great facilities and trainers which is an added bonus.”
Representing Sri Lanka
In 2009 Romesh Archirige was picked for the Sri Lanka Sevens squad. This is an incredible achievement for a player who had started rugby 3 years earlier.
Archirige represented Sri Lanka in Borneo 7’s, Shanghai 7’s, Singapore 7’s and for the 2010 Commonwealth 7’s. His impressive performances landed him a place in the Sri Lanka 15 a side squad.
“Yes indeed it was incredible. I wouldn’t have thought I’d be selected to the national squad when I started rugby. I was in the squad for 3 years from 2010 to 2012. The only regret is I wasn’t able to wear the tusker’s jersey.”
In 2012 Archirige captained the Police SC and guided them to the plate final where they lost to Army.
“We defeated the Up- Country Lions in their first match at the Nawalapitiya grounds. That was a great win but we lost to Army in the plate final that year. That was a heart breaker but we bounced back to beat the strong Navy SC in the Clifford Cup and enter the semi- final.”
Training, Nutrition and Future
For a rugby player training and nutrition is of utmost importance. We discussed Romesh how his nutrition and training is done.
“On a normal training day we start with the warm-ups and then the drills given by the coach. Since I play as a second rower and as a flanker there are special drills I do. As a second row forward line out jumps are a must because it is a critical set play. Then as a flanker I train how to pressure and turnover the ball. I train for both positions because on a match day I may play as a second row forward or as a flanker. So the work load is more.”
“When it comes to nutrition we follow somewhat a strict diet schedule. Protein from meats and supplements. Normally people take three meals a day but for us we take about five meals. Intakes should be in small amounts because too much at once is not good. Post training I try to get some simple sugars and protein in my system. I also supplement my diet with creatine to support muscle growth and vitamins.”
For a rugby player being physically strong is not good enough. One needs to be mentally strong as well. To put behind a mistake and concentrate on the next play
“Yes, you need to be mentally strong. During training I get advice from the coaches and study video footages which help with my learning a lot, where I make mistakes, how not to do it. Earlier I had problems with yellow cards but now I have corrected them.”
Before Archirige went to start his evening practice session we asked what his future in rugby would want to be.
“I’d like to play the game for another few years. Hopefully without any injuries I’d be able to do that. Most importantly I want to wear the Tusker’s jersey and represent Sri Lanka in the 15 a side game.”
ThePapare.com would like to thank Romesh Archirige for sharing his incredible journey in rugby and wish him all the very best in his quest to reclaim the Tusker’s jersey.
