Former National, Kandy SC & Kingswood skipper and current Kandy SC Head Coach Fazil Marija has been appointed as the Head Coach of Trinity College 1st XV Rugby team for a period of 3 years.
Marija needs no introduction to the Rugby fraternity of the country and has excelled in both 15’s and 7’s formats for both club and country with distinction. Having hung up his boots at the end of the 2017/18 club rugby season, Marija immediately took up coaching at Kandy Sports Club and has since excelled in the role with the Champion outfit wining back-to-back league titles.
Speaking to ThePapare.com about his new appointment and the challenges that lie ahead of him Fazil Marija added that;
“ It’s going to be a mountain to climb but I am confident of doing well at Trinity. Trinity has a great Rugby tradition and a brilliant rugby culture. The rugby setup is very well laid out, this was a big reason in making the decision to take up the job”
Marija will continue to function as the head of Kandy SC and when asked whether he will have to make any changes to his style of coaching at Trinity said that “I will not change my coaching philosophy that has worked well at Kandy SC, we want to play good fast-paced rugby and most importantly make sure that the boys enjoy playing the game”
Trinity College despite being one of the most prominent rugby-playing schools in the country has not had great results in the recent past. Trinity Rugby’s most coveted possession, The Bradby shield has eluded them since 2014 while Trinity last won the League title over three decades ago in 1987. As the man in charge of delivering the results, Marija however has a different goal that’s at the top of his list of achievements.
“First goal I want to achieve as the Head coach of Trinity Rugby is to upskill the squad to a level that will complement how we want to play the game when we achieve that the rest will take care of itself”
Former National, Kandy SC, and Isipathana player and current Kandy SC forward coach, Buddika Thalagampola will be the forward’s coach while Trinity’s last Bradby winning skipper and Rugby Lion, Tarinda Ratwatte who is a stand-out player for both Sri Lanka and Kandy SC will be the kicking coach of the outfit and will be focused on ending Trinity’s kicking woes which has really troubled them in the recent past. Another old Trinitian Tharaka Algama, who has earned a name amongst the rugby fraternity as one of the best in the business of rugby-specific strength and conditioning will be the man in charge of strength and conditioning of the Trinity outfit.
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Marija has previously worked with the same setup and is confident of delivering good results with his coaching team “I believe we have one of the best coaching setups, I have worked with both Thale (Thalagampola) and Tharaka (Algama) before and we have good chemistry, Inclusion of Tari (Ratwatte) who is a player at Kandy SC as the kicking coach is perfect because apart from mentoring the boys on kicking, as an active player he will be able to share valuable insights on execution ”
Despite a complete overhaul of the coaching staff, Trinity’s rugby fraternity will be hungry for results and will be demanding perfection. Marija and his team are well aware of the demands and the pressures that come hand in hand with being in charge of champion outfits having worked well together at Kandy SC and will focus on taking Trinity Rugby to glory.
