“When the going gets tough the tough get going”. No truer words can explain the front row forwards of a rugby team, these are the magnificent, tough, hard as nails Spartan warriors on the rugby field.
No accolades can justify these “Boiler house Boys” as they are fondly referred to sometimes for the blood ,sweat and tears they put into this fantastic game of Rugby football which segregates “men from boys” and the forwards are the “men among men” and culminates with a crescendo in the front row which identifies the “Spartans among Men.”
Many non Rugby players and even some fancy footed three-quarters ask “what is it like to play in the front row” and to be the one to take the first hit or face the opposition upfront, slam into each other in a scrum, get your shins kicked in or take and give more than the occasional punch and kick, all we say is “buddy you got to play there and experience it to understand it.” We are the unsung heroes .
Statistically we can prove that the front row forwards have been the torch bearers of success for Royal Rugby. Every Royalist Knows the Golden Decade of Royal Rugby was the 70’s (1971 – 1980) starting from Medicine man Fred Perera ‘s year to our diminutive Black panther Sujanthakumar’s year, Royal won the Bradby 7 times out of 10.The ‘X factor’ or the winning ingredient was the fantastic forwards of Royal, Now to the point I am making four of the captains were front row forwards (Gamini , Akbar, Hassen and Weerakumar) and 4 vice Captains were from the front row too, seven out of the ten captains in this decade were forwards.
Some of the mighty front rowers of this decade are Gamini Gunsekera , K Chang, Brumoon Akbar, Ifthicar Hassen , Charith ‘Bada’ Wijeyawardena, Weerakumar, Liyaket Ali , Dil Peiris, Iqbal Hassen, Elephant boy Ratwatte, Leon Fonseka , Python Wijenathan, ‘God man’ Mishael, PG ‘Suitcase’ Martin and Manoj Gunawardena, they conjured awesome match winning and opponent breaking back peels (ask the Tissera brothers or any fly-half from Trinity) and produced literally bone crunching tackles (check it out from Trinitians Chandresekara and the Sourjah brothers) to win many a game for Royal.
The official components of a game like the power packed Scrums, mauls, rucks and in addition the unofficial components like settling scores, intimidation and some tactics which cannot be divulged were always led and dominated by the front row forwards.
Winning the ball for our fancy threes to score and wave at the crowd and take all the credit is a common modesty of these great lumbering gentlemen called the forwards.
Any self respecting front rower will have a collection of scars and stitches on his ‘nut’ and very proudly display the crooked joints and strange angled bones which are his proud scars of battle and carry many a tale which I admit may be slightly exaggerated for the benefit of the awe gazing listener specially if they are from the fairer sex.
There is a myth that the Prop Forwards are not the smartest lot this has been purposely cultivated by us props to get away with all our excesses, any front row forward caught in the act of “extreme illegal contact with the intention of harming the opponents unborn generation” will look at the referee with all innocence and mutter something like “Duh ! “Sorry sir, I thought it was the rugby ball” or “I tripped “or in extreme situations where a red card is imminent “act concussed and stupid”.
This myth also helps us to be on top of the food chain in every sense as in all official dinners and for that matter any meal the gluttonous behavior is excused and the extra helpings are justified with comments like “No point telling those buggers they don’t understand”. This eating habit is evident in all front row forwards in the latter years of their life as the bulging love handles, rotund figures and copious bellies carry the tale.
The camaraderie and bond which develops among them is an envy of many a person and even the wives sometimes turn green with jealousy at how we meet, greet, treat and respect each other. After all we say “The one who sheds blood on the field with me shall be my brother for life”. Rugby has taught us so many things in life we cherish, and finally just a reminder to the next generation of Royal Forwards – Good teams become great teams when they surrender the “me” for the “WE”.
Together forever
AIH- Props Union
