The future of the Game in Sri Lanka and Sportsmanship is of greater importance!
With the “Clifford Cup Knock-out Tourney” scheduled to start this week end, it would be a great idea if the “Foreign” players were left out and the local players ONLY to be given a fair chance to prove themselves and their ‘talents’ – when they are pitted against each other without any dependency on foreign strength and skills.
After all the long exposure in a League season of many months, the Sri Lanka National Teams WILL NOT include any foreigners, hence it is best that our local players are pitted against each other, without the ‘convenient’ support and strength of foreign players. A better assessment of our local players can be made from the way they perform without the other foreign national players’ skills and ‘rugby intelligence’ – before they go into consideration for the Sri Lanka national teams and to build up from now to face the bigger challenges of the International games ahead this year. Our local players must surely have gathered more experience and improved their ‘know-how’ by playing with the other foreign players during the League games. This would make it an easier task to select the right players for the right positions and assess their strengths not based on the skills and strong support of the ‘foreign’ player beside them!
Even the rugby Spectators and fans have enjoyed the presence of the Foreign players and they have served their great purpose of spurring our local players into skillful action and entertaining the rugby fans through a long season. Now, even they would appreciate seeing the local players perform on their own skills and talents in a ‘knock-out’ – where it is all done in a week’s time. One team with one ‘foreign wizard’ can see them wind their way through… imagine what two can do, which does not make it fair or just by the players and the national selections! Standing up to good reasoning – there are better ways of making good and fair choices!
It is well understood that many Clubs are struggling financially to meet the expenses of the foreign players as well as the locals. Due to their inability to meet the demands of good local players for better ‘fees’ and having their financial resources sapped up by huge expenses on foreign players, it would be such a relief to clubs to release their foreign players early and prepare for the next season. Moreover some of the foreign players have not lived up to expectations, according to some club administrators. As it is known, the Navy provided the ‘boost’ to rugby players as they had adequate funds to pay for foreign players and ‘out-bid’ a good player from the locals, perhaps depriving other clubs and forces teams from getting them…the Air Force played the entire season without any foreign players, while the CH&FC and some other clubs found it a ‘steep drain’ on their finances.
Weighing the ‘pros and cons’ of this quandary, is something the SLRFU must consider carefully even at this point of time – which undoubtedly the present President Asanga Seneviratne and his splendid Committee/team could scrutinize all aspects and make some brilliant changes…as he did when he captained rugby teams on the field, in years gone by!
