Kingswood’s President’s Trophy Win

Iremember the day Kingswood first won the President’s Trophy knockout tournament. You see, though our good friends wear it on their shirts that “Rugby belonged to Randles’ Hill from 1891”, it is not exactly a scientific statement. True — Kingswood, history documents say, first played the game in 1891 (thought the school, at that point, was not situated at Randles’ Hill… but, never mind!!), but for many years the game was abandoned due to an unfortunate onfield accident that had cost a life. So, Kingswood took to rugby for a second time only around 1969, being coached by MZM Zarook, that famous name in Kandy rugby.

So, in the 2000 season, when the President’s Trophy took place, “Rugby belonged to Isipatana Mawatha, Colombo 5” (as it still is, in my opinion) and Kingswood was playing as an average member of the League. Of course, this is not to write off Kingswood. You take the 1970s and 80s, Kingswood has been an inspiration; that’s why they still speak about players like Malik Weerasinghe, the Ibrahim brothers, Kastro Sir and all that. In the 90s, it only got better, with some scintillating school-level players. Perhaps, the best known among them was Nalaka Weerakkody who could shoot drop goals like a hen dropping golden eggs (and lifting either of his legs, too). But, still, Kingswood was not a “killer” in the Big League dominated by teams like Royal, St. Thomas’, Isipatana and the Peterites.

So, everything was set for that year’s President’s Trophy, for which Kingswood had made entry, along with the top 6 teams of Division A. Maybe a bit of a surprise package — but Kingswood made through the knockout stages to the final 2, qualifying for the finals, and booking a place with the Thora XV. Interestingly, this match was shown on Live TV, in an age where such broadcasts of school matches was still quite new. MTV (owned by Maharaja) was heavily into sports transmission those days, and their bonny sports commentator Brian Thomas was going big as makeshift rugby commentator.

The exchanges, as I remember was even, and the scoring was a ding-dong swinging from side to side. St. Thomas’ had the weight, and Kingswood (surprise! Surprise!) had the legs. Kingswood was also playing a hard game, with the team being led by Chamara Withanage. He was captaining in place of Harshana Wijayaweera who was the regular captain for the season. Both Withanage and Wijeyaweera went on to have very successful careers playing national level rugby, the latter being the choice Fly Half for Police SC for many years. Withanage, of course, played for the Sri Lankan Tuskers, leading the team in the Sevens format in 2006.

On this particular evening, the score, if I remember correct, was 20-19, thanks to a last minute scamper over from Kingswood, sealing an unexpected, classic underdog’s victory. The stands were jubilant with Kingswood colours flying, and the school welcomed home the team with a heroic reception in the main hall. Kingswood rugby was at the foot of that massive wave of triumph which would make its name as a sports destination for the next half a decade. Kingswood went on to bag the President’s Trophy three more times in 2003, 2004 and 2005. In the next five years or so, Kingswood would reveal to the Lankan rugby circuit a phalanx of future stars that includes (but is in no way limited to) Amjad Buksh, Fazil Marija, Achala Perera, Eranda Weerakkody, Gayan and Roshan Weeraratne, Dev Anand, Gayan Rathnage, Rizmeer Jabbar, Chula Susantha and so on. Nothing Kingswood rugby did could go wrong, everything it touched turned to gold and victory after victory made the Kingswood community giddy with success. For the fans, Kingswood could not be defeated, and they refused to believe that the team could lose. For such blind adoration, a sad anti-climax was soon to come. Gayan Rathnage led the team to a League triumph in 2008, sidestepping past their nearest contender, St. Peter’s. But, since then, the rest has been history – and a somewhat bitter history too.

So, today, 16 years later, when a whole new generation of school boys print on their T-shirt, “Rugby belongs to Randles Hill since 1891” – son, you’re running on borrowed glory from a pack of boys who turned shit into solid gold. The commitment, the hard hours biting the dust, and the warrior instinct they brought into the game, some of the chaps who were old enough would remember: but, you were not even in the nursery then. You are just churning and re-churning out names of heroes you have been taught to memorize, not knowing an inkling of their actual work and sweat. But, the fake glory — you will ride on it like Aladdin’s carpet, hoping that it will take you across the desert.

I say, “no room for trimmer, coward or fool”: I say, we stop using the battered and glorious headgear of our ancestors, and we start new! We start from scratch, to write our own glory story, taking lessons from the past to guide us — but lessons only. Maybe, we need to create our own success story before we claim a share in what others fought to bring home.

[We appreciate and acknowledge the direction and assistance given by Mr. Vinod Bandara and Mr. Isuru Sirinimal in composing this story].