Teamwork to ignite champs Kandy SC

“We don’t have stars or big names, but we have a bunch of players who are ready to play for one another”

Kandy Sports Club who lifted the Inter-club league rugby championship last season, as they have done on many occasions, are out to retain their title as the new season kicked off yesterday and will take on Navy Sports Club in their first game next week.

The most successful club in the history of Sri Lanka domestic rugby, Kandy SC will also have to put up with the retirement of some key players and among them are fly-half Nigel Ratwatte, centre Tarinda Ratwatte and prop forward Lasitha Attanagoda. 

However, having won the league last season, it will be interesting to see how Kandy SC can withstand the pressure to defend the title.

“Yes, there is always pressure and we want to do well again but we don’t really think too much about the end result of the season. We are taking one game at a time and see how it goes,” head coach Fazil Marija told the Daily Mirror.

On the other hand, Kandy SC has also opted not to sign any foreign players until the end of first round. 

“Having a foreign player does give you an advantage but I have trust in my squad. We don’t have stars or big names, but we have a bunch of players who are ready to play for one another. So we’ll not have a foreign player for the first half of the season,” said the former Sri Lanka captain.

Having lost two of their most creative players in Nigel and Tarinda, Kandy SC has enlisted former Police SC’s back division player Akash Madushanka who has played for Sri Lanka. 

In addition to that Kandy SC have also signed Kingswood College’s duo Thaveesha Ekanayake and B. Rivin along with Trinity College players Manusha Silva and Ishara Premachandra. 

Marija believes that his team had a very good pre-season build-up. 

“Our backs have been playing for the national Sevens team and we have Forwards representing Sri Lanka in Fifteens which is ideal as they gained very good experience. We’ve had a good pre-season as well. So I think they are looking forward to the start of season,” Marija said.

On their target for the season, Marija hopes they could play better rugby than last season. 

“There are teams which will have foreign players, so their levels have certainly gone up and we should mentally and physically prepare for that. But for me the most important thing is that we as a team play better than last season and improve our levels,” said Marija.