The Story of the Peterite Rugby Team 2018 - By Hamza Hidayathullah
“Not every moment is going to be fireworks.
Sometimes it takes a million little sparks to create a full-blown explosion” –
Author Unknown
From the moment that
final whistle was blown by Referee Dinka Peiris on 18th June 2017 at
the Sugathadasa Stadium in the President’s trophy semi-final against
Isipathana, this story began to unfold. After
being placed 6th in the schools’ rugby league last year, many rugby loving
pundits wrote the Peterites off completely with no hopes of a big title in the
coming years.
After 2010, St. Peter’s
College, Colombo had managed to grab a few trophies in the schools’ circuit which
included the All Island and Western Province Sevens tournaments on a few occasions
including the Super Rugby sevens title in the year 2016. During this time
frame, the journey had ups and downs while having a few close calls in the
President’s Trophy knock-out Semi Finals against Trinity, Science and
Isipathana in the years 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
When the management
of St. Peter’s College decided to hire Sri Lanka’s most successful schools’
Rugby coach, a veteran, Mr. Sanath Martis, in the latter part of last year, he
stated very clearly that he could not do wonders in an year, but the year 2018
will be the rebuilding phase for the Peterite Rugby for coming years.
After undergoing a
knee surgery in Australia, the appointed captain Master Javed Zarook ‘s team
had no stars or play makers, but had a set of boys who wanted to put their
heads down, train hard and walk in to the season, match by match. He also lost the
deputy who had to give up the game due to an injury and for personal reasons,
before the season began.
Just before their first
game against Zahira, the skipper felt something was not right with his knee, but
bore that pain within and played the match at Havies to kick off the 87th
Rugby season for Peterite Rugby. The Peterite Centre, Ravin Fernando scored a
hat-trick of tries to give the Bamba Brigade their first win of the season 48-12.
In the game against the Double
Blues, Wesley College again at Havelock Park the following week, Wesley struck
early in the game but the Peterites managed to find their momentum in the
second half to beat the Westlyites comfortably 33 to 17. They did not allow the
opponents to score a single point in the second half but, the Peterite centre
Ravin Fernando suffered a nasty ankle fracture ending his season.
They started their 3rd
game without Javed Zarook who opted to be “benched” due to his troublesome knee
and he ended up not playing or starting many games from that point. His deputy
Mark Assauw led the team well with his 6’1” frame, centre three quarter, Sandesh
De Mel went on to score his first hat-trick in the game against the mighty
Rajans at Police Park to completely outplay the Kandy team 42-5. The footballer
turned rugby player Shehan Liyanapathirana had a 100% success rate in this game
and began to lead the highest points scorer’s table for 2018.
The green machines at
Havelock park geared up to host the Bamba Brigade the following week in front
of packed house. This game was a grudge battle between the two schools and it
was a well-known secret that the team which was both mentally and physically
prepared, will pull off the game. The Peterite Centre Sandesh was stretchered
off with a bad blow to his elbow and was done with, for the season. Having led
15-6 at the lemons, the Peterites pulled off a morale boosting victory with
little Jason Karunaratne scoring a try in the last minute, chasing a kick by
Shehan Liyanapathirana.
By this time, it was quite
evident that the Peterites were dominating the games with their forwards than
backs as Sanath Martis and his assistants Banuka Nanayakkara and Rajiv Perera were
hatching their next plot. With the best yet to come, many were now starting to sit
up and take notice of the boys from Bamba and recognising them as strong
contenders to the league title.
The final match in the first
round was played at Havies once again with DSS - known as the Dons - hosting
the Petes in an all-important fixture. After the Dons had given a scare to the
Green Machine by losing that game by a whisker, the real test came for our
forwards. With DSS scoring a try early, the Peterite scrum half, Jason scored
two quick tries back to back to rattle the Dons’ defence and in the end the
Petes went on to win the game 43 points to 7.
The second round began with more
bad news in the Peterite camp with their deputy Mark Assaw spraining his ankle in
training that week. So, the Bamba Brigade travelled up to Kandy for first time
in the season with only one player from last year’s starting line-up against
the same opponent, with Jason Karunarathne taking the baton as the captain.
Though the wounded Trinity Lions woke up in the last 20 mins, the Peterites
held on strong to win the game 28 to 21 scoring 4 goals and earning a bonus
point to boot, retaining the Late General Deshamanya Denis Perera Trophy for
the 4th consecutive year.
With the monsoon rains begun,
the country experienced continuous heavy downfalls as the Peterites went on to
face the gutsy Kingswood team who were the most improved side of the league
with some super individual performances by the Randles Hill lads. This was the first
time that the Bamba Boys were tested on muddy and wet underfoot conditions,
courtesy the weather gods. But in the end Petes pipped the Kings 20 to 10,
taking two important penalties in the second half.
Seven games were done and
dusted and the Peterite enjoyed an unbeaten season in the first round of the
league, winning their seven games. Now the season got hotter with 4 contenders
for the league title and the league due to end in two weeks.
The brothers from Darley
road hosted their younger brothers, St. Peter’s College at CR Grounds next for
the Rugby big match played for the Rev. Fr. Basil Wiratunga Shield which was in
the trophy cabinet at Maradana since 2015. The battle of Saints encounter was
more than just a game, it was all about pride and keeping with the great
traditions.
With the Joes coming in to
the game losing only one game, that to Royal, it was expected that Saints will
come marching in to win the game. It was all a wet and muddy affair at Longdon
Place as the Josephians made their crowd of supporters jump from their seats
scoring two quick tries in the first ten minutes. After losing their play maker,
winger to a red card, the Joes defence stood strong, like a fortress, to hold
the Peterites to only a score of one try in the entire game. Even though the
Peterites had 3 scoring opportunities in the game, the wet ball and poor
thinking didn’t take them to the try line. Peterite No. 10, Kenneth Wimaladasa
made a name for himself for the first time in the league with his try and the
super break he made covering 50 meters where he was tackled by a Josephian
defender a mere 2 metres from the try line.
The most important factor
and the puzzle for many was why the Petes’ kicker, Shehan Liyanapathirana, who
was the highest points scorer of the league, with a 71% success rate, did not
take those 6 penalties in the second half with four of them being inside his
kicking range. So there comes the blame game, to the boy and the coaches from a
few supporters, with the loss which was hard to grasp and almost ended their
league title hopes.
The final match of the
league was with the unbeaten Royalists at Reid Avenue and it was also the
league decider with the B C Anghie Trophy up for grabs for the Bamba Brigade
which they lost in 2014. The stadium was packed and the Royalists knew it was a
do or die battle for both teams. The game began at top pace and the Peterites
dominated the first 10 minutes of the game. However, the well moulded and well drilled
Champion Royal Tuskers kept attacking the Peterite gain line at every given
opportunity to win the game quite comfortably, 32 points 13 grabbing the league
crown while remaining unbeaten.
The Bamba Brigade had now
suffered two back to back defeats. Adding more salt to the wound, they were
without their experienced captain, vice-captain and two centres due to injury
and ruled out for the season. They had lost the battle, but the war was not
over. That was the message every Peterite wanted to give this team. The College
management led from the front by Rector - Rev. Fr. Trevor Martin, the coaches,
the support staff from the ground boy to the cook at the kitchen who prepares
their meals, the Peterite Rugby Foundation, the Peterite Rugby social media
admins and all the diehard Peterite Rugby fans around the globe rallied around
the Bamba Brigade for their next mission – The President’s Trophy on offer in
the knockout round.
Videos and posts started
coming out on all Social Media platforms with the final motivational match
video for the boys done by a passionate Peterite Rugby fan waking up at 5 a.m.
on Friday as he had to travel out of Colombo at 9 a.m. for work. The Past
captains and players regrouped to rally round the team at the final practice
session to give the boys more courage for the important final.
The coaches started concentrating
more on preparing the team mentally with tactical and positional changes done to
counter the opponents they were about to face. The boys too put their heads down and practiced day in and day out to prepare for their knockout round matches. The injured Peterite skipper,
Javed Zarook willingly opted to stay out of the full squad for
the entire tournament as he sacrificed his place for one youngster to come in as a reserve and the Vice Captain Mark Assauw played the first match of the President's Trophy. However a compound fracture at practice two days before the second match against Wesley, resulted in the end of his season for Mark. But they won the
quarters and semi-finals quite convincingly, beating the Antonian Eagles and
Wesley once again at Sugathadasa Stadium with the stand-in captain, Kenneth
Wimaladasa leading the Bamba Brigade.
This move allowed decisions
in the middle to be taken with a lot of confidence and as per the game plan. Many
Peterite rugby fans had felt that this was something that was lacking in the
middle throughout the entire season, with the team’s seniors ruled due to injury
as the match pressure was building up every week.
Then came the day which had all
rugby lovers in Colombo marching towards the Racecourse Grounds for the big
final. With the entire Peterite family standing behind the one team who only
had one dream, to bring back lost glory to their College. The hype was building
up on social media platforms with the Joes being clearly favoured to win the
title for the second consecutive year. The stadium was jam packed with an
electric atmosphere as the stage was set for a grand final.
The referee Praneeth Weranga
started the proceedings under lights and the Josephians started the scoreboard ticking
with a goal and a penalty goal to give them the important lead in the first few
minutes. The Peterite full back, Shehan Liyanapathirana was tested with high
kicks and he committed two cardinal and rule book errors which resulted in two
tries for the Joes.
As the game moved on, the
Peterites managed to score their first try through a rolling maul with Julian Gracian
who is the silent assassin in the team, going over for his first try. As the
half time whistle was blown, the Joes had a comfortable lead in the game with
17 points to 5. The master tactician Sanath Martis kept out the Peterite full
back and ace kicker of the team in the second half and bought in young
Nanayakkara as there was not much of a choice left in the Bench.
However, Peterites continued
to do mistakes as the game progressed in to the second half and the Josepahian
kicker gave his team 20 points with 25 minutes to go for the final whistle.
Peterites, kicked all
penalties to touch and started their rolling maul and saw their winger touching
down in the left corner after 12 phases to give some hope to the Bamba Brigade. The scoreboard then
read 20 to 10 in favour of the Darley Road boys. Then came their third try in a
similar fashion to the first one. Peterite’s burley hooker, Gracian touched
down again to make the score line 20 to 15.
With 3 or 4 minutes to go,
the marauding Bamba forwards attacked the Joes gain line with the rolling maul
again. This was where the stand in captain, Kenneth Wimaladasa had different
thoughts and he sneaked his way to the short side and collected a beautiful
pass from his scrum half Jason Karunarathne to score the final try of the game
to equal the scores. From this moment onwards one part of the stadium was
making the biggest noise celebrating it while the other half kept their hands on
their heads thinking “what did just hit us?” as Kenneth kicked the ball to sail
though the posts converting the try to give the Peterites the win. This was
surely the best come backs ever in the history of a President’s Trophy Final,
grabbing that trophy as Kenneth won the trophy for the player of the tournament
as well.
The celebrations continued
in the stadium the entire night with Peterites around the globe jubilant about
the sweet revenge over the loss suffered at the battle of the saints (league
match) and dethroning the champions as clear underdogs. While the supporters
celebrated the team went to Infant Jesus Church in Slave Island to thank the Almighty
for all the blessings throughout the entire tournament.
Congratulations to the
entire Peterite Team, the coaches, the management, support staff, the
passionate supporters around the globe who stood behind this team the entire
season.
The success story of
Peterite Rugby 2018 couldn’t be scripted any better than through these words by
Walt Disney who once said “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage
to pursue them”. Obviously for him and for many more, this is the absolute
truth.
Javed, Mark, Jason, Kenneth, Raveen, Sandesh, Abdullah, Julian, Janidu, Yohan, Lankesh, Nizran, Sunera, Bilal, Rukshan, Dilshan, Shenol, Dayan, Shehan, Dilusha, Thenuka, Megha, Ranuja, Shenthika, Lakshan, Sandaruwan, Ashel, Senura and Vishara
Javed, Mark, Jason, Kenneth, Raveen, Sandesh, Abdullah, Julian, Janidu, Yohan, Lankesh, Nizran, Sunera, Bilal, Rukshan, Dilshan, Shenol, Dayan, Shehan, Dilusha, Thenuka, Megha, Ranuja, Shenthika, Lakshan, Sandaruwan, Ashel, Senura and Vishara
Take a bow Team 2018!
Well done SPC 2018 team... You showed the maturity, the experience and the discipline that is required to win a title...Hats off to Sanath Martis and the Team 2018!!!
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