CR and FC Centenary Rugby Sevens 2023 a success: President Ted Muttiah

Kandy SC Sevens champions

Ball Boys who did a great job being cheered by the Aussie players

St Peters handed off Royal in the grand final of schools event

Visiting Girls from Aussie won the Plate for Womens

By Shamseer Jaleel

CR and FC conducted a grand rugby sevens for schools (under-19), men’s and women’s to mark their Centenary Celebrations at their rugby ground at Longdon Place in front of a packed house last weekend.

The well-organised event saw 12 of the best School boy’s teams, six Women’s outfit and all the 8 A division rugby playing clubs sending their best available side for this event which was a real bonus. It was a notable point that all outstation schools such as Trinity, Kingswood and Vidyartha along with the only outstation club, Kandy SC were provided accommodation by the organisers, CR and FC.

St. Peter's handed off Royal in the Cup final while Isipathana will be little disappointed to feature in the Plate after Trinity performed well to end their hopes in the semi-final. 

The Green Shirts won the Plate edging out Zahira who looked a yard faster than their previous years could be a side to look forward to in the coming season and sevens event early next week. Vidyartha, after narrowly beaten by Zahira and Isipathana playing in a toughest group did not return home empty handed as they took away the Bowl.

The visiting Girls team from Australia looked a yard faster to beat the gutsy Army outfit in the Cup final. The Plate was won by Navy girls beating Air Force while Qatar girls won the Bowl beating CR. The Men’s Cup segment was a beauty with the best of the national players being featured. CR will be always disappointed not to win in their Centenary year but they were beaten by a young and energetic Havies outfit while Kandy marched forward when they thrashed CH and FC in the other semi-final encounter.

 Though all thought the final would be a close call between Kandy SC and Havies, to everyone’s surprise Kandy settled for the big occasion and Steamy Colombo conditions on a correct time and day to hand off the young Park Club 21 to nothing. Nigel Ratwatte, Tharinda Ratwatte, Srinarth Soooriyabandara, Suranga Tenekoon, Dinal Ekanayake, Dhanushka Ranjan, Heshan Jensen, Lavanga Perera and Kavindu Perera were omnipresent for the Kandy outfit. Meanwhile Army won the Bowl beating the Cops while hosts CR settled for the Plate beating CH.

CR and FC, President, former Royal 1982 skipper and national player  Ted Muttiah speaking to Daily FT said :“CR&FC is grateful to all participating teams in support of the club’s Centenary Rugby Sevens tournament. Our  thanks to all officials and a special call out to participants and officials from overseas. The attraction of any tournament is the quality of competition. Clearly, from the very large number of supporters in attendance on each of the three days, the tournament generated broad appeal to rugby fans. While we congratulate the winners in each segment, I commend all participating teams for their commitment to upholding the  Spirit of Rugby.”

 Ted speaking further said :“Hats off to the Tournament Director Dilroy Fernando and his team for a splendid job executed superbly and very professionally. Through the 100 years, CR and FC has benefitted from schoolboys joining the club from so many different schools. The various clubs have created an enduring legacy of battles of skill and will on the rugby field from yesteryears. Sadly, clubs such as UVA, Dimbulla, Dickoya, and Kellani Valley are no longer in the “A” division. Perhaps there’s a model for each of the current “A” division rugby clubs to foster one of these clubs as a means to promote rugby in the provinces, while cultivating new rugby talents as a pathway to the respective “A” division clubs at the same time.

The CR and FC Centenary Sevens showcased the potential of what is possible by one club. Imagine then the power and potential of the collective rugby stakeholdership to a common objective of restoring Sri Lanka rugby to its deserving place in the region.