Dialog Schools Rugby League 2024:  Locked, loaded and ready to fire

Division 1 A – Schools Rugby Team Captains

The Chambers are loaded with brand new ammunition, the safety locks are on the verge of being released before the triggers are pulled swiftly, when the Dialog Schools Rugby League of 2024 kicks off on Friday the 14th of June. While a few coaching units have switched sides, a majority remain with the same schools as last season, and if anyone is thinking the same old, same old; or expecting the same old tactics and playing styles from the static units, then you should think again. Many of the existing coaching units have been working on building upon their existing strengths, and innovative playing styles, elevating their Rugby to a higher level, and the SL Rugby fraternity is in for yet another season of amusing and surprising Rugby that has been crafted specifically to effect frequent goosebumps.

Defending Champions St. Peter’s College is expected to continue its flamboyant running game, while enhancing it further with sneaky, evasive moves that could baffle any defender. They showcased this playing style at the Zahira Centenary 7s and the Elite Rugby 7s Tournaments earlier this year, to which no team had any form of defensive response. Therefore, they are expected to carry on this style of gameplay in the 15s format as well, and it would be interesting to see which teams come up with effective plans to contain their Backs. Would Coach Sanath Martis engage his Forwards for his offensives this season is anyone’s guess, yet the formidable Brigade remains as the team to beat this year.

The million-dollar question is, if last season’s runners-up Royal College would set its ultimate goal to vie for the League Title, or continue to stay focused on the Bradby and Michael Gunaratne accolades, as it has been done in the recent past? As an accomplished Coach who is very much capable of getting things under his control, and as the second most successful Coach at present, does Dushanth Lewke realise that he can have all 3 should he set his eyes on the League Title?

Falling tactically short of levelling up to the top guns last season, Isipathana College is expected to redefine its unit’s physicality and tactics in an attempt to rejoin the top forces of schools Rugby in 2024. The knowledgeable stakeholders of the Green Machine have placed their faith, yet again, on the talented and promising young Coach Saliya Kumara to elevate their game to where it belongs. Having finally acknowledged the necessity of a solid Pack to counter the top guns, he has equipped his armoury with burly Forwards who are capable of both attack and defence. The man who’s not shy of innovating has already been busy enhancing their evasive gameplay by choreographing novel and fancy footwork. The fans are destined to be excited by varying yet dazzling dance moves to the fresh summer tunes of ’24, but expanded from a few players to more than a handful this season. However, since it takes two to tango, the crucial question is, who would take Rinesh Silva’s place to partner with “zig zag” Zumri?

The gap between the #3 ranked team and the rest is quite vast, hence although St. Anthony’s made it to the Super Round last season, it would have to do something significantly different to build a long and sturdy Bridge. Despite showing much promise at the beginning of last season, improvements were rare and hard to come by. There was absolutely no doubt that the involvement of Head Coach Srinath Sooriyabandara was crucial to the Eagles soaring among the highest Clouds, but it seemed like proper vision and direction was lacking in the Anthony’s Camp. An ambitious change has been made this season, where Srinath steps down from Head Coach to Backs Coach, and a more experienced Coach, Achala Perera grabs the reins as the Head Coach for the first time. What everyone hopes is that this combination would deliver what was lacking last year, that leads to a continuously improving SACK unit.

DS Senanayake College merely missed the 4th spot to enter the Super Round last year, thus they shall be hell bent on grabbing the second berth in their Group, that would get them to the next round. The few hurdles that they have to overcome are manageable in comparison to the solid Boulders that are persistent in the opposite Group. Head Coach Asela Deshapriya would be looking to orchestrate a Backs based attack, aided by the Forwards in order to overcome their biggest hurdles, viz. Trinity and STC.

Zahira College’s Coaching Staff jumped Ship and sailed away to the school by the Seashore, leaving the Maradana Lads to be resuscitated by seasoned Coach and Educator Shamlie Nawaz, once again. Being known for, nearly, pulling off the impossible, season after season, he shall command heightened commitment from the Zahirians in comparison to his last stint that could yield better outcomes, but perhaps without the ‘nearly’ part. Since his coaching philosophy promotes empowering the players to make their own on-field decisions, instead of enforcing predetermined drills all of the time, one could expect steep improvements only as the season progresses. As the young Zahirians are quite eager to make a historic impression in their centenary year in Rugby, they may choose to switch their performance graph from a concave arc to a convex.

St. Joseph›s College had a rusty and inconsistent season in ’23 with some misfortunes following them all the way, further adding insult to injury. The Saints from Darley Road would have already erased this bitter past from their memories by going amnesiac, and would be looking forward to starting afresh on a clean Slate with rejuvenated vibes. Coincidentally, they will play in the curtain raiser of the ’24 League, just as they did in ’23, but this time against a different Kandy team, Vidyartha. Head Coach Nilfer Ibrahim will continue on his third year post COVID with Joes, and would expect to turn things around, just as he demonstrated his capabilities quite convincingly at the Clubs Rugby scene, earlier this year. Despite the setbacks of last year, Joes are determined and focused to go for the ultimate glory, although they realise that the journey would be long and hazardous.

Trinity College Rugby is expected to reach out and knock on the door of the exclusive league of the top guns this year, as Fazil Marija executes his year 2 plan for the Lions. Although the focus shall be on bringing back the Bradby to the misty Hills, it is left to be seen if there would be any interest to go after the league title. One could expect a stronger Forwards game this season, to back their usual running style of play, and to defend strong & bulky Forwards units such as their arch rivals.

Slumping from mediocre to subpar by the end of last season, the Thomian fraternity decided on a complete overhaul, and replaced their coaching unit with Zahira’s. Anuranga Walpola who caused quite a sensational storm with his Forwards coaching skills at Zahira last season, and at DSS in ’22, will take on his second assignment as Head Coach at S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia. The local Rugby coaching circles are expecting Anuranga to brew another series of Cyclones by the Sea this year, which may provoke the Thomian enthusiasts to drop their Jaws to mutter “Michael Gunaratne”. However, the experts seem to have overlooked the part where Zahira lacked considerably last year; the Backline’s capability to advance and its ability to defend, resulted in losing to top teams by huge margins. Unless Anuranga strongly focuses on the Backs coaching, lightning quick rush defences such as Royal’s, will refute, choke and push back any advances made by the Thomian Backline.

Tumbling soon after a successful season in ’22, Vidyartha Rugby chose to recall an old boy, viz. Sumedha Malawana as Head Coach, and to bring out the raging Cat in their ensemble. The signs of the return of the rampant Tigers were witnessed in the recently concluded Rugby 7s Tournament, as they professed a novel and spectacular Backs play that raised many eyebrows, though still under WiP. Possessing that kind of skill, one could picture how deadly they could be at a scrum call inside the opponent’s 22. Any opposition that takes Vidyartha lightly may have to suffer humiliation, hence be warned, as this is the year of the fanged fury.

In spite of fielding a young team, almost every other game that Wesley College lost last season was very close. The multitude of their skills only improved tremendously as the season progressed, but each and every win that was within their reach was foiled by the immaturity of the young guns. With an additional year gone by, the Schools Rugby fraternity hopes to see a more matured unit that could maximise their potential by carrying cool heads on their Shoulders. Hendry Terence will continue to steer the Double Blues to their success on his second year, with cries of “Zam Zam Zakey” echoing in the background.

After defeating Trinity College for the first time in history, Dharmaraja College Kandy failed to play to their full potential throughout last season, due to some uncorrected issues that kept drawing them back constantly. This year, they are groomed by the Trinity Coach of ’22, Kavinda Jayasena, who elevated the Lions to #5 in the Points Table, and shall be looking to take the Rajans up the ladder swiftly. Patrons can expect a more balanced, disciplined and skilled outfit this season, in comparison to the past several years.

Science College continued to suffer a disastrous season in ’23 due to fitness issues owing to insufficient strength and conditioning, that also resulted in back-to-back injuries, right from the get go. Chamara Withanage assumed the duties of Head Coach, amplifying the directions of a fresh Rugby Administration leadership and utilising the resources to condition the players more than adequately, that has given rise to the formation of a colossal Pack. In fact, be prepared to witness the Maroons from Mt. Lavinia showcasing a fresh brand of Rugby as they enter a new era in the history of Science Rugby. It should be duly noted that the slaying of a Dragon, or any other high flying being is not out of the question, on the opening weekend itself.

After being burnt down to ashes, the only way to rebuild is from ground up, which is exactly what the Rugby Administration at Kingswood College have planned to carry out, under the expert direction of veteran Ananda Kasthuriarachchi. Last year’s Dharmaraja Coach Dinesh Gamage takes on the responsibility as Head Coach, with the challenge to mould a very young team. The objective for this season is consolidation, which shall be used as a launchpad in the subsequent years.

Having remained unbeaten in Segment B last season, Thurston College has an uphill task to rebuild after losing nine players from last year’s lineup. Collin Denish who was responsible for bringing Thurstan back into the limelight and Segment A, positively embraces further challenges to prepare a young team to face the ruthless wrath of the top Segment teams.

Segment B runners-up of yesteryear, Wariyapola Sri Sumangala College Kandy enters the top Segment for the second time in their Rugby history. As almost 15 players from last year’s squad are gone, the plan is to consolidate and survive in the top Segment this season. Roshan Rathnayaka, the man who steered Summa Rugby back into the spotlight, continues as Head Coach this season with the daunting task of staying alive.