Is SLSRFA the real governing body of schools’ rugby?
Friday, 21 June 2013 02:36
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By Blind Side
Rugby fans in Sri Lanka, especially those who follow the schools’ rugby scene closely, witnessed some unusual incidents during the past couple of weeks.
The Royal V Isipathana game ended in controversy, with Royal players walking out of the playing field alleging eye gouging and punching by their opponents.
The Royal Principal announced that he asked his players to withdraw for their safety. He also announced that victory was awarded to Isipathana, who led 27-20 when play was abandoned. He was in the presentation party, when the trophy on offer for this annual rugby encounter was awarded to the winners.
Though wide publicity was given about eye gouging and other injuries caused to Royal players by their opponents, no signs of any such injuries were visible to those who witnessed first leg of the Bradby shield match played by the same Royal team in Kandy, about a week later. The injuries therefore appear to have been cleverly blown out of proportion, to escape punishment.
The website of Sri Lanka Schools’ Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA), the governing body of schools’ rugby in Sri Lanka, clearly stipulates punishment to be meted out to a team which walks out of a match. However, it chose to ignore provisions of its own Rule Book and did not consider it important to take action against the walk out. Instead, SLSRFA found a scapegoat in the Referee and acted hilariously by declaring it a drawn match at 20-20 by reversing the earlier score of the match.
Jonathan Kaplan, a South African born Rugby Referee of international repute, who was in Sri Lanka to conduct a Rugby Refereeing Symposium, severely criticised SLSRFA’s high-handed action of reversing the result of the match. He claimed he had never seen result of a match being reversed, anywhere in the world, during his entire refereeing career spanning over two decades. Subsequently, the President of the Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees (SLSRFR) too endorsed the sentiments expressed by Kaplan.
To make matters worse for SLSRFA, the Royal College players created history by pushing, shoving, head butting and punching the Trinity College players who were performing a ‘Haka’ before the commencement of the second leg of the Bradby Shield match, played last Saturday. The Royal players resorted to these acts of aggression and thuggery, by entering 10 metres of the Trinity territory, without any provocation at all by the latter.
SLSRFA has so far not uttered a word about this “Royal aggression”. This governing body of schools’ rugby however made a huge noise a couple days ago about the need to maintain discipline on and off the field and vowed that severe action would be taken against any team for indiscipline. Therefore, all eyes are now on SLSRFA to see what it would do about this unsavoury incident which the Royalists performed in front of the President of Sri Lanka who was at the match. Incidentally, this is the second occasion within a space of one month that Royal players were openly engaged in an act of indiscipline.
Many rugby enthusiasts have already watched the video clip hosted on YouTube by Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation, with regard to this incident. They also pose the question as to why the appointed referee, who is well known to be a strict disciplinarian, chose not to take any action against the Royal players. He may not have wanted the match disrupted as it happened to be his 20th and final Bradby encounter, before retiring as a referee. What a farewell game for him!
During the past couple of years SLSRFA has drawn flak from rugby enthusiasts about their inability to conduct a tournament in a proper and an impartial manner. Last year too, initially it displayed reluctance to take action against Vidyartha College, for violating tournament rules by fielding an ineligible player. Subsequently, SLSRFA had to eat its own words when the Ministry of Education intervened and found Vidyartha guilty of the allegations.
The focus of attention is therefore once again on SLSRFA. The rugby loving fraternity of Sri Lanka is eagerly waiting to see what action SLSRFA would take against the high-handed act resorted to by the Royal players. This would be an ideal opportunity for SLSRFA to prove that it does not resort to double standards when it comes to taking action against schoolboys and college authorities who openly flout the rules imposed by a governing body.
