Laga appointed as Head Coach of Havies

Laga to coach Havies

By Shamseer Jaleel

Western Samoan Tavita Tulagaese, better known as “Laga,” will be the Head Coach at the Park Club this year. 

Havies who ended as a close third in the League and losing out to Kandy on both the legs within a very thin margin will be all out to claim the Inter Club League this year under their new coach. But their start was not so good as they lost out to the same opponents at the recently concluded Club Sevens at the Race Course rugby grounds recently.

This will be Laga’s second stint with Havies, having earlier taken charge of the Park Club in 2012/2013. That year he took the Havies to win the league after more than three decades and beat Kandy in the second leg by a huge half a century plus score. The same year they ended as the runner-up team at the Clifford Cup Knock-Out rugby tournament losing out to Kandy SC in the finals.

Laga first played for the Longdon Place Club (CR&FC) in 1996, same year the “Red Shirts” won the league after 22 years under Viraj Prasanna. He moved to Kandy SC in 2003 as a player cum Coach and during the four year stint with the Up country club he secured rugby triple for three consecutive years by winning the Caltex ‘A’ Division League title, Clifford Cup knock-out and the Rugby Sevens title.

In 2006 too Kandy SC clinched the Caltex ‘A’ Division title and the Rugby Sevens title, but missed a golden opportunity of bagging the triple crown for the fourth consecutive year when they withdrew from the Clifford Cup tournament in protest against the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) decision to play the semi-finals and final in Colombo.

So Havies will be under pressure to perform well but with a blend of youth and some outstanding sevens players in their line-up. They have former Peterites Sandun Herath, Dulaj Perera, Shenal Dias and Dhanushka Ranjan. Also there will be more young blood joining the Park Club who are very fair in their selections and giving opportunity to any new players with talent.