Our players being poached, says Science Rugby Chairman

By Shamseer Jaleel

Science College, Mount Lavinia is crying foul that two leading Colombo schools are chasing behind its players to take them under their custody for the 2017 school rugby league competition.

Speaking to Daily FT, Science Rugby Chairman Thusitha Perera said: “When we ascended to the top division about six years back we had two main problems – money and player poaching. Money, or the lack of it to be precise, still remains with the school like a lifetime partner. We were happy when poaching became a thing of the past. Sadly, it is coming back and back in the most unethical manner.”

“When we heard it was a possibility, the school wrote to the possible culprits, pleading with them to uphold the values of true sportsmanship. The initial feedback was very positive when the Father Rector of a leading school made it clear to its rugby committee that there was no room in his team for such players. However, it now appears that the political weight which runs the sport is overpowering the Rector. As a result, the junior of the famous Maduranga Brothers has represented this leading Colombo school in friendlies while being at Science.”

Speaking further, Perera stated: “In a similar fashion, another playmaker of Science, Janidu Laksara, is being drafted to another leading Colombo school team to play in preseason friendly matches. The same school is pulling strings to poach three other Under-16 players and exerting pressure on the school authorities to let them leave.

“We strongly believe in what we do and it has been clearly stated in the letter we earlier sent to both schools. Science Rugby expected the schools with so-called heritage to uphold the values of sportsmanship. Using political clout and the power of money to suppress another school isn’t sport.”