As predicted at the commencement of the season, the schools rugby passage has dished out every conceivable drama…
Schools expended great effort to preparation with coaches, support staff, players, parents and the most dominant force, the old boys; a very necessary evil to the system, lending shoulder to making it the most sort-after and argued-about sporting tournament in the country.
We at ThePapare.com brace ourselves for the demand on coverage and onslaught of questions, complaints and of course the ever-present accusation of biased reporting. This time was not any different!!
The good rugby that was played has been slightly over-shadowed by the copious incidents and controversies that sprouted each week
The most raucous episode could be circled as the Royal-Isipathana incident where the Isipathana players used excessive force on the Royalist engaging in punching and alleged eye-gouging which strangely escaped the eyes of the team of referees. Unheard of in Rugby which is considered a much-macho sport where ‘man’ meet ‘man’ eye to eye and limb to limb, the Royal team ‘walked out’ in the face of this ambush. The Isipathana camp went on to score a try minus the opposition, which was allowed by the referee and subsequently the Royal principal awarded the match, the Maj Milroy Fernando trophy to Isipathana as 27-20.
Pandemonium set in when a Royal media unit edited video was widely circulated as ‘evidence’ of the mistreatment. On the back of this, the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association were called upon to adjudicate matters. If the SLSRFA used this same version or the unedited version (which never made it out) one will never know. They handed-out another ‘safe’ verdict appeasing both sides by calling the game a draw at 20 all asking the Isipathana camp to clean up their end by reprimanding the boys and reporting back to the SLSRFA. Royal got away with the ‘walk-out.’
Opinions diverse, voluble and holier-than thou were thrashed about. Some called it ‘cowardice’, others ‘gentlemanly’, yet others ‘illegal’ The pet portal – ThePapare, was grand-central station for all this traffic. The general consensus of the rugby playing is ‘you stay on the field and fight your battle’ but the non-rugby playing demonstrated dismay ‘to continue to get beaten up?’ It was drama and divide of the highest !!
Arm-chair pundits, some quite astute were of the opinion that Royal forfeited that match. Argument is that the referee made the decision and whatever that decision it should stay. Reprimanding or questioning and holding accountable the referees thereafter is another issue, the decision that was made by the person appointed cannot be changed.
World-renowned match referee Kaplan visiting Sri Lanka during this time was quoted or mis-quoted saying that a reversal of final score is not allowed under any circumstances. More ammunition for the Pathana camp!! Conversely the following up by ThePapare with the SLSRFA on the progress of how Isipathana handled its players drew a blank from the governing body who stated they received no report to date. However, Isipathana media had this to say “we have already appointed a disciplinary committee to look into the incidents claimed to have occurred at the above match. Appropriate action will be taken against any player if they are found to have defied the rules or the spirit of the game”
The referees union however took the matter of the erring referees under advisement and held their referees accountable. The referee was suspended for a period of a year.
At the onset of the season there was the incident of Royal players flying-off the handle due to a try given to Science College against them. A few punches here and there; multi-coloured cards were whipped out by the referees and it was sorted.
Initially in the season it seems the players saw “Red” as the referee’s (rightfully) dished out generous helpings of red cards to reprimand (in some instances shocking) transgressions, including a concussed player and then the concussed player returning to the field citing a blood injury.
Three schools were given a slap on the wrist as subsequent inquiries led to 2 week suspensions. And then it was the turn of the general rugby loving public to see ‘red’ as all players who received “cards” were given mysterious reprieves in a bizarre turn of events. Some schools however rightly decided against fielding the respective players and made the individuals sit out their time.
The story of the St Joseph’s coach slapping one of his own for a conceded penalty also did the rounds while Science college thrashed the Pete’s dressing room angered by extra time allowed by referee which resulted in the Petes snatching the game from them at the last minute. Science acted commendably with their authorities coming down hard on players and coach over the matter. The action appeased the rugby community and was not talked about after.
It was the turn of the ‘refas’ next. Threatened and beaten especially in the game St Joseph’s vs Dharmaraja where the coach of Dharmaraja was said to have assaulted the referee brought matters to a grinding halt. The referees went on strike refusing to play against teams from Dharmaraja, Isipathana and Science college. This matter was escalated to ministerial level and after much security and venue assurances an impasse was reached and they agreed to officiate.
Then came the infamous Haka, a rich and respected Rugby tradition – Trinity produced their own version of it choreographed and scripted by the New Zealand coach at the most prestigious Bradby, Royal, charged up by accusations of ‘cringing’ and ‘walking off’ against Isipathana stormed out of the dressing room in murderous frenzy striding in to the Trinity half and attacking with venom, their Haka. While spectators including the Royal camp stood mortified, a special guest, the IRB chairman who was in the audience had made polite inquiry on the matter. Needless to say Sri Lanka stood blushing.
This was the Royal team that had just the previous week complained about gangster behavior from Isipathana. Right-royally embarrassed, the Royal hierarchy believing it would save face hustled up to Kandy captain, vice-captain and head prefect to apologize to Trinity.
In what is hoped is the final twist in this astounding rugby-season tale, Isipathana whose love and tradition of rugby centers the entire school, has come out in protest boycotting the knock-out tournament at which they have always been fiercely competitive. They have sighted an inefficient Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and their decision to let the Royal- Isipathana game stand at 20-all when in fact according to rules Royal forfeited by walking out, the reason.
We hoped in vain as just before this article went for uploading there was indeed another twist in the tale. St Anthony’s vs Kingswood taking on the penultimate game of the season set a side the rugby and broke into a huge scuffle in the middle, some players having kicked a fallen player brutally seemed the instigation. It is reported to have been a gigantic free for all that the Police struggled to control for a while and sent 8 students to hospital. The game was abandoned and the SLSRFA will hold an enquiry before a decision is made. Once again slipping the league into limbo!
The standard of refereeing was talked and complained about the throughout and even though each loss is generally the ‘referees fault’, the ever increasing numbers of mistakes by the referees has been a stand out feature and cause for most of the mayhem. This issue has to be addressed more firmly by authorities.
No doubt the SLSRFA needs to be held more accountable. It is believed that if they took a more hard-lined stance may be some of the drama could have been averted. The impotent manner in which they dealt with matters by letting schools to ‘discipline’ their own offenders, not penalizing a ‘walk-out’, changing the final scores of a match etc, is ample testimony to their inability to administer. In most professional tournaments the governing body deals with these issues with match suspensions which would leave players and authorities thinking twice in such matters. Assaulting referees has no place in any sport because authorities will press charges and ban offenders pronto. Discipline cannot improve when no one is enforcing it strongly enough.
The question also comes up; is SLSRFA really an empowered governing body? ThePapare in its many articles on the subject have highlighted inadequacies in the past and implore that it is opportune for the matters of the national rugby nursery be handed over to higher echelon.
