Standing just over 6 feet tall, Jason Dissanayake is somewhat of a towering figure off the field and if reports are to be trusted, he packs a pretty mean punch on the field as well.
Inspired by his uncle who played rugby for Sri Lanka, Jason’s journey in rugby began in the hill capital of Kandy where he donned the ‘Navy-Aqua-Gold’ jersey of Vidyartha College from the late 2000s to 2012. During his school career, Jason was known to be a ‘jack of all trades’ as he could pretty much do it all on the playing field. His impressive speed led him to start off as a Centre but he eventually moved to the 3rd row, where he occupied the all-important No. 8 position. To add to this, he was also sometimes used as a flanker and a place kicker too – a true utility player. Perhaps it was his good fortune that he broke into the Vidyartha team just as it was about to enter a revolutionary era, under the tutelage of Anil Jayasinghe.
Vidyartha was often the victim of talent scouting, losing out on promising young players who learned their basics from the school, only to move to schools in the top flight during their senior years. The perennial whipping boys of inter schools rugby hit a new low in the year 2009 following a mass exodus of senior players. It was during this time that the school sought the services of former referee and old boy Jayasinghe. The exodus of senior players turned out to be a blessing in disguise for ‘The Tigers’ as the visionary coach molded players like Jason, Kavindu Perera and Dhanushka Talwatte into match winners.
The team had a tough 2010 season but went unbeaten in the Division I ‘B’ category in 2011; their 203-00 annihilation of St. John’s Nugegoda being among their most dominant performances ever. It was during 2011 that Jason rose to the limelight, scoring as many as 38 tries in the season. His performance caught the eye of the national rugby scouts as well, as he was drafted into the Sri Lanka Youth Rugby team to represent the country at the Junior Rugby Asiad in 2011; most notably he was the only player from Division I ‘B’ to have made the team.
In 2012, he took on the leadership for Vidyartha, as the school made its 1st appearance in the top division in 5 years and a contract with Navy SC soon followed for the 3rdrower, paving the way for Jason’s Tuskers career.
According to Jason, this was when things got tough. In the school arena, he was taller and faster than most players who he came up against but in the club arena he was no longer the biggest or strongest on the field.
“They were heavier, the club guys. They were heavier and stronger. It (club rugby) was another level, not like schools.”
Although he could not have it all his way in his post college years, his versatility helped him stay ahead of many players who were vying for spots in what was a strong Navy line-up.
“It was very competitive and there was rivalry for spots. It was tough for me to get into a position, I had to try two- three positions. At Navy, I started playing at wing, they wanted me to try it and I was good at it.”
Although the opportunities arose for him to play in one of the more glamourous positions on the field, Jason was always looking to break into the pack, where he had had most of his success in his early years. It is clear from the way he speaks of the switching between positions that he wants to be in the thick of the action at all times.
“At wing, it’s only just waiting for the ball. In the middle, if you are a forward, you can do anything you want”
Accordingly, he has built a reputation quite early in his career as very good ball carrier who is aggressive with ball in hand and unafraid to make some big tackles.
Amidst all the promise and accolades that came with his international debut in 2013, Jason suffered a serious injury during the knockouts in 2014 when he tore his ACL, ruling him out of the game for almost a year. It was perhaps the most challenging period of his life as he was unable to move around comfortably or even get out of bed for a period of time.
“I started running after 11 months, it was really frustrating. I couldn’t get out of bed for 3 months and I had to start doing other activities to keep my lungs working. I did 6 months of rehabilitation.”
The hard work he did post-surgery paid off as he was in scintillating form during the 2015/2016 season, this time donning the CR & FC jersey – a performance that saw him regain his position in the Tuskers set up as well as sealing a deal to hometown club Kandy SC, the club which he has always wanted to play for.
During the Asian Championships (XVs) and the Monaco 7s, Jason was the top try scorer for the Tuskers but his most memorable achievement in the Rugby arena came when the Tuskers finished as runners up in the recently concluded Asia 7s series 1st Leg in Hong Kong, where Jason crossed the line 4 times to keep the team in the hunt for the title. Sri Lanka were beaten comprehensively by heavy weights Hong Kong in the 1st round but put in a much better performance in the final against the same opponent to go down by just 5 points. Jason puts it down to keeping things simple and sticking to the game plans set by Coach Matt Turner, even after suffering a demoralizing defeat in the 1st round.
“We were so close. We stuck to our plans. He (Matt) was saying that in the Asian level, rugby is simple, so to keep things simple. So we stuck to our plans and that worked for us.”
Jason will be unavailable for the 2nd leg of the Asia 7s series this weekend after suffering a concussion recently and will surely be missed by the Lankan contingent but he is looking forward to making his return in the 3rd leg of the series.
Be sure to catch him in action at the Race Course grounds on the 15th and 16th of October as Sri Lanka looks to stake their claim for Asian 7s supremacy.
