Former St Peter’s College Skipper and National three-quarter Bhanuka Nanayakkara has been named as the Head Coach of Royal College, who are revamping their coaching staff ahead of the 2026 School Rugby season at the doorstep. With this paradigm shift, Royal College’s long-standing Head Coach Dushanth Lewke will end his reign, but will be promoted as the Director of Rugby in his alma mater by overlooking all age groups.
This dazzling talent started his Rugby-playing career at St Peter’s College, which was a cradle for many top-notch three-quarters who excelled in both Club and international-level Rugby. After displaying a remarkable performance during the junior Rugby encounters, he won the school 1st XV jersey as a 15-year-old schoolboy. Bhanuka was highly reputed as a versatile Rugby player who could play either as a scrum half, centre or fullback, which helped his team to keep it balanced during tough situations.
During his first season with the senior Peterites, Bhanuka immensely contributed to clinching the coveted President’s Trophy in 2008. During the year 2011, Nanayakkara achieved a critical milestone in his career after being appointed as the Captain of the 1st XV team. With his strategic insight of the game as a Captain coupled with his highly talented and tactical play, he guided his side to the second runners-up position in the league table by going down to Shehan Pathirana’s Royal Brigade. Another important victory of his school captaincy came as the Peterites lifted the All Island Schools Rugby 7’s Championship.
Just after his school career, this outstanding three-quarter earned a call-up from the Navy Sports Club to play in the 2013 season. Without any delay this prolific three-quarter earned his national jersey following his stellar performance in the Club Rugby circuit. Since then, he has been a regular member and an iconic player in both the 7’s and XV’s national outfits. Another milestone of his club career came while he was a part of the league-winning Navy outfit in the 2013/14 season. Later he went on to represent Army Sports Club along with the Skipper, Rohitha Rajapaksha. Finally, he rendered his valuable service to the prestigious CR & FC.
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Apart from his club career, Bhanuka is an employee of CDB Finance Company and was a regular member of the CDB outfit that featured in the Mercantile Rugby Sevens Tournament. As a player, he raised his company to many glories while acting as the Rugby Director of the institution.
After enjoying a stunning career as a player, later he focused more on his Rugby coaching with the objective of shaping up the young talent in the game that he loved the most. During 2017, he achieved a remarkable milestone when he was appointed as the Assistant Coach of his alma mater, St Peter’s College, as the deputy of the Sri Lankan coaching maestro, Sanath Martis. For seven consecutive years, this emerging Coach had done a massive job by uplifting the talents of young Peterites. Alongside this, he enjoyed a coaching stint as the Head Coach of Sri Lanka Lawyers’ Rugby Football Club. During the last season, Bhanuka assumed the duties as the Coach of the Backs Division of Royal College by succeeding the iconic national player and veteran Coach Radhika Hettiarachchi. His impact on the team was quite visible at the back end of the season, where the Royal three-quarters immensely contributed to defeating league-winning Trinity Lions in the last Bradby Shield encounters.
After a remarkable duty as the Coach of the backs division, Bhanuka Nanayakkara assumed the head coaching duties of Royal College with the aim of regaining the glory during the upcoming season. Further, Royal College’s league-winning member and coloursman who captained Havelock Sports Club, Azmir Fajudeen, will look after the forwards in the capacity of Assistant Coach.
