Now that the league has been completed and the knockouts are upon us, it’s possibly a good thing to wonder about the standout performers of the season. Unfortunately, an objective analysis would suggest that the quality of rugby dished out has not been very high.
With the advent of cable television, the public’s demands of high quality rugby have increased tremendously. And the response from the teams on the field has not been commensurate.
Reflecting on the season gone by, it’s difficult to pick out any real stand out performances, just a handful. Navy were obviously the unbeaten champs, and most of those standouts come from them. There is no doubt that Setefano Cakau, Mateaki Kofatolu together with Vota and Lutumailagi have been the most deadly foursome of foreigners. Apart from David Halaifonua and to a much lesser extent Tavita Taufei from the Upcountry Lions team have been there or there abouts. For the purposes of this article we’ll focus on the local players who have excelled.
Nuwan Hettiarachchi
Hetti has finally settled down after some controversy and toing and froing, and has found his home at Navy. He has emerged as a serious rival to Rizah Mubarak as a placed kicker, although not quite in the same league. In addition, his versatility on the wing and at full back, coupled with an aggressive running game has made him a standout player. One thing that needs to improve though is his defence. The only time it was tested behind a good Navy defensive line was against Kandy, and it was found a little wanting. He will need to be at his best for Sri Lanka in that department.
Eranga ‘Podi’ Swarnatilleka
Starting every game and playing almost 80 mins in most of them, Podi has been the model prop forward. For me, nobody else is a dead cert in his position for SL more than this man is. His propping, lifting and ball carrying has been excellent this season, and the former Antonian will be the first name on the team sheet when the selectors meet before the A5N. As forwards, it is difficult to catch the eye, but Swarnatilleke’s work rate this year has been fantastic.
Chanaka Chandimal
Despite the much more experienced fly halves around him, Chandimal has really matured this year. Playing inside Cakau seems to have helped him grow, and he has become a complete fly half. A good kicking game, defence and distribution has made him an important cog in the Navy side, and will almost certainly run Niroshan Fernando very close as the understudy to Fazil Marija in the Sri Lanka squad. He has scored tries and showed a placed kicking ability as well. Given a couple of years in the wings he maybe Sri Lanka’s no.1 fly half.
Namal Rajapaksha
Many who don’t know the game have questioned his inclusion in the SL and Navy sides. In the second round, Namal has put all his doubters behind him. From the start of his career as a leader in 2005 at STC he has led with aplomb. Assisting his younger brother Chichi this year on the field, he helped the young flanker capture Navy’s first title. To add to that his work rate has been tremendous. Although he doesn’t carry the ball as effectively has he used to, his defensive work in the tight, and the turnovers he makes contribute tremendously to the team’s defensive performance. His most useful facet though is his ability to read a game in the middle. It is not a skill that even some international rugby stars possess, and the ability to make changes and react to situations as they are happening is a rare commodity. Navy benefitted from it. Sri Lanka needs it.
Sudharshan Muthuthanthri
Muthu took over the captaincy of the defending champions when Dhiren Warnakulasuriya got badly injured. His leadership and work rate have been excellent. Muthuthanthri’s biggest assets are his strength and fitness. He is hard into every tackle and bounces back on his feet as every good flanker should. Whether he is an open side, or a blind side is something he has to make his own mind up about though, as he is not going about his game as a pure open side flanker, doing quiet a bit of the heavy workload as well. Nevertheless, his performance this year has been outstanding and he will push Danushka ‘Gertha’ Perera all the way in practice, which is once again a healthy competition for places in the Sri Lanka squad.
Sandun Herath
As the highest try scorer in the league it impossible to ignore Sandun’s performance this year. He is without a doubt the best winger in the country, and well on his way to dethroning Sanjeeva Jayasinghe as the best we have seen in the recent past. The telling thing about Sandun’s performance is that he scored in almost every game. What is even more superlative is that he has seen very little structured first phase ball coming to him from this Havies line which failed to impress this season. He has lived on scraps and still managed to score 20 tries. That’s a pretty terrific performance. Usually manufacturing tries out of nothing, his emergence is a real boost for the Sri Lankan side.
Srinath Sooriyabandara
Soori has almost single handedly taken his team to fourth place. with a little help from his mates. Starting at scrum half and then moving to fly half in the games, he has proved almost as devastating as he is in the sevens game. His reading of the game is very intelligent, and the usually quiet lad makes everyone listen when he speaks. As a leader he has led by example this year, and finishing just adrift of the top three is a creditable performance for the Club. His line breaks and support play have been of high quality, and the speed of his feet are only matched by his speed of thought.
Lavanga Perera
Although Kandy finished second in the league, their performance as a team was far below expectation. They had their individually skilled players to thank for coming through in some games while as a team their forwards have been wanting. The bright spark for them was the wing/full back play of Lavanga Perera. Alongside his twin brother Oshan, Lavanga has emerged as a legitimate national level three quarter. Blessed with a low centre of gravity and good strength he adds to the Kingswood talent that Kandy have in their backline with Marija and the Weeraratne brothers.
It’s difficult, and very subjective of course, to list out star performers especially over the course of a season. There have been very good performances in individual games. Players like Anurudhdha Wilvara, Dhanushka Perera and Marija himself have been good. But the above mentions are more for consistency and contribution throughout the season. No doubt there will be many disagreements. But civilised debate is always a good tool for arriving at the correct conclusions.
