They had no backstage expertise and no proper rugby ground to call their own. They did not have the best of high-paid coaches or nutritional foods, had no motivators, strength trainers or modern gyms while medical care was just a luxury to them.
Yet Maliyadeva College booked their place to play alongside the big names at the Milo knock-out rugby tournament after earning a promotion to play in the major A Division inter-school League championship next year.
Maliyadeva, whose rugby history began only in the 1970s, came close to beating teams like S. Thomas’ College when they went down 19-29 and St. Anthony’s College when they lost 36-41 in the Plate segment matches after ending as Champions in the B Group.
The Kurunegala boys showed they were no push-overs when they scored three tries against the A Division League runners-up St. Joseph’s College in the quarter finals of the Milo Trophy Knock-out championships although ending up on the losing side.
Maliyadeva’s rise to play in the big League will no doubt be attributed to the commitment and sacrifice of the players. Nearly all of them were from humble beginnings but had the determination to match up to the privileged schools in Colombo and be counted as a force in rugby despite the drawbacks. Their forwards were as good as any other while their back-line runners had what was needed to carry the ball up-front.
But one thing that promoters of rugby in the provinces could fear is that some elite school or schools in Colombo could enlist a few of the best players and tear their rugby apart.
The role played by Maliyadeva’s backstage team can never be discounted. Among them were a group of old boys of the school who banded together and with the support of the teaching staff, parents, students and the principal Saman Indraratne they marched forward to their goal of playing against the fancied and privileged teams from Kandy and Colombo.
Maliyadeva also found an ideal coach in Ananda Kasthuriarachchi and his assistant Punshpakumara who stopped at nothing while master in charge Dinesh Bandara, Lasantha de Silva, Samith de Silva and Samanasiri past old boys of the school had faith and threw their weight behind.
Maliyadeva has by their success at the concluded 2018 inter-school rugby season sent out a firm message that even with limited resources, teams outside Colombo and Kandy can reach for the stars with the right attitude and commitment.
It is now left to Sri Lanka Rugby, the parent body responsible for nurturing the sport in the country, and the Schools Rugby Football Association to ensure that what Maliyadeva has achieved can be taken as a yardstick for the future.
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