A shining example for haphazard planning of local rugby authorities has come to the fore as two crucial inter-school Under-19 President’s Trophy Knockout fixtures are set to clash with a historic rugby Test featuring Sri Lanka and the touring New Zealand Under-85 kg team at Nittawela on Sunday (4 May).
The two Knockout quarterfinals involving Isipathana-Wesley and Royal-DS are scheduled to get underway at Royal Sports Complex and at Havelock Park respectively on the said date, while the ‘Tuskers’’ are slated to host the All Blacks Under-85 kg side in Kandy at the same time.
It is also the first time in 118 years that a national rugby team from New Zealand is set to be featured in any kind of rugby internationals on Lankan soil and hence the anticipation among local fans for the two matches are naturally intense.
But, the livewire Secretary of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) Manuja Nimmana, was quick to state that they were not prepared to face any backlash from the public over the impending scheduling conflict.
He said that as they had officially submitted the 2025 schools’ rugby calendar to the relevant stakeholders well in advance, the blame for any international fixtures suddenly clashing with the ongoing school rugby tournaments, will need to be borne by the organisers of such tours.
Nimmana explained the pains with which they have taken to formulate the match schedules for the ongoing inter-school rugby season.
He pointed to a lack of coordination on the part of the organisers of the New Zealand Under-85 kg team’s tour of Sri Lanka for the unforeseen scheduling wrangle.
This state of affairs is expected to deny countless supporters of schools’ rugby from supporting the national team in lieu of two vital knockout games also being worked off on the same day in Colombo.
“We formulated the schools’ rugby calendar for this year, in December, 2024,” Nimmana argued.
“Afterwards with the approval of the Competent Authority (CA) for Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR), we officially informed all stakeholders of the match schedule. Now these people have turned back and are blaming us lock stock and barrel for the conflict in the match schedule. The organisers of the NZ Under-85 kg team’s tour of SL, ought to have conveyed to us, of their intention to play the games on 4 and 10 May in advance. But, they never got back to us and now to criticise us for lack of foresight is unfair,” he added.
He also singled out the practical difficulties his association faced when having to reschedule matches midstream, as they have to complete all tournaments by early August, as per the guidelines issued to them by the Education Ministry, under whose purview they operate.
“The people who criticise us tend to forget that we have to complete some 70 plus games in various Divisions linked to the school rugby tournaments,” the Secretary opined.
“It is so convenient for them to haul us over the coals, for this schedule issue. But, they do not spare any time to think of the constraints we have to undergo, to run all tournaments smoothly and conclude them on time ahead of critical exams,” he noted.
He insisted that all efforts will be made to explore the possibility of either shifting the two President’s Trophy quarter finals fixed for Sunday, to another date or to delay the fixtures and play them under lights, after the completion of the national team’s encounter against the New Zealanders.
But, he added that such a win-win situation was unlikely at this stage, due to the cramped up nature of the itineraries concerned and the resultant logistics issues.
When contacted Sudarshana Muthuthanthri of Dialog Axiata Sports Marketing Division said that the organisers of the NZ 85 kg team’s tour of the country, had only confirmed its itinerary in February and therefore it was difficult to make any changes to the already finalised school match schedule.
He noted that it would be practically impossible for the SLSRFA to rejig fixtures midway through the tournament and called on organisers of international tours to the country to coordinate such issues with the Schools Association and with sponsors in future, to avoid repetitions.
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