Kandy Sports Club established 148 years ago in the country’s hill capital are the rugby champions once again. They lived up to their reputation and this time won the new Nippon Paint Trophy at the 20021/2022 inter club league A Division tournament.
They also won the best player award which went to Tharinda Ratwatte who scored 106 points through six tries and 25 conversions and seven penalties. A big hand should go to the squad, for giving their best on the field.
The Kandy SC squad was made up of players like Nigel Ratwatte (captain), Charles Praveen, Lasitha Attanagoda, Mohamed Ali , Tharinda Ratwatte, Malitha Rashmiks, M. Chandradas, Pathum Weerasinghe, Ananda Raj, Damith Dissanayake, S. Dilshan, Kavishka Bandara, Heshan Kalhara, Thilina Bandara, Chathura Soysa, Ruwan Amarasinghe, Mathisha Amarasinghe, D. Dharmapala, Tharindu Chathuranga, Sanushka Abeywickrema, B. Udangamuwa, Tharaka de Silva, Tharinda Kapuwatte, Roshan Weeraratne, Srinath Sooriyabandara, Heshan Jansen, Asiri Seneviratne, TPLS Ranaweera, Oshan Perera, Lawanga Perera, Chamika Perera, Dhanush Dayan, Dinal Ekanayake, Buddhima Piyarathne, Kavindu Perera, Dilshan Dange, Nimesh Prematilake. A tribute must also be extended to club president Mahesh Weerasinghe, secretary Sujeewa Liyanage, Lasantha Wijasuriya the rugby chairman and team manager Kapila Silva.
Kandy’s rugby lovers are also planning to felicitate the champion side. The honour for most wins in the rugby league goes to Kandy SC since 1994, the year they won the league for the first time under the captaincy of Dharmaraja College’s Indrajith Bandaranayake.
This club has been the most successful winning 22 league titles in the last twenty eight years in the period between1994 to 2022, which is the most wins by any club since the expanded competition commenced in 1950.
The years they won are 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.
It was in1992 for the first time Kandy SC won a tournament and that was the Knock-out championship beating Police by 22 points to 9. Even in the knockouts this club has won the championship the highest number of times.
The club was founded in 1874 as Kandy Athletic, Boating, Cricket, Football and Dancing Club and after 14 years the name was changed to Kandy SC.
For the first time Kandy Sports Club entered the final in 1954 under the captaincy of S.B. Pilapitiya but lost to CR & FC in the final and once again the following year 1955 under the captaincy of Jeff Macpherson they went down to CR & FC in the final. Then the next final was after 14 years in 1969 losing to CR and FC 6-12
This year they were the only undefeated side in the inter club league rugby competition.
The coaching team was headed by Fazil Marija with assistant coach Buddhika Thalagampola, trainer Tharaka Algama, physiotherapist Charith Vithanage and Lakshitha Seneviratne making up the rest.
The responsibility to maintain the highest standards rested with the team members themselves. They worked for hours on the field and in the gym and their brains functioned well, thanks to the coaches for guiding them the correct way.
At present they are preparing for the next season and have started training along with a young set of talented players.