By Shamseer Jaleel

Former Dharmaraja, Kandy SC, CH & FC, CR & FC, Up Country and national sevens and fifteens player, former Army SC and Nepal Men’s and Women’s Head Coach, and Royal's Backs and Assistant Coach, Radhika Hettiarachchi, signed with Zahira College for the 2025 rugby season, which will come into effect from 1 November 2024.

Radhika, who played for Dharmaraja in 1995/96, later started his club rugby career at Kandy SC, playing from 1997 onwards, leading the outfit to League and Knockout championships in 2004. Later on, after playing for CH & FC and CR & FC, he turned out for the Nawalapitiya-based Up Country Lions SC, leading them in 2012.

Hetti played both in sevens and fifteens, representing the national team from 1998 to 2010. He led the outfit to wins in the Singapore Sevens (Bowl) and the team in 2010 for the Commonwealth Rugby Sevens in India.

After hanging up his boots, he started his coaching career at Rajans from 2012 to 2016, taking the side to an unbeaten League Championship in 2013, which was the first time for the Kandy school to date, and won the William Weerasinghe trophy encounter against Kingswood for four years.

After shifting to Nepal, he took their rugby to a different level, looking after both men’s and women’s outfits, showing a lot of improvement in the Asian nation for the oval-shaped ball game.

In 2019, he took over the head coach role at Army for two years before shifting to Royal College as an assistant coach for the last three years.

Hetti will have former Trinity Lion, Havies, and national player Kavinda Jayasena as his forwards coach. Nafees Naizer (trainer), Prince Chamara (kicking coach), and Nimesh de Silva (physio) will be the rest of the panel for Zahira in 2025. Being one of the oldest schools to start rugby in the early 1920s, they will be all out to end the season on top.