Police SC lands Havies legend Hapugoda

By: Harsha Amarasinghe

COLOMBO (Daily Mirror) - Former Sri Lanka Skipper Mithun Hapugoda has parted ways with his boyhood club Havelock SC after 11 years, crossing over to the local rivals Police Sports Club in a staggering move ahead of the Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament.

The nippy scrum half has been one of the most consistent players for Sri Lanka, and is now expected to be the key player for Police Sports Club in what's expected to be a thrilling season.

Police SC Head Coach Nilfer Ibrahim in an interview with the Daily Mirror stated that he expects more from his back division during the upcoming season.

"To be very honest, we had a bit of a setback with our backline last season with many injuries, but this season we have got the players back and with new signings, I hope we can achieve something special," Ibrahim stressed.

In addition to Hapugoda, the cops have also sealed the former Sri Lanka star player Hirantha Perera, and Ramitha de Silva while bagging eight school-leavers.

Police SC possess a very experienced pack, which has been playing together for many years, and they are set to be boosted with the availability of another former Sri Lanka forward in Dulanjana Wijesinghe.

"Actually there are two or three forwards who have already captained and that really helps the whole team as they are very experienced.”

“In addition to that our Assistant Coach Dulanjana Wijesinghe will also be available this season to take part in games having trained very well. So, we are looking forward to having a good season” Ibrahim added.

The former Sri Lanka Head Coach also believes that his team would be able to take advantage of playing over six games at home.

"Last season we played only a few games at home as most of our games were away, but this season, I believe, we have over six home games which is an advantage and in front of our fans, the players would be able to perform very well," claimed Ibrahim.

The former Kingswood College fly half said that his team's plan is to take one game at a time.

"We have set few targets but we need to go by game and right now our target is to win that first game with a bonus point," concluded Ibrahim.