Wesley felicitates school rugby team sponsors

By M. Shamil Amit

Wesley College, celebrating their sesquicentennial (150th) year, launched their rugby season with a press conference to felicitate the sponsors who have come forward to support rugby at a ceremony held at the Rev. John Wesley bungalow at Karlsruhe Garden.

Citizens Development Business (CDB) is the principal sponsor supporting the Wesley rugby team for the 11th successive year, which began in 2013. Joining hands with them are Deedat and D’las, while Hemas Pharmaceutical with its product ‘Appeton’ and HNB Assurance are coming in for the first time to make it a success.

Wesley College principal Avanka Fernando, speaking on the occasion while thanking the sponsors for their support, said that due to the present situation of the country, it’s not an easy task to find finance to support the boys where the financial aspect is concerned.

Looking back at the oval ball game, Wesley, which began playing rugby in 1956 with Eddie Buell as the first captain which was against Royal, and since then has come a long way in the game. However, in terms of schools rugby, the Wesleyites have yet to win a league title, although they came close in 1997 and 2003/04 by ending as runners-up.

Wesley’s glorious year was in 2013, as after playing second fiddle for two years in 2002 and 2004, they succeeded in clinching the President’s Trophy knockout title by overcoming Trinity in the final under the leadership of Rahul de Silva.

Wesley this year will be led by third-year coloursman Shem Mendis, with another third-year player, Dillon de Silva, as his deputy. They will start their campaign with the first match against Zahira at Maradana on June 15.

The Wesleyites will be guided by the Wesley-Kingswood combination of Henry Terrence as the head coach and Amjad Buksh as the backs coach, both renowned rugby players who have represented the country, along with Navy SC skipper Thilina Weerasinghe as the kicking coach and former double international (hockey and rugger) Randeera de Silva as the forwards coach.

The match schedule:

June 22 vs. Thurstan at Ratmalana
June 29 vs. St. Peter’s at Bambalapitiya
July 6 vs. St. Joseph’s at Havelock Park
July 12 vs. Royal at Havelock Park
July 20 vs. Kingswood (also played for the L.E. Blaze Trophy) at Havelock Park
July 28 vs. Vidyartha at Nittawela
The date for the annual Sir Oliver Goonetileke Shield match against S. Thomas’ Mt. Lavinia is yet to be confirmed, which will be hosted by Wesley.