People’s club Havelocks made a rousing start to their new inter club Premier league rugby season with a devastating 49-8 win over Air Force in a walk-in-the park kind of result although the players may dismiss the description as bunkum talk from the sidelines.
Ethan Loos/Oliver Buckle
But certainly a big question hangs over the heads of the team of the club with a history of over a hundred years that in the 1970s and ‘80s drew some of the biggest crowds that were the envy of rival teams.
Having the best curtain raiser result was always a possibility and the 2023/24 season had nothing strange about it while the club hierarchy expects the bubble to expand.
But will it burst at the hands of the usual tournament favourites Kandy Sports Club which must be one of the world’s most successful sports entities, result wise.
Former Royal College Coloursman of 2016, Azmir Fajudeen who is the new captain of Havelocks will not be taking any chances or anything for granted although club officials tend to hide the lapses and paint a different picture year after year in front of the media at pre-season launches.
With eight teams in the fray Havelocks, according to Fajudeen, will not see any opponent as the underdog.
“We have had some reforms for this season”, said Fajudeen. “Everybody knows about the season we had last time. Every match will be like a final for us and we have seven finals.”
He was answering a question posed by a journalist after the club’s Rugby Chairman Roshan Opatha declared “nothing was wrong with the team last year”
Going by the points ranking of last year, Havelocks ended low down unable to finish in the top four.
Havelocks make up a team worthy of their place in the top ranks of domestic rugby and are not only fortunate to have a captain and a leader with foresight but also a player who knows how to carry himself off the field of play.
Overall to get the ball rolling, Havelocks have enticed two overseas players of Sri Lankan parentage in Ethan Loos from Australia and Oliver Buckle from the United Kingdom and the Park Club are hoping to see brighter stars especially at their home matches that will be played at night.
Also attracted are last season’s schoolboy players from Isipathana and St Peter’s Colleges, two schools that have fed Havelocks with their prized products for more than 50 years.
One of them is Sudesh Jayawickrema who was an inspiration behind the Peterites winning both the inter school league and knockout titles at the concluded season.
But the young centre will also have to realise that it is one thing to play for College pride and another to put up in a club set up.
What will be positive for him is that he’s got a sound captain in Fajudeen, an elder brother in Sudesh and a new coach in Saliya Kumara.
