Away from the prying eyes of die-hard followers, the ball was passed in schools rugby as its godfather for almost two decades Singer, the home appliance giant, gave way for a new caretaker who signed what it said was a three-year alliance with the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association.
But no kind of formula has been implemented to end a litany of violent incidents which have taken place over the past five years and disgustingly ignored but well documented by the Sunday Observer last season.
At its official launch on Friday, the only reference to stamp out hooliganism was the usual declaration of “requesting and providing security” with the only desire to address the scourge of violence in schools rugby coming in the form of an impassioned plea from former Sri Lanka Rugby president Asanga Seneviratne who virtually begged a host of 30 team captains to safeguard decency. “You are carrying a 140-year legacy on your shoulders and your discipline starts with your mother and father.
You behave on the field the way you were brought up at home and you represent your school, so don’t let the side down,” said Seneviratne who currently serves as the chairman Competitions and High Performance of Asia Rugby at the launch held at the BMICH in Colombo.
As many as 12 major incidents of violence took place over the past five years with the last being at the high intensity Knock-Out tournament semi final last July between St. Peter’s College and Isipathana College at the Royal Sports Complex ground where a young boy was also brutally assaulted near a posse of policemen.
Analysts claim that only the goal posts have been shifted with the ground remaining fertile for any imaginable acts of crowd violence to further bloom.
Some of them have even called for schools to be banned for misconduct on the part of their violent supporters. Schools rugby has become big business today with the parent body of the the sport Sri Lanka Rugby estimating its market value to be in the range Rs.150 to Rs.200 million for an annual four-month season and its new commercial partner Dialog pumping in Rs.65 million and assuming the money will be well spent.
“We have signed a 16-page Agreement looking into all areas and we feel everything will happen as discussed. We have full faith in the Schools Rugby Association,” said Harsha Samaranayake the senior general manager Brand and Media of Dialog the country’s biggest heavyweight in spots promotion.
Officials running schools rugby are seldom open to media scrutiny and stand accused of using schoolboys as pawns and doing very little to check the unprecedented level of violence that has put players, spectators and match officials at the mercy of rowdy elements.
Top contenders St. Peter’s College herald the start of the new schools league when they host Kandy’s Dharmaraja College on March 4.