- Martis hints at stepping down
Sri Lanka captain Nigel Ratwatte implored the country’s rugby administrators to act fast and sort out their off-field issues, enabling his players to smoothly plan their campaign in the 2027 Rugby World Cup Qualifiers from this June.
He spoke to The Daily Morning Sports, in the wake of his team’s elevation to the top tier of Asian rugby, after his men thumped an under-par Malaysia 59-19 in their Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship play-off in Colombo on Saturday.
“I know that there have been some issues connected to Sri Lanka Rugby,” the Sri Lanka fly-half said.
“But those are not our immediate concern and they are beyond our control as players. For me, it’s all about youngsters and I hope for the sake of SL rugby they sort out whatever the issues they have. In any case, I urge the authorities concerned to resolve problems that are brewing, so that the young players in our squad don’t suffer its consequences.”
Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) has been put on notice by World Rugby (WR) and the former has to amend its constitution and hold an election of office bearers, before 14 June 2025 or risk a suspension of its membership lasting up to late 2027.
Ratwatte led the national team known as ‘Tuskers’, to an emphatic triumph as the hosts outscored the visitors by nine tries to three in a lop-sided playoff, to secure their place alongside Hong Kong, UAE, and South Korea.
He said off field issues as referred by him above, did not have any impact on his team in the lead up to the crunch fixture and praised the attitude of his players having come together at short notice.
“Really proud of the effort of the boys in being able to put almost 60 points on the board, within a week’s training,” he pointed out.
He however said they had at no stage thought they would be able to run up a cricket score in the build up to the encounter, but asserted that at the end of the day, they had implicit trust in each other.
Ratwatte put down hard work as being key to the 40-point victory margin and claimed that both forwards and backs clicking as a unit, had been instrumental in his side being able to overpower the tourists on the day.
“I think we wanted to play a very fast game and we executed that well on the day, which paved the way for this stunning performance.”
Asked whether the oppressive humidity, under which the Test was played, may have had an effect on their opponents, Ratwatte was unsure.
“I am not that sure about it,” he said philosophically. “I heard before the match they (Malaysia) had said in an interview that they were quite used to these types of conditions, as it did not differ much from what they experience back home. But I think with the sort of pace with which we played the game, that helped us to outplay them more than anything.”
The Kandy SC pivot who came out of retirement to spearhead his country’s charge into Asia’s rugby elite, could not be drawn on his immediate plans.
Pressed for his views on whether he will be available for national duty in future, Ratwatte sought time to make that call and seemed to suggest that he may still serve the national cause.
The skipper was content with the nucleus of the team going forward, which he said was made up of a heap of youngsters who he suggested will go far if moulded professionally.
Meanwhile, a beaming national coach Sanath Martis, said he was not unduly surprised by the final score and observed that his men could have even piled up more misery on the opposition, but for a few handling errors in both halves.
The veteran coach, a household name in the sphere, said that his players were in peak form ahead of the game and noted that he and his backroom staff had only to brush up certain areas.
He opined that had the Tuskers spread out the ball even more among their outside backs, they could have amassed an even bigger score.
He also commended the leadership of Nigel Ratwatte and picked out backs such as Danushka Ranjan, Dinal Ekanayake and forwards of the caliber of Tharindu Chathuranga, Nizran Nillar, Naveen Marasinghe, and Lasindu Karunathilaka, as stand outs.
Martis before concluding also strongly hinted that he has had enough in the coaching box and added that he would prefer someone else to fine tune the Lankans in their future international assignments.
“I have done my duty for the country and feel tired being in the hot seat. It’s time for someone else to charter the team’s path from here on and hence would prefer to step aside.”
PHOTO LALITH PERERA