Nalanda intends to produce winning Rugby outfit

Nalanda College Colombo is taking a keen interest to promote Rugby among youngsters despite cricket being the most popular sport there. At present the intentions of Nalanda College to produce a winning outfit in the coming years stays intact with the strength and enthusiasm of their junior players.

Over 50 youngsters have shown great interest in making their dream come true by regularly attending practices, which is scheduled thrice a week, under the watchful eyes of coach Nilantha Perera. Perera, a former Thurstan College player and a reputed coach, is providing the youngsters with the basics and the most essential points of the game.

The whole exercise has helped Nalanda to gradually stamp their class in schools junior Rugby. Recently Nalanda were able to four teams in the Under-10, Under-12 and Under-13 age categories at the Junior Rugby Carnival conducted by Old Anandians Rugby Wing and the All-Island Junior Tournament conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association.

Though matches were played as friendlies at this level, Nalanda juniors were able to perform well and win a few games against some fancied sides. The efforts of the coaching staff and the school officials, namely Ranjith Jayasundera, N. Illangasinghe and M. Yatawara are helping the youngsters of Nalanda shape up to perform well and transform into a winning outfit in the near future.