When will up-country rugby comeback to its former position, will the rugby governing body, Sri Lanka Rugby, bring back Dimbulla A & CC, Dickoya M.C.C. and Uva Gymkhana Club to redeem lost prestige in a game which was dominated by these three clubs at one time. The game of rugger was first introduced to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in 1879 with the corporate sector initiating rugby promotions in Colombo and taking it to the up-country by the planting sector confined to the British. The seeds of rugby were planted in the Up Country with Scottish and Englishmen stationed in the plantations. In the good old days the Clifford Cup was played at either Radella Dimbulla ground or Darawella Dickoya ground. The clubs that represented the up-country were Dimbula A & CC, Dickoya MCC, Uva Gymkhana and Kandy SC.
In 1908 when the Ceylon Rugby Football Union was formed these three clubs and Kalutara SC gave their full support. During that time only two Kandy schools Trinity College and Kingswood College were playing the game. And there were two Ceylonese teams Kandy Rovers and Colombo Ceylonese. The first ever club game to be played was between two up-country clubs, Dickoya MCC versus Dimbulla A & CC. This match was played on September 7, 1880 with the Dickoya planters winning the game by 9 points to 3. This match was played at Darawella. The return game took place a week later at the Radella ground and Dimbulla came out as winners 3-0.
Unfortunately, today these three clubs Dimbulla, Dickoya and Uva have been out of rugby for quite a long time. Dimbulla A & CC was the first Clifford Cup winners from the up-country in 1953 when the tournament was only four years old. Then, in 1956, Dimbulla A & CC combined with Dickoya MCC and played as Dim/Dicks, and became second to CR & FC in the Clifford Cup. Then in 1957 Dim/Dicks led by Malcolm Wright lost to CH & FC led by John Daves. Once again in 1959 Dimbulla A & CC led by Ken McPherson shared the championship with CR & FC after a 11 all draw.
Dimbulla was founded in 1856 and their sports activities were rugby, cricket, squash, billiards, snooker, tennis and badminton. Another movement came in 1970 under the leadership of Ken Murray when Dimbulla emerged as league champions and they were deprived of the rugby double when they lost to Abdul Majeed’s Police team 0-6 in the Clifford Cup knockout semi-finals. This club has produced some of the finest players in the country in the likes of D.R. Macare, J. Bousfield, J. Warning, Miles Christoffelsz, Larry Shockman, S. Canagasabai, M. Parry, I. McDonals, Mike de Alwis, Stanly Unamboowe, Dharmasiri Madugalle, Owen Mottau, Jayantha Jayewardena, Rohan Wijenayake, Clifford Elahart, Roger D’ Silva, Sunil Jayakody, Tommy Kelaart, Peter Amerasinghe, Rohan Kulatunga, Mohan Samarakoon, Iswan Omar, Tuan Dole, PHAN Dias, Brian Lourensz, Lanil Tennakoon, Brian Lieverze, Cedric and Brian Munaweera, Maithri Liyanage, Chandika Brodie, Senaka Alawattegama, Johnny Daniels, Mohan Ganapathy, D.J. Ratwatte, Ana Wijeratne, Trevor Nugawella, Channa de Costa, Ravi Bandaranayake and Ronnie Ibrahim to name a few. The Dickoya Maskeliya Cricket Club also known as DMCC is another sporting club formed by British tea planters and founded in 1868. The club was also called Darawella Club. The club’s first official rugby match was played at this Darawella ground. In 1958 Dickoya MCC led by Barry Cameron, successfully made to the final of the Clifford Cup for the first time but lost to CR & FC. In 1961, under the leadership of MGK Macpherson the man who led Kandy SC in the 1955 Cup final, they repeated the feat competing in the final against Havelock SC led by Dr. Hurbert Aloysius and eventually lost 11–9 due to an off-side penalty. In that year, Dickoya MCC had a few locals in the caliber of TB Pilapitiya, Rohan Wijenayake, BI Gunawardena and Uvais Odayar. Some of the top products of this club were Barry Cameron, Tony Johnson, Chris Bean, Lionel Almeida, Uvais Odayar, David Weatherton, Baila Samarasinghe, D. Bretherton, Dharmasiri Madugalle, Rohan Abeyasundara, JME Warning, Mohan Samarakoon, Iswan Omar, Irwin Howie, CD Gibon, Lanil Tennakoon, Ranga Gunasekara, Mohan Ganapathy, Mahen Madugalle, Tony Perera, Dushy Perera, Tariq Omar, Dilkshan Ratwatte, Dushan Ratwatte, Rohan Edwards, Sumedha Ratwatte, Suresh Navaratnam, Rajivi Bandaranayake and Chanake Hearth.
The Uva Gymkhana Club was the first club from the up-country to enter the Clifford Cup final in 1952 and lost to CR & FC by 19 points to nil. Uva Gymkhana Club has also produced good rugby teams and was formed in the 1880s in the Badulla town and was later amalgamated with the Gymkhana Club. At that time, the most looked forward to match was between Uva and CH & FC. Uva Gymkhana Club played rugby in grand style with recognition from all sectors. Their first Clifford Cup team was made up of L. Herath, A. Ariarajah, C. MaCaulayt, P. Pontibridge, G. Fernando, R. Tissera, G. Pethiyagoda, F. Brown, H. Froxely, D. Dawson, M. McKohenck, D. Bertleet, G. Roberts, S. Scobie and J Mac.
The Uva Gymkhana Club was formed in 1928 and there were sports like rugby, cricket, tennis, hockey, billards and snoker and badminton. The Uva Gymkhana Club at one time conducted horse racing as well. Some of the top players who turned out for Uva were ACB Horfall, CD Herath, MM Clarke, JT Pettgraw, F. Aldons, K. Ariarajah, D. Parkar, Tyrone Howie, RG Howie, J. Boyd Moss, J. Garner, Ralph Gauder, SB Pilapitiya, A. Hamer, Lionel Almeida, Rayan Howie, Ronnie Gunaratne, Lanil Tennekoon, Sarath de Zoysa, DN “Nipa” Pilimatalauwa, Farook “Baba” Cassim, Mohan Samarasinghe, Uvais Odayar, Goerge Jayasena, Dharmasiri Madugalle, Franklyn Jacob, Iswan Omar, Gamini Udugama, Sunil Serasinghe, David Withem to name a few.
By this report, it is believed that Sri Lanka Rugby would at least look to find a way to entice the up-country clubs to link rugby once again so as to form one of the brightest chapters in Sri Lankan rugby.
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