CHANDRASHAN PERERA – PETERITE RUGBY LEGEND
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Chandrashan Perera (29 December 1957– 24 October 2021) was a Sri Lankan rugby union player, coach, commentator, journalist, lawyer and administrator who also served as captain of the national side. He represented the Sri Lanka rugby sevens side from 1979 to 1994 in the position of winger.
He pursued his primary education up until Grade 5 at St. Peter’s College, Bambalapititya before moving to England to complete his primary and secondary education at the Mill Hill School in London.
From a young age Chandrashan was a promising athlete.While at St Peters he was part of the team that broke the Junior Public relay team under 14 Record.
After leaving the school in England , he graduated with a degree in Criminology and Law from the University of Essex in England. He also went on to play first-class cricket during his stay in England and was a regular player for University of Essex.
He later returned to his native country Sri Lanka in 1979 to pursue his career in rugby. He joined CH&FC in 1979 and soon became a household name in Sri Lanka among rugby fans due to his exploits playing A division rugby.
He was also a vital member of the Sri Lankan Tuskers side which won the Bowl Championship defeating Papua New Guinea in the final of the 1984 Hong Kong sevens.
>He was also a crucial member of the CH&FC Team which surprisingly reached the final of the 1984 Singapore Cricket Club International Rugby Sevens in which New Zealand edged past CH & FC in a close thriller by 21-16 in the final.
He captained Sri Lanka to a historic triumph at the 1994 Fiji Invitation Sevens where Sri Lanka outclassed Uruguay by 21-14 in the final.It remains the best achievement by Sri Lanka in rugby sevens and Chandrashan remains as the only captain for Sri Lanka to have won the Fiji sevens.
He also ran his own training rugby school and an advertising company named Sharky’s sport advertising. He also served as a rugby national team selector, executive director of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union and also volunteered as a fitness trainer for the Sri Lanka men’s national cricket team in 1992.Sri Lanka would go onto win the 1996 Cricket World Cup defeating mighty Australia in the final and Chandrashan was highly praised for his efforts in uplifting the fitness standards of the Sri Lankan national cricket team which was evident with Sri Lanka’s World Cup triumph.He also transformed the fitness and professional levels of some of the most important cricketers including Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva
He was appointed by Thilanga Sumathipala to head Sri Lanka Cricket’s first ever media unit which was launched in 1999.While being the media manager of Sri Lanka Cricket, he also spearheaded a humanitarian project called “Cricket Aid” in 2004 which was carried out in order to help the families affected by the 2004 tsunami..He was reappointed media manager of Sri Lanka Cricket in 2016.He was also involved in many motivational programmes to uplift the University of Moratuwa although he was not an alma mater of the university.
Despite being known for his physical intensity, his health began deteriorating in 2018 as he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
A local domestic rugby match between Colombo Origins and Outstation Origins was organized in April 2019 at the Havelock Sports Club Ground as a fundraiser for Chandrashan in order to raise funds for his medical expenses.
He received the Life Time Award of Excellence with the prestigious title “Kreeda Bhushuna” at the 2019 Presidential Awards.
