Eranga – prop forward par excellence-by Althaf Nawaz

Source:Dailynews

It is very rare to find a twin brother combination in sports and if there is one, it will be a unique alliance with some interesting history imbibed in it. Eranga Rusiru Swarnathilake was a ruggerite who fell into this category with his twin brother Suranga where both mingled in the rugby arena and represented the country after an eventful school and club career.

Eranga better known as ‘Podi’ in the sporting circles was born in 1984 on the 8th of May in Katugastota and his father was the late Deshabandu D.H. Swarnathilake a businessman by profession and mother Hema was a housewife.

He has a sister Sajeewani apart from his twin brother Suranga. He was enrolled at St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota as a primary student in 1990 and continued his academic career till 2003, where he completed his higher studies. With a hefty build and a playing weight of 105 kilograms, Eranga had a liking for sports from his hey days. St. Anthony’s was a school in the forefront located in the hill capital which has blossomed in sports apart from academic studies. Eranga launched his sporting career at the age of eleven by joining the school under-13 rugby and cricket teams. His twin brother Suranga was appointed as captain and he became the vice captain in

the under-13 school rugby team in 1997. Due to his body structure, he locked horns in the ‘Pack’ and was capable of binding either as a hooker or as a Prop forward in the front row. His team managed to win the All Island Inter School Rugby Tournament for the ‘Milo Trophy’ in 1997 followed by winning the 50th Independence Day Trophy in 1998. When he was mere 14 years

old, he was selected to represent the first XV team in 1999, and continued playing there until he concluded his school rugby career in 2004.

With the first XV team they won the schools Seven a side ‘Milo Rugby Tournament’ in 2000 and surged ahead to annex the 2001 Milo League Tournament led by Tikiri Dissanayake.

He along with his brother finally ended up playing in the Junior National Rugby team from 2000 to 2003. During his presence in the senior team under Ashan Cooray’s captaincy in 2000, Tikiri Dissanayake in 2001, in 2002 his brother Suranga’s captaincy respectively. In 2001, he was rewarded with the biggest award from his ‘Alma Mater’ the ‘Antonian Eagle’ for his outstanding performance in the game. He was also awarded the Antonian Colours for his unstinted performance in rugby (loyalty and

best Performance) in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2003 respectively. He also participated in swimming at college with the under-12 and 15 age groups and competed in the Kandy district inaugural novices swimming meet from 1994 to1999 winning the freestyle and backstroke events.

When he was competing in the school rugby team, he managed to play for Kandy Sports Club in 2003. Moreover, while he was schooling, he played rugby and other sports with his twin brother Suranga. This made them call him Podi and his brother as Loku.

They broke their alliance in 2004 to engage in club rugby as he played for Kandy as Prop forward later moved to Colombo to wear the Old Zahirians jersey playing the 2005/06 seasons. After the short stint there, he re-joined his old club Kandy and scrummed down for them from 2007 to 2010, during which Kandy won the League Championship every year under Sean Wijesinghe, Pradeep Liyanage and Saliya Kumara’s captaincy where he was adjudged as the best ‘Prop Forward’ and received the award from Etisalat in 2009. In 2011, he crossed over to Navy Sports Club and played until 2013. The Navy team won the Club League for the first time under the captaincy of Rohitha Rajapaksa.

He was called to don the National jersey in 2009 and surged ahead to compete till 2014 in his favourite position of Prop Forward. While he was playing for school, he made his presence with the Sri Lanka under-19 at the Junior Asiad in Japan 2001 and in the same tournament in Hong Kong in 2002.

He made his debut for the country with the senior team at the Asian Five Nation Tournament in Singapore in 2010 and continued playing in the same tournament in UAE in 2011 where he scored his first International try. Same year he played in Hong Kong too.

He represented the National team against Poland in 2013 which they won.

His final appearance with the National team was at the Asian Five Nation tournament in Japan in 2014.

He hung up his boots in 2015 while he was competing for CR and FC due to his migration to Melbourne, Australia to follow his wife’s Post graduate studies. While he was in Melbourne, he played Rugby and Cricket for the Old Antonian team as a hobby. In 2019, he moved and settled in Northern Territory with his family. He started working as a Drug and Alcohol rehabilitation officer at Indigenous People Community Organisation in Northern Territory, Australia. He currently plays cricket for Cows Cricket Club winning several tournaments.

He would like to thank his coaches and friends commencing from school days. His very first coach Nihal, Ananda, Priyantha Gunaratne, Johan Taylor, Ronnie Ibrahim and Mothilal Jayathilake and also special thanks to former rugby player and the incumbent Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa and his brothers Yoshitha and Rohitha Rajapaksa, Duminda Pullikuttiarachchi, Duminda Abeyratne, his late Parents, twin brother Suranga, Ishanthi Samaraweera and his sister Sajeewani Attanayake, Dayan Attanayake, his wife’s father and mother Mr and Mrs. Asoka Abeyratne for the support and encouragement extended towards him.

He would also like to thank his wife Sewwandi (Sev) who stood as a pillar of strength during his ups and downs in life and is blessed with two sons Sherwin and Yoash.