Rugby star Danushka Pushpakumara a proud product of Vidyartha-by Althaf Nawaz

Danushka Pushpakumara

Vidyartha College is a leading Buddhist school located in the hill capital Kandy. It is a renowned institution for its academic studies and for sporting disciplines too. In sports, they are in the forefront in cricket, rugby and boxing, where they have produced several yesteryear sportsmen who have brought honour and fame to the school and country. Danushka Pushpakumara Rajamanthri was a highly skilled sportsman who excelled in the field of rugby at school, club and the National team Vidyartha has produced several ruggerites during the last two decades who have donned the Sri Lanka jersey with distinction like Sumedha Malewana, Dilan Ekanayake, Chanaka Chandimal, Charith Seneviratne, Radeesha Seneviratne, Saliya Kumara, Kavindu Perera and Jason Dissanayake, Danushka Pushpakumara Rajamanthri is well known as ‘Pushpe’ and ‘Dugy’ in the sporting circles and was born in 1983. His father was Piyasena working overseas while mother Irangani is a housewife. He has two siblings Shyama and Sanjula. Danushka grew up in the outskirts of Kandy and was admitted to Vidyartha College in 1989 and continued his school career until 2002, where he completed his higher studies. From his younger days, he was fond of engaging in sports and had a special liking for rugby. He launched his illustrious rugby career at the age of 10 years with the college under-13 team in 1993, when he was entrusted to lead that team. Then he went on to play in all age groups handling the oval shaped ball, finally donning the first XV jersey in 2002. The unique feature in his rugby career was that he played for college under-13, 15, 17 and 19 teams and captained all these teams occupying his favourite position as the full back, being the last man in defence. Under his leadership they surged ahead to win several tournaments in these age categories which was a unique achievement. Some of them were

the ‘Milo Trophy’ Inter school tournament which was a popular tournament among the schools in that era. While being a school’s lad, he was picked to participate in the Singer-Sri Lankan Airlines sevens tournament in 2002 and the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby team which toured Japan to play in the Asian Games in the under-19 age group in 2001won the ‘Plate’ championship which earned him the School Rugby Colours in 2002. He was also picked to represent the country with the National Rugby team in the year 2002 during his final season with the college rugby team. He played in the Sri Lanka Seven-a-side Rugby Team and participated in the XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002 followed by the ‘Singer-Sri Lankan Airlines sevens in the same year. After his distinguished school rugby career, he opted to continue playing rugby with a club and joined CH and FC to play in the under-21 Inter-Club tournament in 2002, where he was adjudged ‘Best Player’. Later he joined his town club Kandy and scrummed down with them as full back and winger, as and when required in 2002/ 2003 / 2006/2007/2008 and 2009. Seasons. In between, he locked horns in the same positions with CR and FC team in 2004/ 2005 and 2013 season while playing for Jaffna Challengers team at the ‘Carlton Rugby Sevens’ in 2013.

During his tenure with the National team, he toured with the Sri Lanka National Rugby team in Dubai, Hong Kong and competed in the Singer-Sri Lankan Rugby Sevens respectively. While he was playing in the sevens arena, he was also an active member of the XV-a-Side Rugby with the

National team representing it in several tournaments before he was injured. His school coaches were Sanath, Faizal and Piyal Navarathne, the club coaches were late George Simpkin, Johan Taylor, Tavitha Thulagaesi (Laga) and Grant Dwyer. The National teams were under the watchful eyes of late George Simpkin and Asanga Seneviratne.

He has some unforgettable memories in his rugby career including representing the National Rugby Team at the age of 19 and scoring two tries against the Tonga team at 17th Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002, which apparently was his first International exposure, while he was a member for the college team, later which enabled him to play in the National team as well. Getting coached by some of the best men in the game locally and Internationally. The experience and recognition gained through the game and the support obtained from the fans and supporters during his ups and downs in his career. He was appointed as a school Prefect from 2000 to 2001.

After calling it a day, he embarked to share his experience with the game in coaching. His first assignment was coaching his school as a back division coach from 2017 to 2019. Currently he is contracted as head coach of the under-19 rugby team at Vidyartha College. He worked as a staff assistant at HNB Assurance, as a Banking Assistant at Sampath Bank and worked as a Stock Broker at Asia Securities (Pvt) Ltd. His wife is Kanchana.