Uva Gymkhana Club has a proud rugby history-by Hafiz Marikar

Source:Dailynews

When will the Uva Gymkhana Club regain its past glory? At one time this club played rugby on a grand scale, having been formed in 1928, they played rugby, cricket, tennis, hockey, billiards and badminton and at one time conducted horse racing as well.

In 1952 the Uva Gymkhana Club entered the Clifford Cup finals and lost to CR & FC by 19 points to nil, they were the first club from Up-Country to enter the Clifford Cup Final and produced good rugby teams at one time. Their first Clifford cup team comprised 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, J Mac.

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The rugby players of Uva who played the game at the highest level were called the Merrie Men of Uva. At that time, the most looked forward match was between Uva and CH & FC. Some of the players who played for Uva were; A. C. B.Horfall, C. D. Herath, M.. M. Clarke, J. T. Pettgraw, F. Aldons, K. Ariarajah,D. Parkar, Tyrone Howie, R. G. Howie, John. Boyd Moss, J. Garner, Ralph Gauder, S.B. Pilapitiya, A. Hamer, Lionel Almeida, Rayan Howie, Ronnie Gunaratne, Lanil Tennekoon, Sarath de Zoysa, D. N. “Nipa” Pilimatalauwa, Farook “Baba” Cassim, Mohan Samarasinghe, Uvais Odayar, George Jayasena, Dharmasiri Madugalle, Franklyn Jacobs, Iswan Omar, Gamini Udugama, Sunil Serasinghe, David Witham to name a few.

Possessing such a proud history, Sri Lanka rugby’s main contribution to the game is certainly the famous Clifford Cup tournament with the finals been played at either Radella or Darawella.

The clubs that represented Up Country were Kandy SC, Dimbula AC, Dickoya MCC and Uva which were at one time the leading rugby clubs in the country.

According to past records of rugby, those who took the game seriously in the early years were the planting community from Dickoya, Dimbula and Uva. In 1908 when the Ceylon Rugby Football Union was formed with only six clubs in the game, Dimbula ACC, Dickoya MCC, Kandy SC, Uva Gymkhana Club, CH & FC and Kalutara SC.