Strap - NZ series sweep the straw that broke the camel’s back
Sri Lanka national rugby head coach Sanath Martis reportedly resigned a few days ago, citing personal reasons, leaving a sudden vacuum in the team’s backroom staff, ahead of its Asia Rugby Top 4 series, informed sources told The Daily Morning Sports.
Sri Lanka is scheduled to face Korea, Hong Kong and UAE, as part of the said series in June-July and Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR)-currently functioning as an administrative body under a Competent Authority (CA), will need to secure a replacement for Martis, forthwith.
It is learnt that the veteran coach had quit his voluntary post in the national rugby setup, having submitted a letter to the SLR Competent Authority Shemal Fernando,who also is the Director General (DG) of the Sports Ministry.
Martis who also trains St. Peter’s first XV rugby team, besides coaching CH and FC in the domestic club circuit, steered the Tuskers to Asia Rugby Division 1 Championship last year, under now retired lock Suhiru Anthony.
He then coached them to the top tier of Asia Rugby with a 59-19 win over Malaysia in Colombo in a playoff match on 19 April.
However, two heavy losses were suffered by the national team at Nittawela (50-10) and Colombo (32-6) respectively, at the hands of the touring New Zealand Under-85 kg team in a subsequent two-match landmark Test series.
This being allied to severe criticism of team selections and strategies by the head of the National Sports Council (NSC) Priyantha Ekanayake, a legendary former skipper, had reportedly been the last straw, prompting Martis to call it a day from national duty.
It has also been alleged in local rugby circles that none of the national players, coaches or any member of the Tuskers backroom staff, had received any remuneration for their work, encompassing the Asia Rugby playoff against Malaysia last month and the recent series against the Kiwis.
Efforts made to seek the views of the former head coach proved unsuccessful, as he did not respond to the inquiries made by this newspaper.
The Daily Morning Sports, had previously reported that the now resigned coach had hinted of his intention to step aside being the head coach, in the aftermath of the victory over Malaysia last month.
But, sources revealed that he had volunteered to train the Tuskers for the series against the New Zealanders and with pressing commitments to his school team taking precedence, he had opted to quit ahead of the Asia Rugby Top 4 series.
Sri Lanka forwards coach Dushanth Lewke-a hard taskmaster himself, has emerged the front runner to take over from the outgoing national coach, according to rugby analysts.