I really want to condemn Daily Mirror for their article titled "Royal Chickens Out", published on Monday 6th July 2009. (Read the article here).
The article says that the Royalists have withdrawn from the Rugby Knockout tournament despite the fact that they became the champions in the league tournament. It also says that Royal has a history of pulling out of tournaments.
Before anything the Daily Mirror and all other readers should note that Royal College does not only concentrate on Sports but also on academic sector too. Royal College has produced very good results in sports as well as in academic side too. As it is noted Royal produces Island wide Top Rankers every year in G.C.E. A/L examinations.
This year the league started a bit late after the case filing saga and it ended on 04th of July 2009. As you may know the Sri Lankan G.C.E. Advanced Level examinations are conducted by the Department of Examinations in the month of August and it is notable that nearly half of the Royal College 1st XV Rugby team is sitting for the G.C.E. A/L examinations this year - to be clear Naren Dhason the captain of the side, Nikira Senanayake - the deputy skipper and most of the pack and some from the line are sitting for the examination this year, thus to concentrate on their studies they need to take at least one month of full studying sessions, Thus they could have decided to pull out from the tournament.
On the other hand I also want to condemn the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Union for having the school based Rugby tournaments in the months of June & July where most of the School Rugby team members sit for their G.C.E. A/L examinations in August.
Please kindly note that unlike any other educational institutions in Sri Lanka - Royal is always balanced with academic and co-curricular activities and do not see a school team with a perspective you see a club team.
