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Indika Welagedara
Yoshitha Rajapaksa
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Former S.Thomas captain, Navy SC skipper, Sri Lanka national captain cum outstanding open side flanker Yoshitha Rajapaksa will conclude his 16-year long rugby career after the upcoming CR & FC game at Longden Place on April 2 (Saturday).
Making his debut for the Navy Sports Club, after captaining his alma mater S.Thomas College Mount Lavinia, ‘Yo’ as he’s affectionately called by the rugby loving public in Sri Lanka has achieved a great deal both as captain and an excellent open side flanker, for thirteen long years, he has been the driving force on the field for the Thomians, Navy SC, CH and FC and Sri Lanka national team.
At the peak of his career, a fully-fit ‘Yo’ was second to none in Asia. Under his leadership, Sri Lanka won the Asia Division I Championship in 2015 and it was indeed a key moment in his career.
Yoshitha, in 2005 made the S. Thomas’ College first XV rugby team and in his final year in 2006 captained the team. In 2009 he was appointed captain of the Navy Sports Club Rugby team and in 2012 ‘Yo’ went on to captain the Sri Lanka national rugby team that crowned the runners-up in the 2012 Asian Five Nations Division 1 tournament in the Philippines.
The national team, under Yoshitha’s captaincy, were then successful in winning the 2013 Asian Five Nations Division 1 competition, which enabled them to compete in the 2014 HSBC Asian Five Nations tournament in Japan (the winner of which automatically qualified for the 2015 Rugby World Cup). Unfortunately Yoshitha was injured and unable to compete in the 2014 HSBC Asian Five Nations.
He was also a member of the national rugby sevens team, leading the team which won the Bowl at the 2011 Borneo Sevens and competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. He is one of the few Sri Lankan to win the club rugby double crown (league, and knockouts). But you just can’t ask for more, especially from a player who played the game with tremendous enthusiasm.
He has two of his siblings elder brother Namal and younger brother Rohitha who also captained his school S.Thomas as well and Namal went on to captain the Sri Lanka national fifteen a side team while Rohitha captained the Navy SC to an unbeaten double championship (League and Knockout).
Yoshitha was always grateful to his father, mother, two brothers and his beloved wife, who stood by him in times of need.
Friday, April 1, 2022 – 01:00
