At 15 he was in contention for a place in the senior squad and a couple of seasons later he had the distinction of representing the First XV 'sevens' team.
After many years of hard work and commitment Tharindu Siriwardena has emerged as one of the top number eight player in the current inter schools rugby scene.
Tharindu Siriwardena. Picture by Mahinda Vithanachchi
His latest heroics came last week when he spearheaded Isipatana College to a memorable 30-24 triumph against the arch rivals S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia in a key inter school fixture.
This was a fantastic effort considering the fact that the team had earlier suffered two demoralizing defeats at the hands of St. Peter's College and Kingswood College Kandy respectively.
As a result Isipatana were faced with a must win situation and their chances of winning the title was quietly slipping away from their hands. But Tharindu Siriwardena grabbed the opportunity to produce his best performance this season with a great amount of courage and determination.
The skill level and the tactical play that he employed in this vital game certainly had a huge impact in the final outcome as Isipatana bounced back into recognition with a morale boosting victory.
They were almost down and out after the opening two fixtures in which they did not play to their potential where they hacked the forwards too much throughout the game.
But a change in their game plan transformed the entire Isipatana outfit into a formidable one which brought them the desired results at the end. Four tries even before half time and that was the kind of attitude that the lads from Havelock Park adapted to pull off a splendid victory despite the heavy odds against them.
Tharindu Siriwardena was in the thick of every move and he performed that role quite exceptionally while making some vital decisions when his side was under tremendous pressure.
He was able to plan out a superb strategy in the first half that helped them to build up a 30-12 lead and then organized a solid defence during the latter stages when the Thomians had launched a fierce late rally.
But Siriwardena as the pack leader and playmaker held his nerve and motivated his teammates that eventually helped them to come out of a tough situation. This was of course not the first time that he had performed a similar role having served the Isipatana First XV team for the past three years.
In fact his best outing was last year where he mastered one of the finest victories in schools rugby to beat a powerful Kingswood College team at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy. Another effort that would always be in his memory is the try that he scored in the 2008 President's Trophy knock out tournament final against St. Peter's College. Even then Isipatana had to be content with the runners up position on that occasion.
Siriwardena of course started his rugby career as a centre three quarter under the guidance of his first coach A. C. Tennekoon. Thereafter he switched positions and joined the front row as a prop forward while representing the College Under 15 team.
He also had a liking to hockey and was the vice captain of the College under 13 and 15 teams. He was an all round sportsman at the beginning and played a major role in the junior basketball and cricket teams as well. But as time passed he settled with his favourite sport rugby and soon became one of the star players in the First XV team.
He also had the distinction of captaining the under 13, under 15 and under 18 teams respectively. In fact he was able to represent the First XV team at 17 years and from there onwards he went on to make vast strides in the schools rugby scene by playing in his favourite Number Eight position.
Siriwardena said that he obtains a great amount of satisfaction by playing in the third row which is one of the key positions in the lineup. No wonder his favourite ruggerite is the New Zealand skipper and flanker Richey Macko for his powerful tackling and well disciplined play.
Siriwardena has now reached his pinnacle in schools rugby and is hoping to make this season a memorable one by winning the rest of the matches in the Singer division one league tournament.
Siriwardena later came under the guidance of Sajith Mallikarachchi, Bimal Perera and Shamly Nawaz.
In fact he is privileged to be coached and guided by a former Isipatanian Shamly Navaz who himself as a number eight player has rendered all the assistance and the knowledge to become a top ruggerite.
Nawaz believe that Siriwardena is certainly a future Sri Lankan star and has already shown signs of taking the game into the next level.
He is a good lose player with the forwards and his leadership qualities are also quite excellent.
The Isipatana coach was really impressed with the kind of performance which he produced in the must win game against S. Thomas' College at Mount Lavinia.
He said that Siriwardena led the way by making some good decisions at vital stages of the game and was able to motivate his teammates during tough situations.
Nawaz was proud to state that young Siriwardena is now playing even better than he performed some time back after having absorbed all the experience and the knowledge during the last two seasons.
Nawaz said that he first came across Siriwardena during the 2008 inter school season and since then he has been able to make a tremendous improvement both physically and mentally.
Daily News, May 14th 2010
