M.V. Muhsin
It was some fifty years ago. For ruggerite Maurice de Silva the
evening started just as an ordinary day. Maurice warming up at Havelock
Park. He was practicing throwing the javelin as a way of strengthening
his arms. So he hurled the javelin a good distance and was happy with
his throw.
His friend Carl Fernando was some distance away and Maurice called
out and asked Carl to throw the Javelin back. Carl obliged! Maurice who
was away from the line of sight stepped back into the arena and here was
Carl with unintended geometrical precision making its way toward
Maurice.
It took only a split second, and the javelin pierced---yes
pierced-Maurice’s neck. Maurice fell down flat on the grass with the
spear embedded in his neck. David Hoffman who was nearby ran towards
Maurice and seeing the Javelin stuck in Maurice’s neck yanked the
Javelin out.
Within minutes Dr. Larry Foenander who was at the club house was on
site and was horrified with what had happened and even astonished that
Maurice was still alive. Doc Larry castigated David for the hasty action
of pulling the javelin out, stating that the action could well have been
a fatal one.
Rushed to the hospital, Dr. Rustomjee determined that the javelin has
missed the voice box and the jugular vein! If this was not a miracle,
then I know of no other! That Maurice, now in his mid seventies, lives
to tell this spine chilling event on his present visit to Colombo is a
story that defies incredulity. The headline in the Daily News next day
screamed: An Inch Away from Death!”
For those of us who were Rugby fans in Kandy, Maurice de Silva was a
hero. EW Balasuriya drafted Maurice to coach the Kandy Lake Club which
was regarded as an upstart by the Colombo clubs as well as the Kandy
Sports club. How dare the Lake Club take on the establishment?! But
Maurice turned the table on them.
He moulded a collection of unremarkable rugby players into a well
coordinated pack of terriers who played excellent rugby. I recall how he
told Gavin Stevens who was playing wing forward-hey, you are a born
bloody prop and that’s where I want you to play. Maurice did not fit
places with people; rather, he identified inherent talents and fitted
people into places.
While Maurice was in Kandy, he was approached by St. Anthony’s to
coach the school side. The outcome was startling. That year St.
Anthony’s beat Trinity for the first time.
Not long afterwards Maurice
also coached Issipathana which team had the Savangham brothers and
Saranapala to boot. And yes, Isipathana had a meteoric rise in the
school rugby firmament.
As a rugby player himself and a Peterite and Ceylon cap, Maurice was
a brilliant Centre. He modeled his play on the lessons he learnt from
his uncle Archibald Perera the ace Peterite coach.
In playing for Ceylon, Maurice paired well with Nimal Maralande who
was a role model. In those days the rugby greats we knew believed
fervently that rugby was a “running game” and if you do not run, then
it’s really not rugby that they played. Maurice was known for the art of
chip kicking and punting.
At times he used even his knee to chip kick. I think it was that
memorable match in 1963 against Calcutta when Neville Sheddon the Army
sprinter who was playing wing three-quarter was injured. In those days
substitutions were not allowed.
And so Nimal Maralande pulled Sari de Sylva who was playing forward
to drop back and play wing , a position that Sari was not accustomed to
nor desired. The story goes that Maurice sensed Sari’s discomfort, but
urged him not to worry.
As the ball came down the line Maurice asked Sari to come inside and
within a split second Maurice sold a dummy-scissor to Sari and
crisscrossed his way to score, while Sari suffered the brunt of tackles
as the Calcutta players heaped on him in the belief that the ball was
with him. Larry Foenander who was refereeing said that this was a
remarkable move, and that the dummy scissor even foxed the referee!
And so as Maurice de Silva makes his way to Kandy and to the
Havelocks, many more stories will be recounted. But the main message
that comes to mind is what fine players we had who treated the art of
open rugby as their religion-as good lesson as the Rugby season opens.
Tuesday 10th April, 2012 - Daily News
