Sri Lanka Police Sports Club (rugby)
| Union | Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union |
|---|---|
| Location | Sri Lanka |
| League(s) |
Dialog Rugby League Clifford Cup |
| 2013/14 Dialog Rugby League season | 7 |
Sri Lanka Police Sports Club (Police SC) is a Division 'A' rugby union team based in Sri Lanka, competing in the Dialog Rugby League. It is the rugby union team of the Sri Lanka Police Sports Club.
In 1961 Police SC together with Division 'B' teams from Air Force, Army SC, Navy and University were permitted to play alongside the Division 'A' clubs, Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club, Colombo Hockey and Football Club, Havelock SC, Kandy SC, Dimbulla Athletic & Cricket Club, Dickoya Maskeliya Cricket Club, Uva and Kelani Valley Club in the Clifford Cup competition. The expanded competition, allowed all thirteen clubs to play each other once on a home and away basis in alternate years and at the end of the season the best eight teams went on to play in a knock-out tournament for the Clifford Cup.
The Police Sports Club was promoted to Division 'A' in 1968 and in 1970 they won their first Clifford Cup, drawing in the final with Havelock SC. The club went on to win its first Clifford Cup outright in 1972, which was followed in the next year by another drawn Cup final, this time with Army SC.
The club won its first Division 'A' league title, which was then known as the ‘John Player League’ in 1979, under the captaincy of Charles Wijewardene and retained the title in the following year (1980) led by Nimal Lewke. They were successful again four years later in 1984, going on to win a record six consecutive league titles from 1984-89. During this period the club won numerous Sevens wins and clinched the Triple Crown twice. In 1984 under Upali Vithanage, Police SC won the Clifford Cup and the following year under the leadership of Sunil Sahabandu, they were unbeaten in the league, winning the Clifford Cup by defeating Havelock SC, 22-16 and also winning the Sevens.
In 1986 under H. Premasiri they retained the league title, and in 1987 under Muruga Jayaratne they won the league title and the sevens. In 1988 Ajantha Samarakoon captained them to win the double again. In 1989 they enjoyed their most successful season under Hafeel Marso clinching the Triple Crown (the League title, Sevens and Clifford Cup).
In 1990 they were heading the League points table, at the end of the first round but had to withdraw from the competition due to the Second Eelam War. In 1991 under Hemantha Yatawara they won the league and Clifford Cup, their last titles to date. In the last couple of seasons they have consistently won the Plate title but have failed to progress any further.
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