Sean Mark Wijesinghe head coach of Kandy Sports Club will be missed when he migrates to Canada on Friday. His departure is not only a great loss to Kandy Sports Club, but also for Sri Lankan rugby. Former Trinitian Wijesinghe represented Trinity College rugby in 2000 and 2001 under David Luchow and Thisal Jayawardena.
Wijesinghe has wide experience, having captained Kandy SC twice, the national team and been an understudy to former coach Johan Taylor. He has undergone rugby coaching and training overseas in Levels 1, 2 and 3 and holds a coach educator certificate. He is also a level II strength and conditioning coach. He gave off his best for the school at basketball and rugger and won colors in both sports.
Wijesinghe was one of the leading third row forwards and learnt the rudiments of rugby at Trinity College under Quentin Israel and while at school he represented Kandy Sports Club. Under his leadership the Nittawela club won the triple in 2008, where they were unbeaten. He captained again in 2014/15 to win the league and the knockouts. He also played for Combined Schools and Sri Lanka and led the national side to win the Asian Five Nations championship in Singapore. He played for his country from 2002 to 2015.
Wijesinghe worked as Kandy SC’s coaching guru for six years and helped the Nittawela club to reach dizzy heights with his good coaching and saw the club win the league for the 20th time in 25 years.
He also played overseas rugby in Taranaki, New Zealand and also had the privilege of coaching his school Trinity College in 2012, 2013 and 2016.
Sean was accorded a grand farewell dinner on Saturday at the Nittawela club house, where all players and the committee were present.