This April will mark the 10th death anniversary of Royal’s revered rugby master and that great and kindly gentleman, M. T. Thambapillai . The long whistle, as it were, was blown on him on April 19, 1998. He passed on after a brief illness following a tragic motor accident at the pedestrian crossing at Nawala-Koswatte Junction.

Moses Thirugnasingham Thambapillai , endearingly Thamba to all of us, was born on April 25, 1910 in Jaffna. He cut his initial teeth, so to speak, at Chundukuli Girls School and was nurtured at Trinity College, Kandy. For good measure he had also attended Royal before circumstances compelled him to join Trinity. What Royal would have missed in him as a student, she gained in ample measure subsequently from his great dedication as an ebullient member on her staff. It was at Royal that his true character was to burgeon, ending up very much an ardent devotee of his adopted school where he served as teacher, master in charge of Rugby and mentor to many a young Royalist.

During his association with his charges at Royal he showed us that it costs nothing to live in dignity and honour with no rancour, malice or prejudices. His was a model of equanimity living in perfect harmony with all communities that made up our dear Alma Mater. Although he enjoyed the best his protégés would most obligingly provide for him, he still went for that Fussels Lane simplicity of yesteryear. He firmly believed in what is right and not who is right and always steadfastly stood by that principle. For him the Game and the School were, indeed, bigger than the individuals who played it. It is true that he loved them all to the end and was deeply concerned about them and they in turn bestowed a reciprocal concern entrenched in a deep love and respect for him. Yet what mattered in the ultimate analysis was the Game and the School: an invaluable lesson he inculcated in us from our playing days.

Though he was officially in charge of Royal rugby from 1947 to 1970 his magnificent influence was felt far beyond these years. During the period of his stewardship , he was ably and willingly assisted, inter alia, by four of the best the Game has ever produced, four loyal and deeply dedicated Royalists: his close accomplices in Royal rugby: Summa Navaratnam, Mahesa Rodrigo, Geoff Weinman and Stanley Unamboowe. Royal won the Bradby for the first time in 1948, with fourteen freshers, just one year after he took over as master in charge. Royal repeated this performance in 1949 and 1951. Though from 1952 to 1956 Royal experienced a long drought, so to speak, it was Thamba more than anybody else who kept, the Royal rugby flame aglow, incessantly urging his charges never to despair in the face of adversity. Keeping the flame burning in those lean and frustrating years , at times meeting inimical forces head-on, was as important for him, perhaps more important, than picking the kudos during the days of Glory.

Even in the classroom in the middle of a knotty physics problem, one had only to mention the alleged faux paus of a player or a referee to send him on a splendid spin to rugby land. Such was his enthusiasm for the Game. Yet, if any of his pupils made a slip in class he did not hesitate to put him in his place. "You son of a sea cook," he would characteristically admonish, and it did not matter whether the recipient was one of his own progeny!

Yet, It would be wrong to say that his energies and influence was confined to Royal rugby alone. Indeed, he was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the schools rugby section then operating as part of the SLRFU (CRFU). He was its founding Secretary/Convener and in its formative years he was ably assisted by his personal friends, Sidney de Zoysa and Dr Larry Foenander. In the early 40’s when he was a teacher at STC for a short spell, before joining Royal, he tried to introduce the game there. But the denizens of that Institution were not quite ready then for such a robust and manly game as Rugby Union Football!

With great enthusiasm he used to tell us that whatever he achieved was due to his strict adherence to the three Ws, to wit, Work, Walk and Water. Work : his zestful stewardship as teacher, Rugby master, and co-founder of the schools rugby section amply stands testimony to this. Walk: he walked as much as he could even when a bus ride could get him to the destination more conveniently. Water: he drank this ever so willingly and as much as he would desire as he firmly believed in its therapeutic qualities. What he did not mention directly, though, was one other W in his life, viz, his dear wife, Lolita, a devoted woman, who so steadfastly stood by him in all his endeavours throughout an eventful life. Together with her he was, while being concerned about all his charges, able to nurture to manhood four worthy and wonderful sons ; Bertram, Deutram, Elmo and Nirmo, each excelling in his respective profession in different parts of the world. Had he been alive, it would surely have thrilled him no end to see two of them, Elmo and Deutram, at the helm of activities in RCOBA in UK.