Fazil Marija (born 4 December 1985) is a former
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
player of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. Marija is known as one of Sri Lanka's finest rugby union players and one of Asia's best. He was the former captain of the
Sri Lanka national rugby union team
The Sri Lanka national rugby union team, known as the Tuskers, represents Sri Lanka in men's international rugby union. The team has yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup. They have the longest tradition of organised club rugby in Asia, d ...
. Marija comes from a sporting family background, with at least 17 members through two generations having represented various Clubs, Services Teams and National Rugby teams during the past four decades. Marija hails from the hill capital
Kandy
Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...
.
Marija retired from rugby union after the Clifford Cup knockouts, and his last match at Nittawela grounds was played on 11 February 2018. In 2019 Marija was appointed as the Head Coach of
Kandy SC
School Rugby
Marija mastered his Rugby skills at
Kingswood College, Kandy
Kingswood College ( Sinhala: කිංස්වුඩ් විද්යාලය Tamil: கிங்ஸ்வுட் கல்லூரி) is a public school which offers primary and secondary education for boys in Sri Lanka. The school ...
which is the first school to introduce schoolboy rugby to Sri Lanka back in the 1890s. Marija, represented his college teams from U-13 to U-20. He played for College 1st XV in 2003 as a
fly half
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...
, and went on to lead them for an unbeaten triple championship in year 2004 as the captain of Kingswood College 1st XV. Marija became the best Schoolboy player in the Singer International 7's Tournament and also the Golden Key Schools 7's tournament, where Kingswood College won both Championships under his captaincy.
U-16 Rugby Career
Marija first represented Sri Lanka in year 2000. In that year he toured for the first time with Sri Lanka National U 16 team for the
Junior Rugby Asiad. While still at school, in 2003 he was called up by
Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union
Sri Lanka Rugby is the governing body for rugby union in Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest governing bodies in the world, being founded as the Ceylon Rugby Football Union in 1908.
History
The Ceylon Rugby Football Union was founded in 1908. T ...
(SLRFU) to be on the starting lineup at the match against touring
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
at
Nittawela Rugby Stadium, Kandy. In 2004, Marija commenced Club Rugby career by representing
Kandy Sports Club in their 2nd round match against
Havelocks Sports Club at Nittawela Stadium. He also went on to represent the Kandy SC in the Clifford Cup Knock out tournament matches in the same year. To date, he continues to represent Kandy Sports Club and during this period Kandy Sports Club went on to dominate the Rugby Headlines in Sri Lanka Rugby by winning the League and Knockout Tournaments continuously. He was adjudged ‘Most Promising Player of the Year -2004’ at the Caltex/Observer Rugby Awards at the end of the season. All this he did while he was still a school boy at Kingswood College. He went on to captain his Club, Kandy Sports Club, in 2010 Club Rugby season.
National representation
Marija has represented Sri Lanka in numerous international tournaments, both in 7 a side and 15 a side. This exceeds 50 International fifteen a side matches and more than a century of 7 a side matches. He is the most capped Sri Lankan rugby player. Marija is the current captain of
Sri Lanka 7's teams and he led Sri Lankan Tuskers in many International 7's tournaments (2008, 2012 and 2013) and also served as the Vice Captain of the Sri Lanka National Rugby Teams of 2011 and 2013. In 2010, he was invited to represent
Asia Pacific Barbarians in Hong Kong and played alongside
George Gregan
George Musarurwa Gregan AM (born 19 April 1973) is a retired Australian rugby union player, and is currently Australia's most capped international player.
Gregan was born in Lusaka, Zambia. He played Super 12 (now Super Rugby) for the Brumbi ...
,
Justin Marshal,
Christian Cullen
Christian Mathias Cullen (born 12 February 1976) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player. He played most of his rugby at fullback for New Zealand (the All Blacks), for the Hurricanes in the Super 12, and for Manawatu, Wellington and later ...
,
Hale Tipo and coach
David Campese
David Ian Campese, AM (born 21 October 1962), also known as Campo, is a former Australian rugby union player (1982-1996), who was capped by the Wallabies 101 times, and played 85 Tests at wing and 16 at fullback. He retired in 1996 and was aw ...
. Marija also had a three months training stint in 2013 at one of the elite Training Academies in New Zealand, Rugby Performance Centre in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
home for the
Auckland Blues
The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...
. He trained along with Northland ITM Cup Development Squad.
Some of his International assignments are; Singer International 7's (2005, 2006 and 2007), 2005 World Cup Rugby 7's qualifiers in Hong Kong,
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
(
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
), Hong Kong 7's (2005-2008 and 2014) Asian 7's Series (Singapore, China, India, Malaysia) 2012 and 2013 (Thailand, Malaysia, India and Singapore), Asian 5 Nations Tournament (2011, 2012 and 2013). Under Fazil's leadership Sri Lanka ended as the 3rd Best Team in Asia in the 7's circuit in 2013 and won the Shield at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Rugby 7's at Glasgow, Scotland.
Marija has won numerous National Rugby Awards for his excellence in the field of Rugby. In 2007 and 2009, Marija became the Most Outstanding Player of the Year (Caltex Rugby Awards, Sri Lanka), in 2009 he was also recognised as the ‘Best Three Quarter’, in 2011 he became the ‘Best Ruggerite of the Year’ and in 2012 he became ‘Best Fly Half of the Year’.
In 2015, Marija was reappointed as the Sri Lankan captain and led the team to victory in the
Asian Rugby Championship
The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was call ...
in the Philippines. He was replaced by
Sudharshana Muthuthanthri as Sri Lankan skipper in 2016 after Marija was ruled out due to injury.
See also
Rugby union in Sri Lanka
Rugby union in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. It is a popular team sport with a history dating back to 1879. In 2012, according to International Rugby Board figures, there were over 103,000 registered ru ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marija, Fazil
1985 births
Alumni of Kingswood College, Kandy
Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players of Sri Lanka
Living people
Rugby union players at the 2006 Asian Games
Rugby union players at the 2014 Asian Games
Rugby union players from Kandy
Rugby sevens players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Sri Lankan Malays
Sri Lankan rugby union players
Asian Games competitors for Sri Lanka