The midfielder scored a goal and assisted another in his side’s 4-0 drubbing of Colaba Municipal school in a MSSA U-16 DIV II match at the MSSA Grounds, Azad Maidan on Monday.
The rules and gameplay of rugby and football may be different, but for 14-year-old Daryush Kapadia from Cathedral & John Connon school (Colaba), rugby helps him be a better footballer and vice versa.
The midfielder scored a goal and assisted another in his side’s 4-0 drubbing of Colaba Municipal school in a MSSA U-16 DIV II match at the MSSA Grounds, Azad Maidan on Monday.
Besides his quick feet and dribbling ability, Kapadia impressed the most with the manner in which he controlled the midfield.
His goal was a stunner too. After receiving the ball about 10 yards outside the penalty box, Kapadia used his heel to flick the ball over the defender. He then outran two defenders and calmly placed the ball in the back of the net.
“I love football better than rugby, but it’s the adrenaline rush in rugby that makes me play the game. It’s funny when people call football a contact sport,” says Kapadia, who started playing rugby two years ago.
So how does rugby help him become a better footballer? “See, rugby helps you to get immune to pain. It has helped me increase my strength. But more importantly, it helps me position myself better and anticipate aerial passes,” he says.
Kapadia started playing football at the age of three. “My father, Rustom, used to take me to Bombay Gymkhana (Cross Maidan) to play football with the other kids. I fell in love with the game, and have been playing it since.”
And how did rugby come about? “My father used to play rugby for Bombay Gymkhana. He’s played in the All-India rugby tournament too. So I think listening to stories about his playing days made me want to take up the sport.
I had to wait till age 12 to start playing because you need to be physically fit. And now I’m not going to stop playing rugby any time soon, though I’ll give more time to football,” says Kapadia, who has represented the Bombay Gymkhana rugby team in the Bombay Cup and Pune Cup.
Stopwatch: The Cathedral & John Connon school (Fort) 4 (K Modi 2, D Kapadia 1, M Mehra 1) bt Colaba Municipal School (Colaba) 0
Fernandes abuses referee, yet again
Not for the first time, Louis Fernandes, coach of St Lawrence (Borivli), was at the centre of another controversy on Monday. Fernandes was heard abusing the referee after his team’s 1-1 draw against Utpal Sanghvi (Juhu) on Monday. dna had reported in 2013 how the coach often verbally abused his players and referee. Fernandes, a referee himself, was subsequently banned for a year from MSSA (coaching and refereeing). Fernandes was arguing over a goal scored by his team which was overruled by the referee. The incident involved an indirect free kick from Lawrence’s Varzaan Singporwala finding the back of the net without a touch from any other player. Fernandes insisted that the player wasn’t aware of the rules.
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