Rugby Sevens return as Kandy players sidelined

The captains of the teams in the fray. From left: Mohamed Rifan Fawmy (Havelocks), AMKB Alahakoon (Police SC), DH Wickremarachie (Navy SC), Isuru Madushanka (Air Force), Kushan Indunil (UUDS Tuskers, Dubai), Denuwan Silva (Sri Lions), Prasanna Jayatunga (Army SC), Janindu Dilshan (CH and FC), Gemunu Chetiya (CR and FC)

SLR head claims he wanted to entice them with his ‘personal money’

By Shamseer Jaleel

Minus Kandy SC, the inter club rugby Sevens will mark its return after a four year lapse and is scheduled to kick-off on March 21 and 22 at Longden Place followed by the second leg on March 28 and 29 at the race course ground in Colombo.

Leading Sri Lankan club teams will contest the Sevens alongside a foreign outfit called UUDS Tuskers from Dubai. 

Although the tournament was initially planned to include three overseas teams, regional conflicts in the Middle East forced two teams to withdraw despite earlier confirmations. 

Kandy SC will not be among the teams contesting due to what they claimed were heavy expenditure on travel to Colombo and accommodation.

Kandy SC said it had spent nearly Rs. 9 million to travel to Colombo eight times to honour their League fixtures while all other teams had travelled to Kandy just once. 

Kandy SC wanted to play only the second leg in Kandy but withdrew after Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) insisted both segments that included the Colombo leg were mandatory.

President of SLR, Pavithra Fernando claimed that he had personally intervened to find a solution to enable the Kandy SC players to participate by offering to pay 50 percent of the club’s expenditure from his personal funds as they (SLR) did not have the available budget at the time. 

“Unfortunately by the time we were able to speak with the relevant officials, the players had already stopped training. At that stage it became very difficult to move forward,” Fernando claimed.

Fernando said that the absence of the Kandy SC players was unfortunate as several of them are highly talented and remain important prospects for the national team setup. 

“Our objective is to ensure that the best available players represent Sri Lanka, especially with important tournaments ahead such as the Asian Sevens Series in China and Sri Lanka and ultimately the Asian Games in Japan,” said Fernando.

He said that with the appointment of a foreign coach a national programme will be drawn up to ensure that the best and deserving players will be afforded the opportunity to compete for national selection.

Eight provincial women’s teams will also contest the inter club Sevens. 

Women’s teams from the Army, Navy and Air Force will contest a separate segment while nine men’s teams will vie for honours in three groups.