Trophy winning club coach Lewke takes charge of Sri Lanka

By Shamseer Jaleel

Trophy winning coach Dushanth Lewke has been appointed as the head coach of the Sri Lanka rugby team as coaching and support staff for the upcoming season were put in place in preparation for a demanding international schedule.  

Former Sri Lankan captain Lewke will take charge of the men’s team after leading CR and FC to a historic double ahead of the national team’s build-up for the upcoming New Zealand under 85kg tour of Sri Lanka and the Asia Rugby Top 4 tournament, where Sri Lanka will compete against South Korea, Hong Kong, and the UAE.

Henry Terance and Lasintha de Costa will assist Lewke as Forwards coach and assistant coach while Tharanga Premakumara and Vishvamithra Jayasinghe will serve as the team’s physiotherapist and strength and conditioning coach. 

The men’s Sevens programme on the other hand will have assistant coaches Shamly Nawaz and Amjad Buksh with Dansha Dayan joining as intern coach.  

Dilan Zoysa will oversee the strength and conditioning duties, and Shafin Majid will serve as team physiotherapist. According to a reliable source, a Sevens specialist from France is also expected to join the coaching panel later this month.

The long-term goals of Sri Lanka Rugby include winning a medal at the 2026 Asian Games and performing well in the Asia Sevens Series in China and Sri Lanka, which will also serve as a pathway for World Sevens Series selection.

Meanwhile, the women’s national programme will be led by head coach Leonard de Zilwa with M. Saldeen as assistant coach and Nimesh de Silva as team physiotherapist.