Sri Lanka gears up for Asia Rugby Division 1

By Shamseer Jaleel   

Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) under the National Selection Committee has picked the initial squad of players in preparation for the Asia Rugby (AR) Division 1 Rugby Tournament which will be held from April 30 to May 5 at the Racecourse Grounds in Colombo.   
The Sri Lanka 15-A-Side Rugby Pool started training yesterday in Colombo and the squad will be pruned down to 30 players closer to the tournament.   
Meanwhile, the SLR Council has approved the appointment of Sanath Martis as Head Coach of the national outfit.   
Martis will have former Kingswoodian and Head Coach of Clifford Cup winning Police SC Rugby Team Nilfer Ibrahim as the Back Division Coach while Royal College and CR and FC Head Coach, Dushantha Lewke will operate as the Forwards Coach.   
Sri Lanka, Qatar, Kazakhstan and India will lock horns in this event with Sri Lanka expected to play India in their opening game on April 30 while on the same day Qatar will meet Kazakhstan.   
The second set of games will be played on May 5 with both the losers of day 1 and winners of day 1 facing each other.   
The champions of this event will play in the AR Top-4 in 2025 while the fourth placed team will be demoted to Division 2 in 2025.   
Meanwhile, Thilina Bandara, Samuel Maduwantha, Senura Perera and Shenal Adikari have pulled out from the squad due to injuries and they have been replaced by Shehan Dias (Havelock SC), Ishara Madushan (Air Force SC), Shehan Silva (Havelock SC) and Denuwan Lakranda (Sri Lions SC).