A stunning run to two consecutive finals in the first two legs at Hong Kong and South Korea has given the side confidence and belief that they are ready to build on these effort.

Sri Lanka has come a long way since last year being placed fourth to being second this year.

The players are going to have no excuses in terms of being able to come out and be comfortable where they are playing as they are a bunch of professional rugby players. In reality that comes with added experience, expectation as well and a bit of pressure the players put on themselves since they are playing as host in front of their home crowd.

There is plenty on the line for a Sri Lanka sevens rugby outfit that has exuded a relaxed and focused vibe during training for the past two weeks at Racecourse, with the winner of the three-round Asian Seven’s series booking a spot in the main draw of next year’s Singapore Sevens tournament and Hong Kong Sevens. They are bound to give off their very best to qualify as this is their final hurdle.

Furthermore, the top two overall secure their place in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series qualifier in Hong Kong next year and a fast start to the series this weekend is a key factor.

It’s always a bonus that doing well will get you to these kinds of tournaments and playing against the top teams in Asia. Chairman of selectors Michel Jayasekara said, “After a long time we have got a well-balanced side with a blend of experience and young talent, hence I personally believe that we can definitely look at winning the Cup championship in Colombo. We are also keeping an open mind to see if there’s any possibility that we could get selected for the upcoming World Series Rugby Sevens, if we can do that we have achieved our goal.”

The Sri Lankan side is now far better placed mentally to deal with the unpredictable nature of Sevens rugby than they were 12 months ago after two successive runners-up wins in the ongoing Asia Rugby Sevens Series. This was proved in Hong Kong where Sri Lanka narrowly lost to the host 22-17 due to a knocked on final try awarded to Hong Kong by the Aussie referee and they were trounced 36-0 in the final in South Korea.

What was really pleasing about is that last season Sri Lanka sort of had a bit of a look at their game, and although they hadn’t done much wrong they still finished overall fourth in Asia, Sri Lanka had to get a better team on the day to play the match physically and mentally. Head trainer Nick Groube, who was a vastly experienced trainer with Canterbury Crusaders in New Zealand came in and put it right this time where Sri Lanka managed to learn some lessons and put them in to play It is a lot about the training and work they do purely under Groube to condition the players mentally and physically to be able to handle pressure. Sometimes the players totally get it a bit wrong like we did against Hong Kong in the finals after beating South Korea, but it’s about how you respond and Groube is definitely the man to take our rugby forward internationally.

A win or a top-two finish in Sri Lanka puts Hong Kong in the box seat to take out the overall series this weekend but playing in Sri Lanka will be tough competition, therefore we have to wait and see whether their power pack display carried throughout the first and second legs will be enough for them to seal victory in the end.

SRI LANKA SQUAD: Danushka Ranjan (Captain, Kandy SC), Srinath

Sooriyabandara (vice-captain, Kandy SC), Dulaj Perera (Havelocks), Omalka Gunaratne (CR & FC), Kevin Dixon (Havelocks), Tarinda Ratwatte (CR & FC), Danush Dayan (Kandy SC), Hirantha Perera (Havelocks), Richard Dharmapala (Kandy SC), Kanchana Ramanayake (Kandy SC), Kavindu Perera (CR & FC), Sudarshana Muthuthanththri (Havelocks), Coach: Matt Turner , Head Trainer: Nick Groube.

Scrum half Kevin Dixon (right knee), forward Jason Dissanayake(concussion occurred while playing for Kandy sports club in the Western Asia rugby tournament which was held in the UAE last week) and have been ruled out due to injuries and centre DinushaChathuranga was left out for reasons best known to the selectors. They were replaced by the Kandy Sports Club players scrum half Srinath Sooriyabandara, winger Richard Dharmapala and centre Kanchana Ramanayake coming in place of Dinusha Chathuranga.

Meanwhile the regular sevens skipper Sudarshana Muthuthantriwill not take part in this tournament as he’s still not fully fit and nursing for an injury to his wrist fracture, although he was seen training with the national squad at practices in Race Course grounds.

Earlier before the first leg tournament in Hong Kong, several national senior players opted out stating they were injured and were unable to take part in training, but returned back immediately to practices straight after the make shift Sri Lankan team with several newcomers with the Director coaching Inthisham Marikar’s supervision, guidance and sheer hard work along with new captain Danushka Ranjan; surprised every one by emerging runners up to host Hong Kong.

Sri Lanka have been drawn in pool- B, alongside China, Singapore and Malaysia while the Pool A will feature first leg winners Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Japan and host South Korea.

The Tuskers will play their first game against Singapore on 24th September at 9:00am (SL Time), at 11:55am (SL Time) with Malaysia and finally at 3:15pm against China on the same day.

Sri Lanka squad to Korea : Danushka Ranjan (Captain)(Kandy SC), Dulaj Perera (Vice Captain)(Havelocks), Omalka Gunaratne (CR & FC), Sashan Mohamed(CR & FC),Tarinda Ratwatte (CR & FC), Danush Dayan (Kandy SC), Saliya Handapangoda (Navy), Srinath Sooriyabandara (Kandy SC), Richard Dharmapala (Kandy SC), Kanchana Ramanayake (Kandy SC), Kavindu Perera (CR & FC),Hirantha Perera (Havelocks), Coach – Mat Turner ,Head Trainer – Nick Groube, Manager – Rohan Chinthaka

Hong Kong opened scoring in the very first minute through winger Lee Jones who touched down for an unconverted try to go into 5-nil lead. They scored their second unconverted try in the third minute of play through Alex Mcqueen who collected a pass from his brother Tom Mcqueen and scored to increase the lead to 10-nil which was the score at half time.

Soon after the breather Hong Kong scored their third unconverted try through captain Max Woodward in the eighth minute to increase the score further to 15-nil.

In the very last move of the day Hong Kong scored a try through the other brother Tom Mcqueen which was converted by brother Alex to earn a 22 points to nil victory against the very young and newlook inexperienced Sri Lankans who were sans nine experienced regulars from Kandy Sports Club.

Earlier in the day in their first match Sri Lanka thrashed Chinese Taipei by 43 points to 12.

The Tusker’s tries were scored by Kevin Dixon (two), Hirantha Perera (one), Tarinda Ratwatte (one), Jason Dissanayake (one) and Saliya Hadapangoda (one). Dulaj Perera slotted in five conversions.

In their next match Sri Lanka routed Malaysia 40-12 with tries scored by Jason Dissanayake (two), Tarinda Ratwatte (two), Danushka Ranjan (one), Kavindu Perera (one) and Dinusha Chathuranga (one). Two conversions each were put over by Dulaj Perera and Jason Dissanayake.

Sri Lanka will play opposite group leaders China in the Cup semi-finals while the other semi-final will most probably be against group leaders Hong Kong and the opposite group runners up Koreans.

In the other group matches which took place yesterday Asian giants and rank number one team Japan were relegated to the Bowl competition after shockingly losing 10-12 to China in their first group game and to the Koreans 5-19 in their last group match and crashed out the Cup championship..

WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT

*Meanwhile in the women’s competition Sri Lanka fared really well when they thrashed Uzbekistan by 39 points to nil and went down fighting to Asian champions and number one ranked Thailand by 7-14 and China by 0-37.

This victory by the Access team is a fitting tribute to their head coach Nilfer Ibrahim who execute and inflict a superb brand of attacking rugby and dished out a fabulous player substitutions in the crucial moments of the game thus bringing this victory to his team ably assisted by Sri Lanka National Under 18 head coach M.J.M Mushtaq in the end.

In the second minute of play Dialog opened scoring through their fly half Dulaj Perera who scampered through for a try near the right corner flag off a beautiful three quarter move which he himself missed the conversion. Dialog ‘A’ led five points to Nil.

Within the space of two minutes Dialog ‘A’ scored again through forward Soyuru Anthony who dummied his way over to touch down for a try under the post after a well compiled three quarter move. Fly half Dulaj Perera made the simple conversion and they went into a hefty 12 points to nil lead.

In the seventh minute of play Access opened scoring when their scrum half Richard Darmapala sliced through the Dialog defence and darted down to score a fine try mid right and their Fly half Chanaka Chandimal slotted the conversion to cut down the lead to 12-7.

Just on the stroke off half time off a Dialog line out throw in their 22 metre line, the ball was collected by Access winger Danusha Dayan who burst through to touch down for a brilliant try under the post after covering nearly 80 metres .Chandimal made the conversion and Access were leading by 14 – 12 at lemons.

After the resumption Access went in to a further lead in the 19th minute of play off a maul by their dynamic forward Buwaneka Udangamuwa who gave a superb inside pass to his winger Kavindu Perera who scampered through for a try mid right. Chandimal put over the conversion once more to increase the lead by 21-12.

In the very next minute star national centre Danushka Ranjan collected the ball off a three quarter move and ran nearly 70 metres brushing off several Dialog defenders to touch down for a spectacular try under the post and Chandimal made no mistake with the conversion and Access went further ahead by 28 points to 12.

In the final minute of play Access worked their three quarters wide where winger Danusha Dayan collected the ball and sprinted his way over for a try mid right after covering close to 55 metres.

Chandimal who had a magnificent day with his boot made the conversion to have a 100% kicking record in this finals and Access International ran out worthy winners by 35 points to 12 in the end.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily News – Access International head coach the jubilant Nilfer Ibrahim said “The boys played their hearts out and we made the tactical moves accordingly, Especially the substitutions at the right time of the game and that really paid off in the end.

Last time we won this trophy way back in year 2000 which i was part of the winning team then as a senior player and after 16 years the fate was such that i was once again part of the winning team, but this time around as the head coach. So in the end i am really a happy man to have three major tournament wins back to back (Inter Schools league and knock out with Isipathana & Mercantile sevens with Access)” concluded Ibrahim.

The winning Access team comprised of Srinath Sooriyabandara(Captain), Wishvamithra Jayasinghe, Jason Dissanayake, Kavindu Perera, Chanaka Chandimal, Danushka Ranjan, Saliya Handapangoda, Buwaneka Udangamuwa, Kevin Dixon, Chula Susantha, Danusha Dayan and Richard Darmapala. Head Coach-Nilfer Ibrahim, Asst.Coach- M.J.M. Mushtaq

Irshad Cader refereed.

In the plate finals the gallant Nation Lanka Finance edged out the favourites John Keels ‘A’ by 26 points to 22 win the championship.

Meanwhile the formidable John Keells ‘B’ Thrashed Dialog ‘B’ 22-5 to win the Bowl Championship and Brandix won the Shield Championship when they thrashed Pan Asia Bank by 24 points to 7.

Sri Lanka gave off a superb fight back, with their dazzling runs and fierce tackling to score three tries all of which were converted, but could not match their much heavier opponents especially in the set pieces and the breakdowns and conceded three goals and a try. Korea thus clinched the important third place.

In the pool stages Tuskers beat Iran and Malaysia convincingly by 31-10 and 24-10 respectively but later in the day went down fighting to the host nation Hong Kong by 27 points to 12 , after holding on to a commanding 12-5 lead early in the second half.

In the final pool match played yesterday the Sri Lankan team shocked the entire crowd present at the grounds by defeating the formidable Philippine team 50-5. Sri Lanka gave a fabulous Fijian brand of rugby to thrash their opponents and enter the Cup championship semi-finals.

In the semis Sri Lanka did not have any clue to Asian giants Japan who thrashed them 43-nil.

For Sri Lanka ex-skipper Fazil Marija, Danushka Ranjan, Shenal Dias, Anurudda Wilwara, Gayan Weeraratne, Jason Dissanayka and Kanchana Ramanayaka played their hearts out in the tournament.

Japan kept their reputation as the number one team in Asia by coming from being 0-10 down beat Hong Kong 24-10 to bag the Cup Championship enabling them to go to the Rio Olympics in 2016. Meanwhile the Chinese men won the Plate Championship thrashing Malaysia 38-5.

Sri Lankan women’s rugby team gave an improved performance by securing sixth slot when they lost to Guam 21-5 in the fifth place playoff at Hong Kong Stadium. Incidentally in the pool stages Sri Lankan women thrashed Guam 22-7.

Kandy’s Anurudda Wilwara, Havelock flanker Sudarshana Muthuthanthri and the youngster from CR & FC, Kanchana Ramanayake, all scored twice while Srinath Sooriyabandara also contributed with a try in addition to three conversions in a rousing win.

Sooriyabandara and Muthuthanthri combined brilliantly inside the first three or four minutes of the match to give Sri Lanka an early 19-0 lead taking the game completely away from Malaysia. However, the visitors hit back with two tries in the second half after Sri Lanka captain, Fazil Marija was sent to the sin-bin for the second time on the day. The former Kingswood fly half who was captaining Sri Lanka for the last time chipped in with two conversions, while Havelock outside half Dulaj Perera was taken off following another blow to his injury-prone right knee.

Ramanayake, coming into the team in the absence of Shehan Pathirana who was unfortunately injured during the semi final, bagged a brace, while Sri Lanka’s little pocket dynamite Wilwara once again lit up the Race Course with two astonishing tries where he demonstrated his power and pace.

The Kandy man in fact made the difference in the quarter-final when Sri Lanka knocked out South Korea courtesy of a late try from the former S. Thomas wing three quarter which saw the Tuskers coming back from a 7-12 half time deficit to grab a 19-12 victory sealing a semi-final berth against Japan, despite a yellow card to Marija. Among the other scorers for Sri Lanka in that match was Kandy centre Richard Dharmapala and Havies powerhouse Danushka Ranjan who completed a stunning 75-metre sprint before touching down.

Ranjan again starred in the all important semi-final although Sri Lanka went down fighting against the champions, Japan 26-19 in a thrilling match. The former St. Peter’s centre broke through the Japanese defence twice almost pulling off a sensational comeback after Sri Lanka had conceded a 19-0 lead.

Sri Lanka had an early set back with the tallest of their side Shehan Pathirana carried off on a stretcher due to an apparent injury to his knee before which he created a great scoring opportunity only to be missed by the Havelock captain Sandun Herath who had a disappointing tournament.
Japan came out winners in the final against Hong Kong with a 29-22 triumph to finish on top of the overall standings where Sri Lanka found themselves in the fourth spot in the end.
Sri Lanka women’s team meanwhile lost all of their matches in the tournament to finish last.