Injury-hit Sri Lanka gear up for Borneo Sevens

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Sri Lanka rugby Sevens outfit will kick off its tightly-packed Sevens rugby schedule for the year when they take part in the Borneo Rugby Sevens in Malaysia from 16-18 March. 

The men’s team will be defending their Plate while the women, who won the tournament, will defend the Cup at this year’s event.

This will be followed by the Commonwealth Rugby Sevens where the men’s team will take wing to the Gold Coast, Australia early next month. Sri Lanka will stand a very good chance of bringing their first team medal to the country when they participate in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia in August. This will be followed by the usual Asian Sevens three-leg event in Hong Kong, South Korea and Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka Sevens outfit will be selected shortly. However, there are injury worries over Omalka Gunaratne, Kavindu Perera, Dhanushka Ranjan, Gayan Weearatne and Jason Dissanayake.

New Zealander Peter Woods will take charge of the men’s unit while Sudath Sampath will coach the women’s team. Sudarshana Muthuthanthri is tipped to lead the men’s outfit in Malaysia.