Muthu to lead Lankan Sevens team in Gold Coast

Friday, 30 March 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Commonwealth Rugby Sevens 2018

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Sri Lanka Sevens outfit participating in the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast of Australia will be led by former S. Thomas’, Havelocks and Auckland Sevens player Sudharshana Muthuthanthri.

The team left the country last night. Sri Lanka, who will feature in Pool D, will face Fiji in their opening encounter and later on lock horns with Wales and Uganda in their other group encounters.

Sri Lanka qualified for this event when they were placed fourth in the Asian Sevens event last year. Hong Kong and South Korea were placed first and second and were selected for the Hong Kong Sevens qualification event in April 2018. Third-placed Malaysia will also join the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast next month along with Sri Lanka as the second Asian outfit.

This year competition in the men’s category will see the top group outfits advance to the semi-finals while the second-placed teams from the four groups will play for positions 5-8. Unfortunately teams ending third and fourth in their respective groups will be eliminated from the tournament. There will be 16 men’s teams and eight women’s team that will feature at the Gold Coast Rugby Sevens 2018. In the women’s segment, the top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals while the third and fourth placed teams from each group will play positions 5-8.

Sri Lanka’s best performance at the Commonwealth Games Sevens came in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland where they finished as Shield champions. The Lankans beat Barbados 35-0 and Trinidad and Tobago 43-7.

The touring outfit is coached by New Zealander Peter Woods with Inthi Marikar functioning as the High Performance Director.

Squad:

Sudharshana Muthuthanthri (Captain), Danushka Ranjan, Richard Dharmapala, Srinarth Sooriyabandara, Danushka Dyan, Hirantha Perera, Tharinda Ratwatte, Rehan Silva, Sudam Sooriyarachchi, Naveen Heenakankanmge, Adeesha Weeratunge and Kavindu Perera

Head Coach Peter Woods (New Zealand)
Sri Lanka Rugby High Performance Rugby Director Inthi Marikar

Standby Reza Rafaideen

Men’s

Pool A: South Africa, Scotland, Papua New Guinea and Malaysia
Pool B: England, Australia, Samoa and Jamaica
Pool C: New Zealand, Canada, Kenya and Zimbabwe
Pool D: Fiji, Wales, Sri Lanka and Uganda

Women’s

Pool A: Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Kenya
Pool B: Fiji, England, Australia and Wales