Fantastic performance by Sri Lanka Under-18 girls in UAE

Monday, 5 December 2016 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Sri Lankan Under-18 girls’ team dished out champagne rugby in the UAE last week. Coached by former Sri Lanka Sevens skipper Thanuja Werakody and training for only two weeks, the girls’ performance is above average.

They had very limited facilities and exposure at this level as this is the first tournament at this age level. Only Europe conducts a tournament in this age group annually.

Sri Lanka finished the tournament fourth, beating Uzbekistan (19-5) and the UAE (14-5). The girls lost out to Kazakhstan 31-0, Hong Kong 24-0 and India 24-0. In the third place play-off in a tight finish India beat Sri Lanka 14-5.

The outfit was led by Nimesha Wijeywardane of Dehiowita National School and coached by Thanuja Weerakody. Sri Lanka Rugby’s High Performance Director Inthi Marikar was behind the team, motivating and giving much needed guidance at the international level which was an added advantage for the girls.

Sri Lankan Rugby (SLR) Secretary Nazeem Mohamed said, “This is just a start. The performance by the girls is great with a short span of time just over two weeks’ training. The beauty of this squad is that all players were selected from different provinces, which speaks well for the game in the country at this level. I am sure after this success story more girls will scrum down. This will not be possible if not for Thanuja and Inthi’s hard work.” (SJ)