Lewke heads XV coaching unit

Tuesday, 10 March 2026 00:04 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Dushanth Lewke

By Shamseer Jaleel

Sri Lanka Rugby has announced its coaching and support staff appointments for the 2026 season with the Men’s 15s program, Dushanth Lewke has been appointed as Head Coach, bringing valuable experience and leadership to the national setup.

With his success at the Reds double win in Clifford Cup and League he will take charge of the outfit at the New Zealand under 85 kg tour of Sri Lanka and later on the Asia Rugby Top 4 tournament involving Sri Lanka, South Korea, Hong Kong and UAE.

He will be supported by Forward Coach, Henry Terance and Assistant Coach Lasintha De Costa, while Tharanga Premakumara will serve as the team physio and Vishvamithra Jayasinghe will handle strength and conditioning.

The Men’s 7s program will feature Assistant Coaches Shamly Nawaz and Amjad Buksh, with Dansha Dayan joining as Intern Coach. Strength and conditioning duties will be overseen by Dilan Zoysa, while Shafin Majid takes charge as physio. According to reliable source a sevens specialist from France will join the coaching structure later this month. The long term goal is to bring a medal at the Asian Games 2026 in Japan while improving in ranking at the Asian Sevens series 2026 in China and Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, the Women’s national programme will be led by Head Coach Leonard De Zilwa with M Saldeen serving as Assistant Coach. Nimesh De Silva will function as the team physio as the women’s squad continues its development on the international stage.