Asia Rugby Under-19 could be postponed to Jan. 2021

Sri Lanka won the Division 1 in China in 2019 

By Shamseer Jaleel

Asia Rugby Under-19 Top 4 could be postponed from December to January 2021, which was revealed by Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) President Lasitha Gunaratne who spoke to the Daily FT.

Speaking to Daily FT, Lasitha Gunaratne said: “Asian Rugby (AR) has cancelled all the programs and tournaments till September. We are awaiting their confirmation on the two tournaments to be hosted by us. 

“One is the Asia Rugby Championship Division 1 and the Asia Rugby Under-19 Top 4. The senior tournament was initially postponed from April to September, and now we await the new dates which is very likely to be November or December. Still the fate of the Sevens is not clear and likely to have one leg and the hosting country is yet to be confirmed.”

The Ministry of Education has postponed the commencement of the G.C.E. Advanced Level examinations and the new dates are yet to be confirmed. This will decide the fate of the league and the knockout which will come under the new sponsors for the very first time after nearly two decades sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka. The new sponsor Dialog will need to wait further with the postponement of the event in 2020.

Schools are set to resume in three phases with students of grade 13, 11 and 5 requested to return on 6 July and Grades 10 and 12 set to resume on 20 July. The Dialog Schools Rugby League for 2020 which kicked-off in March saw many schools playing two of their group encounters.According to reliable source League is scheduled to re start in October and will continue till November end while the knockout will follow soon after. The Asia Rugby Under-19 Top 4 which was scheduled to take place between the defending champions Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Taipei which was scheduled for 6, 9 and 12 December is likely to be postponed to early January 2021. 

This will give time for the juniors to take part in the Kandy vs Colombo encounters before the final squad is selected. Sri Lanka who won the Division 1 last year in China under Thulaib Haseen is likely to retain the services of Nihal Viper (Junior) Gunaratne along with Rajiv Perera and Rohitha Rajapaksa for this segment coaching unit. Meanwhile the Under 14, 16 and 18 tournaments are likely to take place in between 15 September to 15 October.