Colombo International Rugby 11s in September

11s Rugby Directors (from left): Patrick Cotter, Dilup Kumar, DIlroy Fernando and John O Brien

The Colombo International Rugby 11s is scheduled to take place on 27 to 29 September at the Race Course ground in Colombo with the participation of local and international teams.

The tournament is the brainchild of former Trinity athlete and rugby player, plus former Australian Rugby Union Chairman Dilip Kumar. This tournament will see some special features, such as 11 players in a team with 6 forwards and 5 backs played in 7 minutes each half with a break of 2 minutes for the short breather. Also the scrum will see only 6 men while the line out should be thrown in within a space of 30 seconds in order to speed up the game.

Day 1 will see Schools and Veterans matches while club encounters for both Men’s and Women’s will take place on day 2. All three segments, semi-finals and finals in the Cup, Plate and Bowl category will take place on day 3 with a total of 78 games scheduled for the three days.

All three segments in the Cup, Plate and Bowl championships will be worked off with local and overseas referees officiating. 

Tournament sponsors are Dimbulla Estate, Whitesmiths, George Steuart Holidays, Rhino Rugby, American Water, The Papare, Yes 101, Hell Energy Drink, and Frosty Ice already confirmed, along with some more esteemed organisation showing keen interest to locking horns in this tournament as sponsors.

Sri Lanka Rugby Council had already given the sanctioning for the tournament, with Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association also given approval.

(SJ)