Proud of young Lankan national players: Peter Woods

Wednesday, 6 September 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Asian Sevens 2017

By Shamseer Jaleel reporting from Hong Kong

Sri Lanka was placed fifth at the Asian Sevens 2017 first leg in Hong Kong. The first leg was won by Japan with hosts Hong Kong finishing second and the South Koreans showing good form with a third place finish.

The second leg will now move to Namdong Stadium in South Korea during the third weekend of September.

Speaking to Daily FT, Sri Lanka Head Coach Peter Woods said: “I am happy with the final results overall during the two-day event. We won three and lost an equal number. The young lads learnt fast. We went through the video evidence and the boys will improve with experience in Sevens rugby. With the boys just coming out of the Mercantile Sevens and Super Sevens a few of the seniors missed out due to injury since the time gap was too tight for this Sevens tournament. We will need to see the present squads, their injuries and already injured players such as Ranjan, Dharmapala and Chandimal if they are fit to play in the South Korean leg.”

“We are happy about the fitness of the boys, which will improve for sure in the second leg. We need to get the structure correct and play more Sevens rugby before coming into tournaments of this nature. The majority of the countries were well prepared for this tournament. The Japanese outfit was in Australia and Hong Kong spent some time playing Sevens rugby in Germany. This shows how serious they are about their Sevens rugby and this tournament. We need to bounce back and I am sure our guys will better their ranking in South Korea. A few of the seniors who are working on their fitness will be back for the second leg which will give us more experience for the Sevens squad and it will help the youngsters.”

Woods finished by saying that all the players should be fighting for their places rather than being automatic selections and that these youngsters have learnt good lessons on this tour.