SL mulls hosting Asia Rugby U-20 Sevens after Malaysia pullout

Sri Lanka Under 20 Sevens outfit won the event held in in Hong kong  

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Malaysian Rugby Union (MRU) has pulled out from hosting the Asia Rugby (AR) Under-20 Sevens which was scheduled for 29 and 30 August. 

They were to host both the men’s and women’s shorter version of the game but due to the current situation in their country, they did not want to take the risk of hosting the event.

SLR President  Lasitha Gunaratne

Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) is likely to bid for this event if the situation comes under control with the approval of the Government. Further with the airport opening for tourists from 1 August, it will also help attract the players plus their supporters to Colombo or Kandy, areas which could host the two-day event that usually sees 12 men’s and an equal number of women’s teams locking horns. Sri Lanka has done well in this age segment, and this will be an ideal opportunity for the youngsters to show their talent in front of the home crowd.SLR is also expected to host the Asia Rugby Under-19 15-a-side event in December along with Asia Rugby third leg of the Asian Sevens series, which is scheduled for October. Further if the health situation in the country is good, they will also host the 15-a-side Division 1, which is scheduled to take place in September after the original date of April getting postponed due to COVID-19.

“Asia Rugby (AR) had not discussed any tournament matters in their last council meeting but they are scheduled to meet in the June 2020 meeting, where they will discuss all future tournament matters along with the hosting countries and dates,” SLR President Lasitha Gunaratne told the Daily FT.

He said it would be useless to start training without knowing the tournament dates.  

“We will name the sevens squad and start training once we get the confirmation on the dates of the third leg in South Korea, China and Sri Lanka. As we have got the green light from the Sports Ministry to conduct training with effect from today, we will be ready at any time with the squad training of the sevens outfit. We will take a decision on the Under-20, Sevens, Under-19 Top 4, and Asia Rugby Division 1 later on once the confirmation is received from Asia Rugby as we need to attract much-needed sponsors and we need Government approval in order to bring the foreign teams to our country,” he explained.