Thulaib to lead youth outfit

• Asia Rugby Under-19 Division 1 in China

By Shamseer Jaleel

Former Royal skipper and national youth sevens player, Thulaib Hassen will lead the Sri Lankan outfit at the Asia Rugby Under-19 Division 1 tournament, which will take place in Chongqing, China during 11-14 December.

Thulaib, who will be representing the Red Shirts in club rugby, was one of the best leaders in the interschool rugby season last year. Isipathana’s Manilka Ruberu and Trinitian Reshan Bandaranayake, too, were a close runners for the leadership role at this event. 

The selections encounter took place on Saturday (23 November) in Colombo and the national selectors have drafted a pool of 34 players who will be hard at training under the watchful eyes of Viper (Jr.) Gunaratne who is tipped to be the Head Coach on tour. The final touring party of 25 players will be selected in the coming week along with a deputy for Viper.

Sri Lanka will need to come on top of China, Philippines and Thailand if they are to secure a spot in the top four in Asia during the 2020 season.