Marija tipped to lead SL at Asian Sevens

By Shamseer Jaleel 

Former Kingswood, Kandy and Sri Lanka Sevens and Fifteens skipper Fazil Marija is being tipped to lead the national rugby Sevens outfit for their first Asian Sevens tournament in China on 5 and 6 September.

The national selectors led by Michael Jayasekera have already named a pool of 23 players in which the final touring squad of 12 players will be announced later this week. 

Former Vidyartha player Jason Dissanayake makes a comeback into the Sevens team after a lapse of one year due to injury with some new names such as Lochana Hettiarachchi, Kavindu Perera, Mohamed Absal and Musheen Faleel knocking on the door for a national call-up at the China Sevens for the country but they will need to come out with their very best to beat some seasoned Sevens players in the pool. 

From the pool of 23 players, ten players in the team are from Kandy while six players are from Havelock’s. 

The Sri Lankan team will be coached by Matthew Turner, who played Sevens rugby for England.

Squad

Kandy SC – Fazil Marija, Gayan Weerarathne, Roshan Weeraratne, Nigel Ratwatte, Anurudda Wilwara, Lavanga Perera, Richard Dharmapala, Srinath Sooriyabandara, Vishwamithra Jayasinghe and Shehan Pathirana

Havelocks SC – Sudarshana Muthuthantri, Sandun Herath, Dhanushka Ranjan, Dulaj Perera, Hirantha Perera, Rehan Thyagarajah

CR&FC – Kanchana Ramanayake, Lochana Hettiarachchi, Kavindu Perera, Jason Dissanayake

Navy SC – Dinusha Chathuranga

Police SC – Mohamed Absal, Musheen Faleel

Head Coach - Matthew Turner