Marija to lead Kandy at club Sevens

By Shamseer Jaleel

Sri Lanka’s 15-a-side and Sevens Skipper Fazil Marija will be leading Kandy during their 2015/2016 inter-club season in two months’ time.

Kandy, the defending league and Clifford Cup knockout champions, will commence their training on 6 June at the Nittawala rugby stadium with several new faces already showing their interest in joining the upcountry club.

Former Navy players Sayuru Anthony and Srinath Sooriyabandara and CR&FC’s Vishwamithra Jayasinghe are likely to join Kandy this year. The coaching job will once again rest in the safe hands of Johan Taylor, who also took over the coaching role for Sri Lanka and saw them become champions at the Asian Rugby Champions Division I in Singapore.

Taylor was in charge of Kandy from 2006 and coached Kandy from 2007 for six years and guided them to both the knockout and league titles for five years. They first lost in 2012. He will be assisted by former Sri Lanka and Kandy skipper Sean Wijesinghe.  

After Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte’s long innings, former Trinity second rower Udaya Balasuriya will take over the President’s post at the club when they have their Annual General Meetingon 21 June at the Nittawela Club House. Singer Sri Lanka, Etisalat and Cargills are the club’s sponsors with the last of the lot paying the major portion of the funds.