Omalka to lead Junior national rugby team to Singapore

By Shamseer Jaleel

Former Isipathana and present Navy SC player Omalaka Gunaratne will lead the Sri Lanka Under-20 squad for the Junior World Rugby Tournament (JWRT) in Singapore from 13 to 19 December. He will have the Peterite play maker, Kevin Dixon as his deputy.

The outfit is coached by veteran Sanath Martis who will need to come out with a plan to topple a strong Hong Kong, Taipei and Singapore in the group encounters. The winner will get an opportunity to represent Asia at the Junior World Rugby Tournament (JWRT) as the second Asian nation after Japan.

Sri Lanka Youth team of 35 players went through training sessions spanning 10 days in Diyatalawa, and in yesterday’s practice match at Royal complex, the side was reduced to 30 players with 25 of the making the tour and five on standby.

Colin Dinesh will be the assistant coach with Budhika taking charge of the team as Manager.