Sri Lanka’s premier sports promoter Dialog Axiata will empower the first edition of the Sri Lanka Super 7s Rugby Championship that is set to kick off at the Racecourse Complex on the 5th of August 2016.
Organized by the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU), the Super Sevens is also well backed by Hon. Minster of Sports Dayasiri Jayasekara and the Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure Harin Fernando.
The Sri Lanka Super 7s series is set to be the series that would come in place of the Carlton Super Sevens that has been redundant since the year 2014. Speaking at the launch held for the Super 7s tournament, Hon. Minister Harin Fernando added these words on taking the initiative sevens forward.
“I am happy to be a part of this journey and I know how much Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara is keen on making rugby a part of us. We have a rich culture, rich history which we are trying to nurture back again.”
Photo Album – Sri Lanka Super 7’s 2016 – Press Conference
“It will be a good time for rugby in Sri Lanka, more than 100 players will be auctioned and it will give the opportunity for lots of young players the chance”
The Seven series will be worked out in two legs and will be held on the 5th & 6th and the 12th & 13th of August. Both legs will be played at the Racecourse complex.
Following its predecessor, the tournament will be played with the participation of franchise teams with a total of eight teams expected to participate in this year’s edition. The teams will also feature foreign players, who would represent each of the franchise teams,, bringing additional flair into the game.
Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara who was present at the occasion mentioned that he would like to see a clean game without any acts of hooliganism involved and work towards its successful completion while supporting the union in its activities.
“With the support of Hon. Harin Fernando and Hon. Malik Samarawickrema, the three of us got together and discussed this matter at length. We wanted to have this tournament in a successful manner without any accusations.”
“That is why we wanted reputed companies to be involved and that is why we thought to put every cent into the rugby union”
The eight participating franchise teams will be as follows:
1. Cargills Gladiators
2. Access Kings
3. Walkers CML Vipers
4. Mobitel Eagles
5. Just in Time Dragons
6. Softlogic Warriors
7. EZY Wolves
8. Etisalat Panthers
Providing the detailed description about the tournament’s structure, Vice President and Chairman of the Tournament Committee Lasitha Gunaratne mentioned that the tournament would function in a league format where the eight teams will be grouped into two pools consisting of four teams each. Each of the teams will compete against each other on a round robin basis.
Based on the Day 1 results, the teams will qualify to play in the Cup, Plate & Shield championships. After each tournament, points will be awarded to each team.
The groups of the second leg will be formulated based on the standings of the first leg. The second leg will also be carried out in the same manner as the first leg. Points will be awarded for the league standings and the team with the highest number of accumulated points at the conclusion of the two legs will be crowned as champions.
An under 18 school sevens title will run concurrently to the main tournament in order to encourage the upcoming players in the country. The under 18 series will have eight school teams battling for the title and the same rules of the main tournament will apply for schools as well.
The eight participating teams in the schools section will be as follows:
- S. Thomas’ College
- D. S. Senanayaka College
- St. Joseph’s College
- Zahira College
- St. Peter’s College
- St. Anthony’s College Katugastota
- Isipathana College
- Wesley College
President of the SLRFU Asanga Seneviratne believes that Sri Lanka can climb to a greater position in the sevens format and the chances for Sri Lanka will improve with the Super Sevens being re-instated.
“Our chances in the sevens have improved drastically with the Super Sevens coming back and I believe that we would be ready for our Asian tournament to go and make a claim to play in the World Series”
Adding to the SLRFU’s vision for the junior rugby divisions, he stressed the need for both the schools and the national body to work in collaboration to achieve success.
“Unless we work together, we are going nowhere. There is nothing we will achieve”
“If the Sri Lanka Schools are going to plan on having just a couple of tournaments we don’t have a future. So we really need to work together”
With less than a fortnight to go for the highly anticipated Sri Lankan rugby carnival, bidding for the players will take place on Saturday the 23rd of July and after which the respective playing squads will be announced.
