Access defeated Dialog A in the 48th Mercantile Rugby Sevens tournament winning the cup segment as they dethroned defending champions MAS from the title. Meanwhile, Dialog B, CDB and JKH B, won the shield, bowl and plate segment while MAS Attune won the women’s tag rugby tournament.
The much anticipated cup final was contested between unbeaten Access and surprise challengers Dialog ‘A’.
The star-studded Access outfit seemed to take early control of the game, however, were stunned by an early score through Niroshan Fernando.
Read: MAS shocked as Mercantile sevens action heats up
Dhanushka Ranjan brought about some life into the Access outfit with a trademark run and offload to set up Jason Dissanayake for the equaling score.
The in-form Dialog lads did not back down, hitting back through Kandy fullback Thilina Weerasinghe as he added the finishing touch to a sublime burst off CH winger Anuradha Herath, taking Dialog into a rather stunning lead at half time.
Halftime: Access 07 – Dialog 12
The second half took a more familiar route as the Runners-up from last year wrung the changers, brining on Kevin Dixon & Naveed Heenakankanumge, inserting fresh legs into the game.
The new lease of life brought on by the youngsters spurred their team on, as player of the final, Ranjan, this time got his name on the score sheet, following a break from CR winger Kavindu Perera.
Moments later the substitutes combined, as Naveen recovered a well waited kick from Dixon, setting up the new CR recruit to finish what he started as the game was put to bed.
Player of the tournament Srinath Sooriyabandara brought his lightning quick feet to play, making it all the way to the try line, however, the halfback gifted the try to skipper Richard Dharmapala as the Kandy Winger scored to bring the game to a conclusion handing Access their third Mercantile Sevens title.
Shield Champions - Dialog Axiata 'B'
Earlier on, the final day of the 48th Mercantile Sevens began as the ladies took to the field with their tag rugby matches.
Four teams participated as CDB played out a scoreless draw against MAS Attune while CTC defeated GSK 15-00, in the first action of the day.
The men’s Shield quarter finals saw Dialog ‘B’, NTB, PABC and Ceylon Tea Brokers fight their way past MAS ‘B’, Commercial Credit, George Steuart and Ceylon Knit Trend respectively.
| Dialog “B”’ | 22 | 7 | MAS “B”’ |
| Nation Trust Bank | 12 | 5 | Commercial Credit |
| PABC | 40 | 7 | George Steuart |
| Ceylon Knit Trend | 12 | 28 | Ceylon Tea Brokers |
Dialog B thrashed Commercial Credit 55-00 in a one sided shield semi final while Ceylon Tea Brokers dispatched PABC, setting up a final showdown against Dialog B for the shield segment.
| Dialog ‘’B’’ | 55 | 0 | Commercial Credit |
| Ceylon Tea Brokers | 28 | 5 | PABC |
Meanwhile, CDB and Allianz Insurance set up a final showdown for the bowl segment as they dominated Mercantile Investment and Sampath Bank respectively in the bowl semi finals.
| CDB | 38 | 5 | Mercantile Investments |
| Sampath Bank | 7 | 43 | Allianz Insurance |
JKH A were stunned by Dialog A as the telecommunication giants came with force, leaving JKH in their shadows, cruising into the cup final.
Read: Dialog and Access kick off Mercantile Sevens in style
MAS A fought in valiant fashion, however, fell short at the hands of Access in the penultimate semi final action on the day, brining a rather bittersweet end to legend Fazil Marija’s illustrious Rugby career.
| JKH – “A” | 5 | 40 | Dialog – “’A” |
| Access | 14 | 10 | MAS – “’A” |
The last semi final game saw, JKH B – who faced a torrid time in the first two days – bounce back, to beat Nation Lanka in the plate, setting up a final showdown against Classic Travels with a chance for redemption.
| Nation Lanka | 19 | 24 | JKH – “B” |
Dialog ‘B’ narrowly defeated Ceylon Tea Brokers in the first final action on the final day, as a Dialog outfit with the likes of Bilal Hassan and Sajith Saranga ran away with the Shield Segment,
Meanwhile, the much fancied CDB lads comprising of Banuka Nanayakkara and Saliya Handapangoda defeated Lasindu Ishan’s Allianz insurance to take the Bowl segment.
| Dialog ‘’B’’ | 14 | 12 | Ceylon Tea Brokers |
| CDB | 19 | 14 | Alliance Insurance |
The women’s games continued with defending champions CDB cruising through to the final, however, MAS A were made to work their way into the final scraping through thanks to more points scored than CTC even though they both ended with only one win in the round robin stage.
The final was dominated by MAS leaving the defending champions with no answer as MAS managed to win 10-00 and with it a trophy at the 2018 Mercantile Rugby Sevens tournament.
| CDB | 40 | 5 | Glaxo Smithkline |
| CTC | 5 | 5 | MAS Attune |
| CDB | 5 | 0 | CTC |
| GSK | 0 | 30 | MAS Attune |
| MAS Attune | 10 | 0 | CDB |
The plate final was phenomenally competitive as JKH B had an opportunity to resurrect their tournament and avenge their second day defeat to Classic Travels.
Avenge they did as tries from Janith Chanaka and Heshan Maduranga was enough to secure the plate championship as JKH themselves took away silverware.
| Classic Travels | 7 | 14 | JKH ‘’B’’ |
Danushka Ranjan was named the player of the final while fellow Access and Kandy halfback, Srinath Sooriyabandara was named the Player of the Tournament.
Meanwhile, former Trinity Centre Dilusha Dange was named emerging player of the tournament as the young players award went to Heshan Jansen of CDB.
