The SLRFU has planned to conduct four local 7s tournaments which will kick start with the Club 7s scheduled to be played on the 4th and 5th of May.
A new addition to the 7s frame work is the SLRFU/Franchisees 7s which has been proposed to involve only the local players. This tournament is scheduled to take rugby outstation as the teams will play one leg in Nuwara Eliya and the other in Colombo. The tournament will include only local players representing their respective franchises.
The Carlton 7s which includes the international players will also be held after the local tournament. It will be held like before, following the same format but will include an interesting venue change, as the usual Kandy Leg has been shifted to Galle, with the Colombo Leg remaining the same. This move is an endeavour to promote the game outstation, as both Nuwara Eliya and Galle will see some high class rugby as the SLRFU hopes to reach out and popularize the sport in Sri Lanka.
Interestingly, the President of the SLRFU Asanga Seneviratne brought to light the possibility of using the picturesque Galle International Stadium, primarily used to play Test Matches as the venue for First Leg of the Carlton 7s. This proposed move will add much glamour to the already star studded tournament that includes many legends in the game.
Apart from the above mentioned 7s tournaments, the Mercantile 7s will also take place in May before the Carlton and SLRFU 7s tournaments.
Sri Lanka will be heavily involved in the 7s rugby segment as there will be sixteen 7s rugby tournaments scheduled from May up until November, including the HSBC A7’s series and the Women’s and Asian Youth Games 7’s tournament.
The SLRFU hope to continue with the services of legend Ben Gollings who had a very successful first season with the Sri Lankan 7s team last year.
To view pictures of the press conference, click here
