The 2018 calendar year will be a whole new challenge for Sri Lanka Rugby, with an action packed 12 months as Asia Rugby release their calendar and prospectus for the year. Sevens rugby is set to play a crucial role as Sri Lanka look to improve their rankings worldwide.
Prior to the main events, the Tuskers will travel for the Boreno Sevens in Malaysia which will act as the preparatory series ahead of the big year. The Sri Lanka Women’s team were fortunate of winning their first ever rugby silverware when they won the women’s sevens title at Borneo last year. The team coached by Sudath Sampath will look at retaining the trophy they won when they make it to Malaysia on the 16th of March.
Read more: Sri Lanka Women champions in Borneo 7s
Sri Lanka will start their campaign with the Commonwealth Games that is set to take place in Gold Coast Australia between April 4 and April 15th. The Tuskers qualified for the Gold Coast games after finishing fourth overall in the Asia Sevens Series, securing the Asian qualifier positions along with Malaysia.
The Tuskers will receive a perfect opportunity for glory when they take flight to Indonesia for the Asian Games. The 18th Asian Games will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia from August 18th to September 2nd and will include sevens rugby as a sporting discipline. The Sri Lanka sevens team will be looking to bring home a medal, as the Asian Games features sevens for the first time.
Sri Lanka 7s team qualifies for Commonwealth Games
The Sri Lankan Rugby 7s team have qualified to participate..
The Junior Tuskers who missed out on the silverware last year, will be looking to go one higher this season when the Under 20 Asia Sevens Series comes alive this August. The series will take place on the 10th and 11th of August at Kings Park Stadium, Hong Kong.
Sri Lanka, under the captaincy of Naveen Henakankanamage, ended second best at the end of the tournament in Hong Kong, missing out on what Kevin Dixon’s team won in 2016. With Sri Lanka retaining the services of key players for this year’s under 20 squad, the Junior Tuskers have with them a rare opportunity of going for top honours.
Sri Lanka to host Asia Sevens again
Read more: “We want to see Sri Lanka in the top 20 teams in 7’s” – Asanga Senevirathne
Continuing success from the past three years, Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) will once again play host to the final leg of the Asia Sevens Series that will kick off later this year at the Colombo Racecourse.
It will be a busy year for rugby, with many international fixtures scheduled to be held during the course of the year. The Asia Sevens Series made its debut to the island in 2015 when the Colombo Racecourse first hosted the event. Since then the country has successfully hosted three Asia Sevens Series events until 2017.
This year will be the fourth consecutive occasion in which the 3rd leg of the Asia Sevens Series comes to the island nation on the 13th and 14th of October. The 1st leg will be played in Hong Kong on the 14th and 15th of September, followed by South Korea on the 29th and 30th.
Sri Lanka who had disappointing finishes in the first two legs managed to finish third in the Colombo showdown last year to make it to an overall fourth. Coach Peter Woods will be looking to make things right and rectify his mistakes.
