Sri Lanka Tuskers left the Island this morning ahead of the final leg of the Asian 7’s series in China. Sri Lanka finished third in rankings last year however retaining that position is now unlikely for the islanders after coming fourth in Hong Kong and Malaysia.
The islanders are plagued with injuries with skipper Fazil Marija, sevens sensation Sooriyabandara and top try scorer in the series Anurudda Wilwara are out due to injuries. On the other hand second Fijian Joseph Dunn will debut for the Tuskers along with Havelocks S.C Dulaj Perera and Rehan Theyagarajah.
Both Rehan and Dulaj started off from the bench for Havelocks last season, however they have performed exceptionally in the domestic club scene and Carlton 7s and have also been in the original 16 man national squad.
In addition to this new coach Glen Christini who is also in charge of Havies for upcoming domestic rugby season will guide the Tuskers. Glen has been involved with Brumbies and the Australian Union in running sevens rugby programmes for seven years. “I am more than happy to help out, there are two debutants it is good to give a chance for young boys in order to build a future, we were working on the defense and decision making in the last few trainings where the boys need to overcome under fatigue” said Glen expressing his views to ThePapare.com.
Meanwhile, Tuskers have drawn in pool B along with Malaysia and Kazakhstan. Sri Lanka eased passed Malaysia twice in the series and Kazaks once in Malaysia with 38 – 17 victory. Topping the pool B means Tuskers will play with second placed team in pool D in the cup quarter finals.
It will be interesting to see how the two Fijians fair in both attack and defence. Waqawulagi Emori already showed great character in Malaysian series. Adding Dunn will certainly be a boost for the current squad which will be filled with great talents but miss the experience of Marija, and Yoshitha and flare of Soori and Wilwara.
The local timings for the 18th Saturday as below
Sri Lanka v Kazakhstan | 11:12 local | Oct 18
Sri Lanka v Malaysia | 14:08 local | Oct 18
Touring Squad :
Mithun Hapugoda ( C ), Gayan Weerarathne, Nigel Ratwatte, Shehan Pathirana, Sudarshana Muthuthantri, Dinusha Chathuranga, Danushka Ranjan, Rehan Theyygarajah, Hirantha Perera, Dulaj Perera, Wakavulagi Emori and Joseph Dunn
