Sri Lanka Rugby’s sevens sensation Srinath Sooriyabandara has been ruled out of the 3rd leg of the Asia Sevens Series where Danush Dayan’s Sri Lanka side will have more debutants for the Colombo leg.
Sooriyabandara, who sustained a hamstring injury in the final day of the 1st leg, was unavailable for the 2nd leg in China and now will not feature in this year’s sevens series which will be brought to a close this weekend in Colombo.
The Tuskers outfit will consist of the experienced campaigners Jason Dissanayaka and Reeza Raffaideen alongside Kevin Dixon.
Naveen Henakankanamage, Gemunu Chethiya, Thilina Wijesinghe and Thilina Bandara from the touring 2nd leg squad have been left out with the Tuskers bringing in two new faces.
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Former Sri Lanka under 20 players Chathura Seneviratne and Kavinda Keshan will make their debuts for the national side when the 3rd leg of the series comes alive at the Colombo Racecourse on the 28th of this month.
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Speedster Buddhima Piyarathane will also make the squad after medical staff confirmed that he has completely recovered from injury.
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In the meantime, Janidu Dilshan and Sudaraka Dikkumbura will hope to continue their successful campaign in the national jersey as they get ready to play in front of their home crowd.
The Tuskers sit at 4th place in the series after two legs. In the 1st leg in Korea, Sri Lanka finished 5th and later finished 4th in China.
The 13-man squad is as follows:
Danush Dayan – Captain (Kandy SC), Jason Dissanayaka (Kandy SC), Reeza Raffaideen (CR & FC), Kevin Dixon (CR & FC), Dinuk Amerasinghe (CR & FC), Janidu Dilshan (CR & FC), Iroshan Silva (Police SC), Buddhima Piyarathane (Navy SC), Chathura Seneviratne (Navy SC), Anuradha Herath (CH & FC), Nishon Perera (CH & FC), Kavinda Keshan (Havelock SC) & Sudaraka Dikkumbura (Army SC)
New Women’s Coach for the Tuskers
Sri Lanka Women will have a tough task ahead of the home leg with experienced campaigner Thanuja Weerakkody out of the team due to injury.
The team led by Sanjeewani De Silva currently sits at the bottom of the table in the Asia Sevens Series and will need a 6th place finish to survive in the top division.
Following the dismal performance in the 2nd leg, the governing body has appointed former national 7’s cap Saliya Kumara as coach for the women’s team, ousting Sudath Sampath from the position.
The women’s team is as follows:
Sanjeewani De Silva – Captain, Dilini Kanchana, Anushika Samaraweera, Nimesha Wijewardena, Dasuni De Silva, Wasana Weerakkody, Dulani Pallikondage, Nadeeka Munasinghe, Umayangana Thathsarani, Randika Kumudumali, Sanikadilani Muthusami, Anusha Attanayake & Sanjeewani Perera
