The 42nd Dialog Mercantile rugby sevens tournament concluded yesterday with Nation Lanka Finance coming out winners toppling the defending champs MAS in the finals.
The tournament set up a platform for the best player in local rugby to flaunt their talent during a three day tournament.
ThePapare managed to speak with the head of the National selection committee and former National skipper, Chanrdishan Perera to get his views about the tournament and its significance on local rugby.
“You have to lift your hat off to the Mercantile association for conducting a tournament of that nature”.
“The tournament has been a permanent fixture in the local rugby calendar for many years now and it has been a much looked forward to event”. The mercantile rugby sevens tournament was organized for the 42nd time which saw a record number of 44 teams participating this year.
“It’s a stage for the best players in the country to perform and showcase their talent. It’s also a chance for them to go up against the rest of the club players and display the experience which they gathered from the international sevens tournaments”.
“It gives the opportunity for completely unknown players to show their skills and compete with the big boys on a big stage”.
“I think we should have a few more tournaments and maybe the mercantile sevens tournament can be broken down in to two days since it takes a lot out of the players. 3 days of sevens rugby really takes a toll on the players and maybe the organizers can think of having the final day on another weekend to get the maximum out of the players”.
“Sevens is definitely the way to go for Sri Lanka! Rugby is a good celebration and sevens rugby in particular is the future for us. A big hand has to be given to the sponsors ‘Dialog’ for coming in and making the tournament a huge success. They have come in to rugby in a big way this year and it has benefitted the standard of rugby immensely”.
“I think they should have one tournament right after the Asian Five Nations tournament since the club season is scheduled to start in October next year. It gives an opportunity for the players to condition themselves for the inter-club season”.
“Another thing is that the organizers should look at having it in different parts of the country so that they can spread the sport. Maybe have one in Kandy and Galle and round it up in Colombo”.
“Most countries have about 25 domestic tournaments during a season, and we also should increase the number of tournaments to give maximum exposure to the local players. The SLRFU is trying to increase the number of sevens tournaments so that the players get conditioned and exposed to more sevens”.
The rugby union is heading in to women’s rugby in a big way and I think it’s a perfect opportunity for the sponsors to come in and give the needed push to uplift the sport in the country”, ended Chandrishan Perera.
