The Monaco sevens repechage tournament for the Rio Olympics was held at Monaco Stade Loui II, where Sri Lanka Tuskers finished 14th overall out of 16 teams.
Only the winner of the tournament will join the 11 other teams who have already qualified to play in Rio De Janero in Brazil. Samoa and Spain fought hard for that one spot and ultimately Spain drowned Samoan hopes with a 22 – 19 thrilling finale.
The Tuskers drew first blood in the Group B alongside Canada, Germany and Uruguay. As expected it was a physical battle in the pool stage although the islanders had the speed and skills they were outplayed by the opposition teams in the physical battle. Sri Lanka lost all three games in day one, 42 – 05 in the first game against Germany, followed by a 57 – 00 defeat to Canada and 40 – 00 to Uruguay.
Day two started with Morocco where the Tuskers had some glimpses of a win after a good display of rugby. However, the Moroccans were too strong and exploited their attack to a 21 – 00 in the first half. Richard Dharmapala and Kanchana Ramanayaka scored tries whilst Srinath Sooriyabandara making some lovely meters with his dancing feet. It was too little too late. Captain Sudarshana Muthuthantri made a few good cover tackles to save few tries but Morocco showed some excellent soccer skills in the kick and chasewhich was a treat to watch and at the full time score stood 33 – 14 for the North Africans.
The Tuskers then faced Mexico in their next game. A consolation win after a heroic performance by Kanchana Ramanayaka, Sooriyabandara and Jason Dissanayaka who all scored tries. For a moment the game could have slipped out of a win but some good defense saved the game from a defeat. FT : Sri Lanka 22 – 19 Mexico.
In the last game for the 13th – 14th play-off, the Tuskers faced familiar foes, South Korea. South Korea finished 3rd in the last year’s Asian sevens series behind Hong Kong and Japan, whilst Sri Lanka finished fourth. In what was a close game, a last minute try from the Korean winger Han denied another win for the Lankans. Jason Dissanayaka scored the first points but Korea replied immediately with three quick converted tries. Dissanayake narrowed the defecit with a 80m free run just before the half time. Poor defense allowed a try in the restart as Korea moved 24 – 14, with four minutes remaining. Dhanushka Ranjan made a scintillating 90m run stepping two defenders, two minutes later Dharmapala scored another stunner and with Fazil Marija’s conversion the score was levelled 24-24. The valiant effort was in vain as “Han” try gave the Koreans that try in the final second.
Meanwhile, Canada were the favorites in the group B as they were part of the World Rugby Sevens Series, but Germany stunned them with a 21 – 19 win in the pool stage. Hong Kong finished at 6th spot although they beat the finalist Spain 19 – 00 in their pool game. Asian runners-up could not overcome Canada to claim the 5th spot where they lost 24 – 17.
