Tuskers opt for experience at Monaco Sevens

The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union Selection Committee has picked the final 12 member squad that will be traveling to Monaco for the Olympic Sevens qualifier, opting to go with experience for the all-important series.

The Tuskers will be led by Sudarshana Muthuthanthri in their quest to clinch a possible spot at the Rio Olympics.

Initially, a 19-man training squad was announced and the numbers were skimmed down to 16 personnel last week.  The final 12-member touring squad was announced by the committee yesterday. The experienced Havelock Sports Club skipper Sandun Herath is sidelined owing to injury while emerging Tuskers Nishon Perera and Kevin Dixon will be sitting out this fixture. The other player who will not be a part of the touring squad will be Kandy Sports Club’s Vishvamithra Jayasinghe.

The Monaco Olympic Qualifier is the final chance for Sri Lanka and 15 other countries to earn themselves a berth at the Rio Olympics where Sevens rugby will be making its debut. The qualifier is set to be played on the 18th and 19th of June 2016 at the Stade Louise II Stadium in Monaco.  Currently, only Japan have gained qualification from Asia and the two-day series at Monaco will see the giants of the game from around the world fighting for a single qualification spot.

Sri Lanka are grouped in ‘B’ along with Canada, Germany and Uruguay. The winner of the group stage will progress to the knock-out stages with intentions of keeping their Olympic dream alive.

Sri Lanka’s 12 member squad consists of the experienced Fazil Marija who returns in the national jersey after a slipped disc injury. Marija who missed out on almost half of the club rugby season last season, had to sit out of the Asia 5 Nations championship and is now back to give his best for the Tuskers at Monaco. Alongside Marija, experienced Sudarshana Muthuthanthri will give leadership to the team. The Havelock SC #8 will be joined by his teammate Danushka Ranjan who would look to play a key role in the team.

Sri Lanka have got back the services of Richard Dharmapala and Srinath Sooriyabandara who were not available for the Asia 5 Nations championship while the consistent Roshan Weeraratna retains his spot in the team with Danush Dayan and Suhiru Anthony. The value additions for the team are supplied by CR & FC with experienced Tusker Kanchana Ramanayaka continuing his stint in the Lankan jersey.

The team is expected to leave the country on the 14th and the final squad for the qualifier will be as follows: