Sri Lanka youth rugby players to miss out on Asian Sevens
By Shamseer Jaleel
The Sri Lanka youth rugby team which emerged second in Asia behind Hong Kong will miss out on the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Under 20 Asian Sevens tournament, which will be worked off in Hong Ko
ng on 19 and 20 December.
The Sri Lankan Under 20 outfit under Tharinda Ratwatte finished ahead of Taipei and South Korea in the final standing of the Junior World Rugby Tournament (JWRT) Asian Edition in Sri Lanka a few months back.
Already seven countries have confirmed their participation. They are hosts Hong Kong, China, Taipei, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and UAE. The most notable absentee is the Sri Lankan side with Japan moving to the top tier in World Rugby.
Speaking to Daily FT, Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) Secretary Nalin De Silva confirmed that Sri Lanka will not field a team at this event. Speaking further he said the SLRFU had officially written to the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and there was no reply from their part. He added that with the long season over just a few months ago, getting players and funds together was probably the main reason for this silence.
