The third and the final leg of the Asia sevens series will kickoff this weekend (15th and 16th) at the Racecourse International Stadium.
Sri Lanka finished as runners-up behind Hong Kong in both the 1st and 2nd legs under the leadership of talismanic Center Danushka Ranjan.
Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) is heading towards renaming the national governing body as Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) and the official renaming may take place during this event. Vice President of SLRFU, Lasitha Gunarathne and executive director Rohan Gunarathne have been working tirelessly to ensure that the tournament is as good as the one hosted last year.
Hong Kong currently has 24 points to Sri Lanka’s 20, after winning in the 2 previous legs in Hong Kong and South Korea, giving them a 90% win percentage this season. As a result they are almost guaranteed to finish as overall champions. The only way Sri Lanka could overthrow them is if they win the championship in Colombo and Hong Kong finish outside the top three; on current form, this seems unlikely to happen.
Although Hong Kong has been drawn in the pool of death alongside South Korea and Japan, since the Japanese team is more or less a development team, their main opposition will be South Korea. Incidentally, South Korea is the only team to have beaten Hong Kong, defeating them 21 – 28 in their pool clash a fortnight ago.
Jason Dissanayake and Kevin Dixon, who made a huge impact in Hong Kong in the first leg, unfortunately missed out in the second leg in South Korea due to injuries. However, both have recovered sufficiently and are expected to be back in the team for the all-important 3rd leg. There is also a possibility that Sudarshana Muthuthantri will make a comeback after recovering from the wrist fracture he sustained at the Monaco sevens in June. But Chairman of Selectors Michael Jayasekera has stated that Danushka Ranjan will lead the Tuskers even if Muthuthantri is selected.
ThePapare.com will bring you the live action this weekend, with the games kicking off at 10.50am on Saturday and 12.35pm on Sunday. Overseas fans can catch the action through rugbypass.com or Sky Sports (New Zealand only).
