With the all-important Asia Sevens Series 2019 just a few weeks away, Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) has finalised the coaching contingent of Sri Lanka after appointing former Tuskers Sevens sensation Mushtaq Jiffry and former Kandy SC star Saliya Kumara as the Assistant Coaches of the National Sevens team.
Hailing from Zahira College and later playing a pivotal role in the CR & FC rugby team, Jiffry started his coaching career at CR as the Lines Coach and achieved his first milestone in the coaching department in 2016 when the U18 Sri Lanka Sevens team won the Junior Asia Sevens Championship under his guidance.
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From thereon, Jiffry has been a consistent pick as he coached the Junior Tuskers the following year as well and later acted as the Lines Coach of the Junior XV a-side National team.
On the contrary, this will be Saliya Kumar’s first National appointment as a coach, after representing Sri Lanka at numerous international tournaments in the past, until he hung up his boots and took over coaching at Trinity College.
In Kumara’s tenure as the Trinity College U18 coach he has managed to guide the team to two Sevens finals and produce quality players.
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The trio, Matt Lee (Head Coach), Mustaq Jiffry and Saliya Kumara will commence duties immediately with the upcoming Asia Sevens Series being their first assignment. The tournament is set to take place at the end of this month in South Korea.
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This will also be the first hurdle for the newly appointed Sri Lanka Sevens captain, Danush Dayan as he is set to lead a fairly balanced outfit for the mega event.
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