Two weeks of scintillating 7’s rugby action is in store this July, as the much anticipated sport event the Sri Lankan’s Super 7’s tournament will kick off for the second consecutive year with the first leg from July 8 to 9 at the Nittawela grounds, Kandy.
Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) along with principal sponsors Dialog Axiata Plc has successfully managed to retain all eight franchises from the first edition (2016) of this tournament. Access Kings, Cargills Gladiators, Etisalat Panthers, EzY Wolves, KBSL Dragons, Softlogic Warriors, Mobitel Eagles and Walkers Vipers, will contend both legs for the Sri Lanka Super 7s 2017 title.
Mobitel Eagles emerged overall championships after fending off a spirited late challenge by Cargills Gladiators in a thrilling encounter, whilst Isipathana College emerged winners of the Schools’ tourney beating St. Joseph’s College on aggregate points from the two legs.
International rugby stars from teams such as Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, Kenya, South Africa and England will take part with the starting lineup of the franchise teams promising scintillating 7’s action on par with regional national tournaments.
The franchises are allowed to retain one player from last year in addition to three foreign players and include one Category ‘A’ player, four each from Category ‘B’ and ‘C’ along with two from Category ‘D’. An under 23 player must be on the field at all times while a maximum of two foreign players can be on the field concurrently.
The second leg and grand finale will be played at the Racecourse grounds, Colombo from July 15 to 16 and the second leg will follow the same format with points awarded to each based on their performance. The team with the most number of points at the end of both rounds will be crowned winners of the Sri Lanka Super 7’s.
The women’s team from Sri Lanka Army, Navy, Air Force and CR and FC will also play in the tournament.
An under 16 and under 18 school’s tournament will be held parallel to the club tourney, following the same format featuring eight teams including Trinity College, St. Anthony’s College, Kingswood College, Dharmaraja College, St. Joseph’s College, St. Peter’s College, Isipathana College, Science College, Wesley College and Zahira College.
Harin Fernando, Minister of Telecommunication and Digital Infrastructure mentioned that the organizers of the Super 7’s 2017 hope to auction yet another championship winning team’s jersey and donate proceedings to Science College rugby.
Last year the Minister donated his own All Blacks Jersey for the auction following which the funds were given to aid Isipathana College in their quest to build the much needed rugby grounds. Officials including Dayasiri Jayasekara, Minister of Sports was also present at the media press conference held at Sports Ministry auditorium.
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