The first leg of the much awaited and new look Inter Club Rugby Sevens tournament conducted by the Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR), will kick off on October 31 in Colombo under closed doors, with the participation of 16 teams (men and women) and adhering to strict health guidelines.
After a long break, eight men’s teams and eight women’s teams will lock horns in this season curtain raiser, for which the venue is yet to be finalized. Matches are scheduled only on Fridays and Saturdays and will kick off from 3.00 p.m. and continue until 10.00 p.m. under lights.
All ‘A’ Division Clubs in the country will be in the fray for honours. The tournament will be staged in four legs island wide, with the intention of popularizing the game by encouraging more players to take up rugby, and will be conducted in compliance with the Asia Rugby tournament format. The eight teams will be divided into two groups with four teams in each group. The top two teams of each group will proceed to play in the semi-final of the ‘Cup Championship’, while the bottom two will play their semi-final for the ‘Plate Championship’.
The women’s segment will have three teams from tri Forces, while CR and FC, Southern, Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Western Province will each field a team, and they will confront each other on the same format as the men.
The SLR Tournament Committee headed by Nazim Mohamed has appointed a COVID Director, Christoper Jodash, a former National player, along with Dr. Namith Sankalpana, the World Rugby accredited doctor, to look into health-related. The Committee met Club representatives last Wednesday and briefed them about the tournament, especially the health-related guidelines which will be strictly enforced.
Meanwhile, the Tournament Committee is evaluating the playing venue, which will be either Sugathadasa Stadium, Race Course grounds or Havelock Park respectively. Since the matches will be played under closed doors, arrangements are being made for the rugby loving fraternity in the country to have live streaming of the matches in one of the prominent channels, which is under negotiation.
‘We are well set to get going with the new season. The games will be conducted under strict health compliance. As per our plan, we will launch the new calendar season with the sevens tournament. We are delighted to see everything going smoothly as per schedule,” said Nazim Mohamed.
