Some 40 under-14 school teams from the provinces will feature in a Schools Development Sevens on February 20, 2022 at Ruwanwella and on March 12 at Pallekele.
The Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) said that conducting development tourneys are critical to assess the skill level and fitness of rural school teams and to provide the necessary training and development for players in the provinces.
The schools that have confirmed entering their teams in the first tournament are St. Joseph’s College Kollonnawa, Defense Services College Colombo, Kulasingha Maha Vidyalaya, Omalpe Maha Vidyalaya, Jayawardhanapura Maha Vidyalaya (Western Province), Kularathna Central College, Swarna Jayanthi Maha Vidyalaya, Bibilegama Maha Vidyalaya, Dorpana Maha Vidyalaya, Wimalasara Vidyalaya, Godawela Vidyalaya, Kiriporuwa Vidyalaya (Sabaragamuwa Province), Siridhamma College, Saralankara College, Udugama National School and Sri Siddhartha Maha Vidyalaya (Southern Province).
“Much of Sri Lanka’s rugby talent is lost due to rural schools not actively playing the game, especially in the Sevens format where its physically less demanding than the league format,” said BA Abeyratne, the president of SLSRFA.
“A tournament of this magnitude will not be possible if not for the corporate backing of our sponsors Dialog Axiata and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for powering schools rugby in Sri Lanka.”