Hong Kong Sevens – Lanka returns empty-handed

Shamseer Jaleel reporting from Hong Kong
Sri Lanka Sevens rugby team returned to the island yesterday empty-handed continuing their losing streak at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. Teams from the African continent showed remarkable improvement in the standard of rugby dished out at this tournament which is most probably the richest ever tournament in the International Rugby Board (IRB) circuit. New Zealand ended the Hong Kong drought after a 6-year lapse beating South Africans in the Cup final. In the Plate segment France edged out Argentina in extra time while Russia defended their Bowl against a much improved Zimbabwe outfit.

The IRB circuit which starts in Dubai in November each year ends in Murrayfield in Scotland. Overall nine tournaments are conducted namely in Dubai, Durban, Santiago, Los Angeles, Wellington, Hong Kong, Adelaide, London and Murrayfield. While the top ranked teams are invited for all the tournaments the lesser known sides are picked on a performance basis. Sides such as Sri Lanka, China and Chinese Taipei get only a single tournament the whole year.

The Sri Lankan outfit put up a good show against the defending champions Samoa. They contained them to 35-7 as this was a warm-up for both teams. On the second day they were outclassed by a stronger England side 47-7. But on both occasions Lankans managed to cross their opponent’s line.

But in their last group outing Canada thrashed the daylights out of the Sri Lankan team by 53 to nothing. After getting relegated to the Bowl, once again they continued their losing streak by going down to Russia 35-10. Over all in the four games Lankans conceded 170 points and scored 24 points. For record purposes the last Lankan victory at the Hong Kong Sevens was two years ago under Sanjeewa Jayayasinghe’s leadership beating USA in the Bowl quarter-finals in 2006.

Speaking to The Bottom Line Sri Lanka coach Rawiri Martin Mako (New Zealand) said that they gave everything in the first two games and the boys were really tired for the final outing. Further he continued by saying that the team should be given more exposure at international level by the IRB as most of the opponents are well-drilled for the big occasion.

Sri Lanka skipper Pradeep Liyanage said that they performed well in their opening two outings. The weight and strength of the opponents was too much for Sri Lanka to handle. Liyanage ended by saying that the team should be together for at least one month before the tournament and more exposure should be given to them. “We get only one IRB Sevens and the others are in good shape and come after four tournaments,” he said.

It appears that the SLRFU should get into the act pretty fast and spend some good money on the Sevens. Comparing the Sevens and the fifteens Sri Lanka has a better chance in the shorter version of the game. With a little more speed, strength and weight Lankan rugby could be taken to the next stage.

If this does not take place soon we will continue to be completely outclassed in international games.