Standing from left - Dasuni de Silva, Dilini Kanchana, Nimesha Wijewardane, Wasana Weerakkody, Sanjeewani de Silva, Randika Kumudumali, Anusha Attanayake, Dulani Pallikkondage, Nadeeka Munasinghe Squatting from left - Anushika Samaraweera, Nipuni Warusavithana, Umayangani Sathsarani, Shanika Dilani Muthusami
Former Kandy SC and Sri Lanka Sevens star Saliya Kumara will be aiming to turn around the fortunes of the Sri Lanka Women’s team in the final leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series at Racecourse grounds this weekend.
Kumara took charge after former Police and Sri Lanka scrum half Sudath Sampath quit as head coach following their dismal performance in the China leg where they finished in eighth place.
Sri Lanka are in pool C with Japan, Hong Kong, and Thailand while pool D comprises China, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Singapore.
“I must thank Sri Lanka Rugby for giving me this opportunity. The girls have talent and skill. With proper guidance they can rise in the rankings,” said Kumara confidently having worked on their ball retention skills during training. They have also injected new blood into the squad which has been plagued by injuries, according to skipper Sanjeewani de Silva.
The three new players are Anushika Samaraweera, CR and FC’s Umayangana Thathsarani and Shanika Dilani Muthusami while Nipuni Warusavithana is a late replacement for Sanjeewani Perera.
“In the first and second leg, we were under a lot of pressure because of injuries to key players. That is the reason for our poor performances. Even our star player Thanuja Weerakkody got injured in the second leg,” said skipper Sanjeewani. Weerakkody was the top scorer in Korea scoring five tries but will miss the Colombo leg. The player to watch will be Anusha Attanayake who scored three tries apiece in the first two legs.
“We have beaten Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. We are confident of beating them and regain our number five position. We also can do something against Hong Kong,” said Sanjeewani who is captain for the second season.
Sri Lanka’s solitary win so far has come against Malaysia 35-7 in Korea in a pool match but lost the Plate final to Thailand 32-5. In China, they were winless, losing to Singapore after extra time 10-5 in the 7th/8th place game.
Squad: Sanjeewani de Silva (captain), Dilini Kanchana, Anushika Samaraweera, Nimesha Wijewardena, Dasuni de Silva, Wasana Weerakkody, Dulani Pallikkondage, Nadeeka Munasinghe, Umayangana Sathsarani, Randika Kumudumali, Shanika Dilani Muthusami, Anusha Atthanayake, Nipuni Warusavithana
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