The Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA), along with Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) are expected to meet the Ministry of Education (MOE) to seek permission to resume the School’s U-19 Rugby Tournament from November, this year.
The SLSRFA and SLR will have a discussion of restarting the halted tournament due to the outbreak of COVID-19 since last March. Both these bodies have agreed on a common platform, while strictly complying with health regulations implemented by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to restart the tournament either by playing a sevens or ten-a-side tournament, due to the limited time frame.
Navoda Wijerama, Secretary of SLSRFA, speaking to the Daily News, initially denied certain false statements published in certain media organisations stating that the tournament will be cancelled this year. He stated that neither the SLSRFA nor the Ministry came to a conclusion of cancelling this year’s tournament.
He further briefed that the GCE Advanced Level examination is fixed for October and will conclude by the end of the first week of November. As a result, they opted to commence the tournament by the end of November, granting the schools a two-week time frame to start their practices.
"With this new format, the tournament will be completed within three days. The ten-a-side tournament will enable us to register 17 players while the seven-a-side will accommodate 15 players."
“The SLSRFA is concerned about the boys who are playing their final year for their respective schools, due to non-playing of a tournament will deprive them of obtaining a certificate or the schools rugby colours,” said Wijerama.
