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Rugby 7s coach Simpkin adamant on leaving
Was it a death threat?
By Harry Jayachandra
The million rupee question being asked in the rugby circles is – Why did George Simpkin quit as the Sri Lanka Rugby Sevens coach, almost overnight. Unfortunately there is no clear cut answer. When The Sunday Times spoke to SLRFU secretary Dilroy Fernando, he said; "George met me on Thursday said that he wants to leave on personal grounds. I asked him for a specific reason and he said that he just wants to return home. We had an Administrative Council meeting on Friday where Priyantha Ekanayake, Michael Jayasekera, Jude Pillai and I, were present. I asked George to attend the meeting, but he refused."

Fernando added that despite speculation of a death threat being made to Simpkin, there was no evidence to back up that rumour. "At the meeting Jude Pillai, the Manager stated that following a training session on Thursday, Kandy's Nalaka Weerakkody and Simpkin had exchanged views. There may have been a misunderstanding, but there is no proof either written or verbal that Simpkin was threatened in any way. I gave him plenty of opportunities to give his reasons for leaving, but as I said before, Simpkin kept insisting it was on personal grounds. Had there been evidence I would have been the first to pull up whoever the player was and ensure that strict disciplinary action was taken. But that is not the case here. And as for Dilanka Wijesekera, the Union doctor Maiya Gunasekera has sent me a letter stating that he is injured and not fit to tour Hong Kong," said Fernando.

With Simpkin out and Imti Marikkar suspended, obviously the next question was who will coach the side for the Hong Kong Sevens. "Sudath Sampath has been working with the side for a long time and most probably will take the side to Hong Kong. Since the Commonwealth games the team has been working hard. Also by gaining the exposure of playing against sides like New Zealand, there is a visible difference in the way the team plays," stated Fernando.
When asked about foreign players being included in the side, Fernando had this to say; "We are still waiting for Ministry approval. In fact we have advertised on our website as well. We did try one player called Ravindra Dissanayake. But he is more of a 15 a side player. We did get a response from one player in Australia and we are also looking at another player from the same country.

Everybody now knows about the IRB rule, But as far Sri Lanka is concerned, if the player has duel citizenship he can represent the country, for example if his parents were born here etc..If the player is from another country then Cabinet approval must be obtained before we can select the player," Fernando said.

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