Junior Rugby Asiad in Kandy?
The Sunday Times reliably learns that the Junior Rugby Asiad 2014 which is to be hosted in Sri Lanka will most likely be held in Kandy, the hill capital of Sri Lanka. The previous Junior Asiad was hosted in Colombo two years ago when Sri Lanka became runners-up with Trinity ‘Lion’ Randika Alwis leading the outfit.
The last Junior Asiad was held in Colombo at Havelock Park - File pic
The tournament will be worked off from September 14 to 22 and likely the venue will be Nittawela Rugby Grounds with two matches scheduled for each day. Matches are planned for September 15, 18 and 21 and will be worked off according to the team rankings.
This will be a good move as this will be the first time that Kandy which is considered as the rugby crazy town will host the Junior Asiad. Trinity ‘Lion’ and fly-half of this year’s outfit Tharinda Ratwatte is tipped to lead the Under-20 outfit with Nilfer Ibrahim and Sanath Martis expected to carry out the duties as coaches. The winner of this series will be promoted to the ‘Top 4’ which includes Hong Kong, Korea and Japan and one of the teams will book their berth for the IRB Under-20 Junior Rugby World Cup.
Under -16 Rugby
Kandy, the rugby crazy city will host the Milo Under-16 Rugby Championship which will consist of 32 teams. The tournament will take place on August 23 and 24 at Nittawela and Bogambara stadiums. The opening day will see the tournament being worked off at both Nittawela and Bogambara but the final day’s proceedings on August 24 will take place at Bogambara.
Meanwhile the Under-18 Inter-School Rugby League Championship also continues with two matches down for decision. In the first match St. Sylvester’s College will meet Kingswood College while Trinity College will take on Vidyartha College in the next game. Both games will be worked off at the Bogambara Stadium. Kingswood will lock horns with St. Anthony’s College Katugastota in the first game, followed by the game between Trinity and Dharmaraja College later on.