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Entertaining rugby on the cards after a breather
By Wimal Perera
The "Caltex" league rugby tournament takes a break during two periods from 22nd May to 10th June and again form 12th June to 1st July. This is to help with building the National side that is due to play in the Rugby World Cup Qualifying Matches for the Asian region.

First they Play Thailand in Bangkok on the 4th of June and then take on Singapore in Colombo on the 25th of June. Fans could expect to see a good game as Sri Lanka plays the vastly improved Singapore side.

It is laudable that the council embarked on new lines of thinking than to be bothered with player non availability as club duties clash with national duty.

Expected in Sri Lanka during the second and third week of June, the lull period, is a team from England known as the Public School Wanderers. The Wanderers will take on a Western Province side in Colombo and a Central province side at Nittawela. These matches would give an opportunity for the National Players as well as those in the pool to play against a visiting side and also before the Singapore match. Entertaining rugby is to be expected and the spectator should be able to enjoy the game as some big names are expected to be there.

The wanderers are a side comprising some known under 21 players from England and Wales. They will also include national players and those who have played at senior club level. This team has participated in many tournaments world wide.

Also on the cards during the weekend of 17th and 18th June is a tournament organized by the CR & FC to be played at Longden Place.

This event known as the Long Bar Touch Rugby Tournament will help to fill the vacuum as well as keep the interest of the rugby audience alive . The CR & FC along with Carlsberg is hosting the "Long Bar" Touch Rugby Tournament under lights on the 17th and 18th of June, followed by a musical afternoon on Sunday. All games are played in the night from 7pm to 12 midnight. Teams will comprise of seven players and the composition has restrictions to ensure that the fun part is emphasized. Of the seven people, one person should be over 35, two people should be over 30 and one person should be from the other gender. General Rugby rules will be adhered. It is expected that there will be numbers joining in to enjoy the touch rugby to be in a carnival atmosphere and be part of a fun event. CR should be congratulated for thinking out of the box and organizing an event which will keep the game alive. A little indication of thinking out of the box was seen when CR introduced a, sort of, pantomime act at Longden Place during matches.

These matches and other such fun games should be refereed by players. This will help them with the laws and also help players appreciate the role of the man with the whistle. It can also lead to some of them deciding to be whistlers in the middle.

Another possible game to be thought of could be a 10-a- side no kick rugby. All kicks end up in conceding a penalty and a penalty offence is an additional 10 metres. Any dangerous play within 10 metres from the goal line ends up in a penalty try. The game is played on a full field. This will help in a passing game and also foul play. These are games ideally as warm up games before the season or during quiet periods.

It was also encouraging to note that the SGM held in the CH & FC board room on the 28th of June achieved without much fuss the intended purpose. That is a discussion of the accounts of the SLRFU for the year ended 31st December 2004 and correctly adopting same. Now that another irritant has been put away the new council can work towards achieving the objective of promoting rugby without being distracted by other events. The stage seem to be set and we are sure to hear more and more of rugby as the season gets off the ground again with some interesting matches as traditional rivals meet each other.

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