Injury woes mount Sri Lanka’s crucial rugby tie with Malaysia
Next Saturday’s repechage game against Malaysia will be crucial for Sri Lanka as the winner is set to fill in the remaining slot of the Asia Rugby Championship 2025 as the fourth team alongside Hong Kong, South Korea and United Arab Emirates. With both the domestic League and Knockout competitions coming to an end, last weekend, Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) officials have picked a gigantic pool of 75 players for the crucial fixture against Malaysia set to take place at the Racecourse ground in Colombo on April 19.
The game will be important for both sides, as the winner and the second placed team out of the four, will earn a chance to enter the Rugby World Cup 2027. The winner of the four-nation elite competition from Asia is guaranteed with a slot in the 2027 Rugby World Cup, while the runner-up will earn a second life, and will have to confront the second-placed team from the African Championship in a repecharge game to complete the 24 teams.
Revealing the official Tuskers’ by Gordone at the official launch – Pic by Akila Jayawardena
But before dreaming big, Sri Lanka would have to overcome its first hurdle – Malaysia. Sri Lanka is currently ranked 40th in the world, while Malaysia is placed at 49th. The last time both teams took on each other in 2019, Malaysia edged out Sri Lanka by 31-26, but next week’s encounter will be an acid test for both sides.
Head Coach Sanath Martis, who guided Sri Lanka to an emphatic triumph in May 2024 to claim the Asia Rugby Men’s Rugby Championship Division I, will continue to manage the Tuskers with Dushanth Lewke and Saliya Kumara as his assistants, and with Rohan Chinthaka as Manager. When the Tuskers last took the field on May 4, 2024, they recorded a thumping 45-7 win against Kazakhstan in the Division I final, after recording a similar 45-10 win against India in the semi-final, both at the Racecourse ground in Colombo.
Far more contrast to the present surroundings, Sri Lanka took the international field after a lapse of four years under the captaincy of Suhiru Anthony, and enthralled a packed capacity of almost 10,000 at the Racecourse Stadium signaling a strong comeback. This time around, after almost a year later, Sri Lanka is yet to finalise their combination, as the coaching staff are yet to get a full idea of what they have in the basket.
Adding a slight setback to the uncertainty, will be the unavailability of a few key players, who have been forced to sideline themselves following injuries. The squad of 75 players may not come in handy as the coaching staff and selectors may have to follow a rigorous process before naming the final squad of 25 players against Malaysia. With six more days left before the big game, Coach Martis and his staff will come across an intra-squad game and six training sessions in the process.
“Injuries and challenges are part and parcel of rugby. As coaches, we can say that we would like to have the services of a certain or few players, but these are injured players after a long league and knockout tournaments. We would follow the recommendations of team doctors and medical experts on such delicate matters, as there’s no point in taking any risk,” Coach Martis told reporters on Wednesday.
The SLR Selectors, led by Sudath Sampath, have named almost all the players who impressed during the two core domestic competitions that concluded last week with the Knockout final. Yet, the biggest challenge would be naming a final squad, given the fact that Sri Lanka may have to confront a Malaysian side that includes a few naturalised Fijians.
“A game is a game, and it’s important to us no matter how strong or weak our opponent is. Our intention is to go out with the perfect combination and in full force, expecting a win with an added advantage of playing in front of the home crowd. We may have to do a few adjustments here and there during the game, but as at now, we are doing great as a unit,” added Martis.
A win against Malaysia will elevate Sri Lanka to the Top Tier in the regional competition, with a guaranteed No.4 slot among Asia’s rugby playing nations. If Sri Lanka achieves this goal, it will be after a lapse of 10 years that the island nation reaches the elite division of Asia Rugby, and join Hong Kong (22), South Korea (35) and UAE (48) in the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship 2025. The Malaysian team will arrive in Sri Lanka this week, seeking similar glory as the hosts.