“Our target is to finish among the first four teams and we had a good preparation period under our coach Nilufer Ibrahim,” said Sri Lanka Rugby 7′ s skipper Srinath Sooriyabandara in an exclusive interview with the Daily news yesterday.
Our team is ready to leave today to South Korea to take part at the Asian Rugby 7′ s series and we are ready to take this challenge said Sooriyabandara the scrum half from Kandy SC. We really performed well during the last Commonwealth Games in Birmingham while few players of that team are not in this team due to personal reasons. However we had good training sessions with our coach and focused on our fitness at the Sports Ministry Gymnasium. The recent records showed Sri Lanka rugby players skills at 7′ s games and our team has good confidence once again to take part in this event as well as third leg of the series in Dubai.
Actually Sri Lanka ruggerites have maintained good fitness and it is always very important to continue this sport .We never think about administrative matters and we know Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe worked hard to get support from the Rugby Asian chief after a successful discussion in Dubai and are now ready to compete in this series.
As a dedicated rugby player from Kandy SC I am happy to lead the National 7’s team and we have a well balanced side packed with experienced and young players and as a former Isipathana College rugby player I am honoured to lead the National side said skipper Sooriyabandara.
Meanwhile Nilufer Ibrahim the National Rugby 7’s coach said the players are keen to take part in this event while their dedication is very high. and are committed to play the game. my team has a good chance to finish within first four in this series and the ability to beat Teams like UAE.
Ibrahim the dedicated rugby coach said in 2013 he coached and produced successful results and Sri Lanka team used to play with confidence in the sevens with their style of play. Rugby players wanted to keep their fitness and always work on their regular schedule at the Gymnasium.We had three weeks training period before this series and international match exposure is very important and hoped Sri Lanka players will put up a good fight.