Caltex Inter-Provincial Rugby Tourney begins on September 24
RUGBY: The Caltex Inter-Provincial tournament for 2006
organised by the SLRFU and sponsored by Caltex Lubricants Lanka Limited
will kick off on September 24 and will go on till October 8 (Sunday).
The four teams which will vie for the Caltex Provincial Trophy will
be Southern Province RFU, Defence Services, Central Province RFU and the
Western Province RFU.
The four coaches assigned to the respective Provinces are Tony Amith
(Southern Province), Col. Sunil Ranasinghe (Defence Services), Tulaga
Tawita (Central Province) and Pa Enari (Western Province) National Coach
Willie Hetaraka will assist the coaches of Defence Services and Southern
Province.
The President of the SLRFU Priyantha Ekanayake addressing a press
briefing at the SLRFU Headquarters said that the Inter-Provincial
Tournament will serve as a trial to pick the Sri Lanka squad for the
Singer Rugby Asiad which will be worked off in Colombo from November 18
to 25 this year.
It will also give an opportunity for expatriate Sri Lankan players to
play for a province and be in contention for a place in the national
team and already Jamie Jobsz who is based in London has been picked for
the Western Province team. In conclusion he thanked Caltex Lubricants
for coming forward to sponsor this event.
The Group Brand Manager of Caltex Lubricants Shehan Perera said that
his firm came forward to sponsor this tournament in appreciation of the
good work done by the SLRFU to promote rugby in the country.
Although the tournament may not be a crowd puller it would help to
popularise the game in the outstations.
He hoped the SLRFU will continue to promote rugby in the country as
his firm has decided to sponsor the 'A' Division League and Clifford Cup
for the next four years. Next year Caltex will organise more Sevens
Tournaments in the outstations in a bid to popularise the game in these
areas.
September 24 - Southern Province vs Western Province at Havelock
Park, September 26 - Defence Services vs Central Province in Kandy,
September 30 - Southern Province vs Defence Services in Galle, October 1
- Central Province vs Western Province in Kandy, October 8 - Central
Province vs Southern Province at Radella and Defence Services vs Western
Province in Colombo. (R.S.) |