Sri Lankan youth rugby team fails to live up to expectations

Ranjeeva Seneviratne

RUGBY: The Sri Lanka Youth rugby team which went to Chinese Taipei with high hopes of finishing third and qualifying for next year's Youth World Cup in Ireland failed to live up to expectations and ended up in seventh position in the under-19 Asian Rugby tournament which concluded on Saturday.

The Sri Lankans went down fighting to the host nation Chinese Taipei 10-19 in their opening match before suffering a humiliating 19-48 defeat at the hands of last year's runners-up South Korea. The Lankans who were relegated into the Shield competition gained some consolation when they clinched the Shield championship by beating the minnows of Asian rugby Singapore by 34 points to 23 in the final after trailing 12-20 at the breather.

Asian heavyweights Japan clinched the Cup championship with a smashing 64-3 win over Chinese Taipei in the final while Hong Kong bagged the Plate championship with an easy 39-3 win over Malaysia. The South Koreans won the Bowl championship by beating Thailand 38-13 in the final.

It was a disappointing display by the Sri Lanka Youth rugby team which had one month's intensive training in Colombo and Pallekelle before embarking on the tour. Incidentally Sri Lanka finished sixth at last year's Youth Rugby Asiad in Lahore, Pakistan.