Benedict heads national rugby selection committee

Ranjeeva Seneviratne

RUGBY: Former Sri Lanka ruggerite and ex-President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union Anton Benedict will be the new Chairman of the national selection committee of the SLRFU according to the President of the SLRFU DIG Nimal Lewke.

Lewke said that Benedict was nominated by the SLRFU to head the national selection committee after taking into consideration the enormous contribution made by him to rugby as a player, referee and administrator.

Benedict represented Sri Lanka from 1972 to 1978 and had the honour of captaining two leading teams Police (1972) and Havelocks (1978).

After he hung up his boots he took to refereeing and was a leading referee in 1980s and also coached the champion Police teams in the 1980s and was elected President of the SLRFU in 1999.

Former Police, Kandy SC and Sri Lanka Centre Hemantha Yatawara has also been brought in as a selector to look after the interests of up country rugby while ex-Police and Sri Lanka prop forward Norman Silva has also been nominated as a selector to look after the interests of Police and Defence Services rugby. Former CH & FC skipper Ravi Wijenathan is the other new selector with burly Lasitha Guneratne being the only member of the outgoing selection committee who has been retained.

The new national selection committee of the SLRFU: Anton Benedict (Chairman), Hemantha Yatawara, Lasitha Guneratne, Norman Silva and Ravi Wijenathan.