Top rugby playing nations vie for Carlton Cup
Bernard Perera
The second annual Carlton International Sevens tournament is
scheduled to to be conducted at the Sugathadasa Stadium on November 27
and 28 for the prestigious Carlton Cup. This International Rugby sevens
is organized by the ‘Tharunyata Hetak Organization’s Sports Wing for the
second successive year.
Tournament Director George Simpkin addressing the media at the
Cinnamon Lakeside hotel yesterday said that the tournament has got the
blessings of the International Rugby Board and the Asian Rugby Union.
This was made possible after last year’s successful completion of the
tournament. Last year the tournament was a huge success and the rugby
playing nations have come out with high commendation for the Sri Lanka
Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) for the well conducted tourney.
This year the tournament has attracted 16 teams from all parts of the
world especially the teams from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa,
Spain and Germany while Aisa’s top ranked teams Korea, Japan, China,
Chinese Taipei and Malaysia along with last year’s winners Fiji.
Simpkin also said that the African country Kenya is a notable entry
for the tourney. During the past decade Kenya was in the sporting map at
all but they have made giant strides in the field rugby in the recent
past. Their performance at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in
India showed the amount of improvement they made in the past decade. It
will be a team that every one will have to focus on as they are team
improving day-by-day. The Kenyans can pose a big threat to other nations
at this tournament.
Answering a question from the media Simpkin said that Samoa is the
team that is favoured at this year’s tournament when looking at the
present form of the players. Samoa is placed in Group ‘C’ along with
Japan Kazakhstan and Uganda. Papua New Guinea though they have sent in
their entry is not sure of making it to the championship and that paves
the way for Uganda to play here.
He further added that Sri Lanka should make the maximum use of this
opportunity to prove their entry into the Dubai Sevens and the Hong Kong
Sevens next year as a worthwhile move. They should play the Best
Available Team. Sri Lanka has the ability with fine players they all
should give their maximum to come out out and face the challenges posed
by other top ranked countries in this sport.
This is also a chance for Sri Lankan ruggerites to face the toughest
rugby teams from other parts of the world. Lankan cricket fans get the
opportunity of seeing the world’s best cricketers in action here, this
tournament will pave the way for these rugby fans to see the best
players in this sport on home soil for the first time.
All teams will not have all the best players but these countries will
play the top sevens players as they want to carry away the glittering
trophy .
SLRFU Vice President Lasitha Guneratne said that for the first time
the organizers will be giving lavish cash awards amounting to 25,000
dollars to the winner, 15,000 to the runners-up and 5,000 dollars each
to the two semi-finalists. This was made possible mainly due to the
generous sponsorships received from SriLankan Airlines and Etisalat.
The grouping for the tournament are As follows:
Group ‘A’ – Fiji, Spain, Korea, Malaysia
Group ‘B’ – Kenya, Australia, Germany, Chinese Taipei
Group ‘C’ – Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, Kazakhstan
Group ‘D’ – New Zealand, South Africa, China, Sri Lanka
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