Nation Lanka Finance ‘A’ clinch Mercantile Rugby Sevens trophy

M. Farook Lantra

Nation Lanka Finance ‘A’ for the first time clinched the Dialog Mercantile Rugby Sevens trophy by beating the two time seven's Champions MAS ‘A’ in grand style by 14 points (two goals) to 10 (two tries) in a thrilling cup final witnessed by a packed house held at the CR and FC grounds on November 25.

Before lemons Nations Lanka Finance ‘A’ were 14 points while MAS ‘A’ were 5 points, After the turn around the MAS ‘A’ scored another try few minutes before the final whistle. The try scores for Nation Lanka were Nuwan Hettiarachchi and Chamara Dabare while for MAS ‘A’ P. Liyanage and Ashan de Costa scored one try each.

Nuwan Hettiarachchi of Nation Lanka who played his heart out in the final was adjudged the player of the Final while the most outstanding player of the tournament was awarded to Chamara Dabare of Nation Lanka too.

The chief guest was Mrs Amali Nanayakkara (Group Chief Marketing Officer Dialog Axiata PLC) who were the main sponsor and organized by the Mercantile Rugby Football Association MRFA. More than 440 participants from 44 leading Mercantile Companies in Sri Lanka took part in this grand final.

The Media Assistance was provided by Office Network (PVT) Ltd, distributors for Brother OffceAutomation Products for Sri Lanka.

Referees from the Sri Lanka Rugby Referees Society of SLRFU did a commendable job during the three day tournament. After the award ceremony a fireworks display was held.

Results: The third place of the cup was won by debutants VIS Broadcasting which was led by Rohitha Rajapaksa who beat Access 21 points to 05. The plate was won by Dialog ‘A’ who beat John Keels ‘A’ 12 points to 05. The Bowl was won by John Keels ‘B’ who beat Dialog ‘B’ 28 points to 12 while the shield award was won by Commercial Credit who beat Citizen Development Bank 17 points to 10. The final was handled by P. Gunaratne

 

The skipper of the Debutants VIS Broadcasting Rohitha Rajapaksa receiving the third place cup from Vasantha Ramanayaka (President MRFA).	The skipper of the Dialog ‘A’ Sajith Saranga receiving the plate trophy from the Patron MRFA Sumal Perera. Pictures by M. Farook Lantra
The skipper of the John keels ‘B’ Anushka Perera receiving the Bowl trophy from Rizvi Farook Senior Manager Group marketing Dialog Axiata PLC.