Sri Lanka eye top-three finish at Asian Rugby Championship
Sri Lanka will vie for top honours at the first-leg of the Asian Rugby Championship Division One Tournament which will kick-off on May 29 at the Taipei Municipal Stadium, Song Shan District in Chinese Taipei.
Sri Lanka will be under the captaincy of 23-year-old former Isipathana College number eight and Skipper, Omalka Gunarathna who in a short period has proven to be a versatile player, with both weight and speed.
In the Division One Tournament, Sri Lanka will scrum down with the Philippines in the opening game at 2.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time, and on the following day (May 30), they will go on to play Chinese Taipei (2.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time).
The second-leg of the tournament will be played in Seoul, South Korea, while the final-leg of the tournament will be battled out in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sri Lanka last won the championship in 2015, beating Kazakhstan (35-14), Philippines (27-14) and Singapore (2714), to rise in the Asian rugby rankings
to number four.
In 2016 and 2017 Sri Lanka emerged runners-up and in 2018 they did not participate in the Asian Rugby Championships.
Sri Lanka Rugby Squad for Asian Five-nations Division One Tournament:
Omalka Gunarathna (Captain), Jason Melder (Vice-captain), Kavindu Perera (Vice-captain), Roshan Weerarathne, Sajith Saranga, Prasad Madushanka, Thilina Wijesinghe, Umesh Madushan, Nivanka Prasad, Mithun Hapugoda, Theekshana Dassanayake, Sachith Silva,
Buddima Piyaratne, Lasindu Ishan, Gihan Perera, Uchitha Jayasooriya, Charles Praveen, Thilina Bandara, Prabatha Kumara, Samuel Maduwantha, Reeza Rafaideen, Dinuk Amarasinghe, Sudaraka Dikkumbura, Kasun de Silva, Yakoob Ali and Ashan Bandara.