Youth rugby players from Europe and Australia will spice up the Centenary Rugby Sevens of St. Peter’s College when it kicks off on October 14 and 15 at the College ground at Bambalapitiya.
They will be representing two entities in Australia known as the University of Technology in Sydney and the Gordon Rugby Club in New South Wales and the Bahrain Rugby Football Club.
Two teams from Dubai and one team from Malaysia will also be in the fray at the two-day championship to celebrate 100 years of St. Peter’s College’s existence.
Interestingly the centenary celebrations of the Peterites coincide with their team winning the inter-school League and the Knock-Out tournaments this year.
“We are really looking forward to playing in the St. Peter’s Centenary Sevens and the whole team is really excited to be out there with the guys,” said the captain of the Gordon Rugby Club, Aden Ekanayake a player whose parents are of Sri Lankan heritage. He is also a Wallabies Sevens player.
The other players named in the tour party are Della Paita, Robbie Hodgson, Ethan Holt, Hunter Raymond, Will Hopper, Harry Miller, Oscar Macdonald, Cooper Georgeadis, Samuel Bourgeois, Max Preston, Taigh Nash and TJ Battison with Josh Mitchell and Maddie Linnet as coach and assistant coach respectively.
The players named in the University of Technology Sydney tour party are Conner McManus, Angus Gill, Harry Larkin, Harry Ridley, Tom Martin, Angus Paterson, Oli Garner, Tom Foster, James Brocklesby, Henry Basten, Manus Bailey, Nick Lamming and Harry Darling with Chris Keyes and Sam Macdonald as coach and assistant coach respectively.
“We just cannot wait to come across and take part in the St. Peter’s rugby Sevens and look forward to seeing you there”, said Rory the head coach of Bahrain Rugby Football Club.
The Bahrain RFC players are expatriates from the USA, England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Germany and France and the Club is one of the biggest and most ambitious rugby entities in the Gulf region and over 200 players hold membership.
Tournament Director Dilroy Fernando speaks at the draw held at St. Peter’s College
The Bahrain RFC players named are Cole Crawford, Joseph Gilbert, Riley Docherty, Thibaut Pouncel, Muhaimin Nafe, Alex Stones, Henrico Goosen, Cooper Comrie, Dan McDonald, Sebastian Hoffman, Charles Parkinson and Aden Enslin.
The overseas teams will be up against local school teams Royal College, Wesley College, Zahira College, Thurstan College, DS Senanayake College, Lumbini College, Sri Sumangala College and Vidyartha College who have all grabbed the invitations sent out to them by the host school St. Peter’s College.
“Sri Lankan schoolboys have not had any competition in rugby against foreign teams for some years now and this is a golden opportunity for them to showcase their skills against overseas players and stand out to be counted for the future”, said Tournament Director and former Sri Lanka fly half Dilroy Fernando at the draw held on Wednesday.
Badli Hisham Adam (left) the High Commissioner for Malaysia in Sri Lanka makes his eminent presence at the draw (Pix by Wimal Karunathilaka)
The preliminary group stage matches will be played on the first day and the deciding knock-out matches from the quarter finals will be worked off on the following day while a promotion children’s rugby match will be played during a break on the final day.
The matches will also be officiated by referees from overseas as well while all facilities and medical care will be provided to all the teams in the fray and there will not be an entrance fee for spectators who will also be entitled to family and welfare facilities, food and sanitary requirements according to the organizers.
More than 20 commercial partners have come on board, among them the big names in sport like Dialog, George Stuart, American Water, Hemas Hospitals and rugby’s online live-streamer Papare.
