Sports

All eyes on new entrants ‘Sri Lions’ as domestic rugby kicks off today

Published

1 year ago

2024/12/13

Thilina Walpola

Last season’s winners CR&FC celebrate winning the league tournament

By A Special Sports Correspondent

All eyes will be on new entrants to rugby ‘Sri Lions Sports Club’ when they debut in the 2024/25 Inter-club league rugby tournament in Kandy on Sunday (December 15). Sri Lions are slated to take on last season’s league tournament runners-up Kandy Sports Club at the Nittawela grounds. Despite Sri Lions SC being new to domestic rugby, a thriller is expected; as the team is packed with players who are well drilled at training and the other reason being all players possess an IRB Level 1 qualification.

Sri Lions SC’s entry into division 1 rugby was not smooth. Many clubs opposed their promotion to the top league in the domestic tournament. Rugby sources told ‘The Island’ that despite the opposition shown by some clubs, Sri Lanka Rugby and other prominent sports authorities in Sri Lanka had to grant the new entrants their due place in the top league. This was largely because Sri Lions SC had made progress through the proper channel by winning the B Division rugby tournament last season.

Dr. Kelum Sujith Perera, the founder chairman of Sri Lions SC, was quoted in the newspapers saying that the club’s priority was centred around professionalism and transparency and that the club was committed to contributing to rugby development in Sri Lanka.

The club boasts of having in their line up comprising 12 former national players and a horde of talented ex-schoolboy players who have recently finished their academic commitments on a high.

The other matches scheduled for the first week of club rugby are: Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club vs CH&FC at Ratmalana (December 13), Army Sports Club vs Police Sports Club at Panagoda, Navy Sport Club vs Havelocks SC at Welisara (Both matches on December 14).

CR&FC will be one of the teams to watch this season given that they are the reigning league rugby champions. The side is led by Gemunu Chethiya. The club upgrading their stadium to have floodlight facilities should elevate player thinking to another level. The other club to offer floodlight facilities for domestic rugby matches is Havelocks SC. However CR will not have a match in the opening week of the tournament.

Last season’s league runners-up Kandy SC are led this season by seasoned scrum half Srinath Sooriyabandara who counts years of experience playing in domestic and overseas tournaments. The side is coached by Fazil Marija. Kandy SC’s dominance in domestic rugby was broken last season and much is expected of the side from Nittawela, which is going through a team building phase at present.

CH&FC is a dangerous side to play against when the team members are gelled and focused. Last season the side finished fourth. This season the Gymkhana Club is led by Janidu Dilshan.

Havelocks SC led by Abdullah Faiz is set to finish on a high this season. The Park Club finished third in the league rugby tournament last season. Police SC, which had to be satisfied winning the ‘Plate Championship’ in the league tournament last season, will be another strong contender vying for honours . The side is led for the second consecutive year by third row forward Mohan Wimalaratne.

The other sides in the tournament are Army SC, Air Force Sports Club and Navy Sport Club.

The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Rugby, the governing body for the sport in the island. Rugby sources reveal that an SGM has been called on December 20 for clubs to attend with the motive of announcing the date for the much looked forward to Annual General Meeting of SLR. According to International Rugby regulations, SLR has to have it’s AGM before January 31 next year.

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Latest News

LPL 2026 Opening Game between Jaffna and Galle

Published

2 hours ago

2026/05/15

Priyan

The inaugural game of the Lanka Premier League 2026 will be played between the Jaffna and Galle teams, who emerged as the Champions and Runners-up respectively in the 2024 season.

The opening game is scheduled to be played on 17th July at the SSC Grounds, commencing at 7.30 p.m.

Prior to the start of the tournament opener, a spectacular opening ceremony will be held at the SSC Grounds in Colombo.

The Lanka Premier League 2026 will be played from 17th July to 8th August across four venues: SSC, Colombo; RDICS, Dambulla; PICS, Pallekele; and RPICS, Colombo.

The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the owner of the LPL, in partnership with The IPG Group, the event rights holder.

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Kuldip Yadav in for Khaleel; Gleeson for Thushara

Published

4 hours ago

2026/05/15

Priyan

Gleeson has previously played for CSK and MI [Cricbuzz]

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have each picked injury replacements for Khaleel Ahmed and Nuwan Thushara respectively.

Kuldip Yadav joins CSK as a replacement for Khaleel, who was ruled out of the tournament mid-April due to a quad injury. Kuldip joins them for INR 30 lakh. The 29-year-old medium pacer has previously featured for Rajasthan Royals, playing three games for them across 2021 and 2023. Those are the only T20s he has played so far.

Khaleel played five games for CSK this season, picking up two wickets, but got injured in a game against Kolkata Knight Riders, failing to bowl the last ball of his spell. CSK have endured a barrage of injuries this season, with Jamie Overton being the recent most victim.

RCB have replaced Nuwan Thushara, also out of the competition, with England seamer Richard Gleeson. He joins the defending champions for a fee of INR 1.6 crore.

Thushara, who played one game for RCB last year, did not feature in IPL 2026 before he was ruled out.

The 38-year-old Gleeson debuted for England in 2022, and played six T20Is for them, taking nine wickets. He has taken 170 wickets in 145 T20s, and also featured in two seasons of the IPL. In 2024, he turned out for CSK, taking one wicket in two games. Last year, he was with MI, picking one wicket in a solitary appearance.

[Cricbuzz]

Latest News

Eyman Fatima powers Pakistan to series victory

Published

4 hours ago

2026/05/15

Priyan

Eyman Fatima's innings included 10 fours and 4 sixes [Cricbuzz]

Pakistan clinched a comprehensive 67-run win over Zimbabwe in the 2nd T20I on Thursday to seal the three-match series 2-0. Opting to bat first, Pakistan were off to a slow start, managing just 34 runs in the Powerplay while losing the wicket of Gull Feroza.

They slipped into further trouble after two quick wickets reduced them to 46/3. A partnership worth 46 between Muneeba Ali and Eyman Fatima revived the innings before a defining 78-run partnership between Fatima and Natalia Pervaiz put Pakistan into the ascendancy.

While Muneeba’s 36 at the top of the order was crucial in arresting a potential collapse, Fatima’s unbeaten 79* ensured that they recovered to post a daunting 170/4 in their 20 overs. Pakistan were particularly stern on the bowling in the final five overs of their innings which yielded 58 runs.

In pursuit, Zimbabwe never got going. They were reduced to 29/3 inside the Powerplay before Nashra Sandhu struck twice in the same over. Another wicket in the 9th over left Zimbabwe reeling at 51/6. It was only thanks to a few inconsequential contributions down the order that Zimbabwe’s scorecard didn’t look any worse. They crawled past 100 and avoided getting all-out while falling 67-runs short.

Brief Scores:
Pakistan Women 170/4 in 20 overs (Eyman Fatima 79*, Muneeba Ali 36, Natalie Pervaiz 24; Mitchell Mavunga1-38, Precious Marange 1-33, Lindokuhle Mabhero 1-20) beat Zimbabwe Women 103/8 in 20 overs (Beloved Biza 11, Natasha Mtomba 10, Adel Zimunu 12, Nomvelo Sibanda 18*, Lindokuhle Mabhero 12, Kudzai Chigora 14*; Fatima Sana 1-22, Nashra Sandhu 2-18, Sadia Iqbal 1-10, Tuba Hassan 1-17, Ayesha Zafar 1-10, Natalie Pervaiz 1-09) by 67 runs.

[Cricbuzz]