SRI LANKA EDGE PHILIPPINES TO FINISH SECOND

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​ASIA RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2016
SRI LANKA 40 - SINGAPORE 20

Sri Lanka edged out a fighting Philippines in the very last minute of the game due to a spectacular try by Jason Dissanayaka who almost single-handedly took the the South Asia nation to victory by scoring two tries.

What a game and what a result in the end as the Lankans were trailing 20-21 before the winning try came along. Sri Lanka in this tournament was never even close to their usual brand of rugby and were very lucky to end as runner-up. Sri Lanka scored three tries with Jason two and centre Kanchana Ramanayaka one while full back Riza 'Wilkinson' Mubarak converted two tries and put over two penalties. 

For the record the last Asian rugby - Division 1 championship in Manila, Philippines in 2015, Sri Lanka was the eventual champions by playing a slick brand of rugby due to lots of top class overseas players from South Africa, Fiji, Western Samoa, Tonga, Kenya and New Zealand turning out for the local clubs in the domestic competition. One reason for Sri Lanka failing to win this time around was that they decided not to have a single overseas player turning out for the local clubs in the domestic inter-club championship due to the leading rugby clubs voting against foreign player participation for domestic matches. This has in a way affected the standard of Sri Lankan rugby and it reflects on the national team's performances.

Additionally, after they won the Division-1 championship last year in 2015 they did not take part in the play offs with the top division third place team to win and graduate into the top division and play alongside the likes of Japan and South Korean sides due to the local rugby governing body's decision. As a result of this blunder the chances of Sri Lanka getting into the top division by becoming winners of the division one tournament are drifting away unless a miracle happens. Let see what Malaysia MRU decision on this play off opportunity. Hopefully Malaysia can learn a think or two from this. 

Nevertheless, Sri Lanka can proudly say they are the only team that participated in the Asian rugby championship without a single overseas player whereas Malaysia had a few Fijian imports, Singapore six and Philippines eight. Probably it's high time Sri Lankan rugby board (SLRFU) to get things right by allowing foreign players to participate in their rugby clubs in the domestic tournament and get some quality foreign players to start representing their national team like they won it in 2015 




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