A rosy rugby picture framed in the sky

Pix by Amila Gamage

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After a string of developments across all fronts of Sri Lankan rugby, from the club and school circuits to the international arena, the game here is in constant motion. But is it heading in the right direction?

I think Sri Lankan rugby is doing well. The school season produced some good rugby and even though there were some hiccups, overall the most deserving team won fair and square. In terms of our national rugby our lads did really well. We fared amazingly in the sevens, showed a lot of skill and we won without any foreign players. - Colin Dinesh (School rugby coach)	I think rugby is going in the correct direction. School players can now come into club rugby after the school season has finished. Also Asanka Senevirathne is helping rugby so much now. I have played in the national squad in 2002, and now I see that thins have really improved. The pay is good for rugby players. All contracted players get paid well so that’s a good thing for the future of Sri Lankan rugby. - Dhanushka Pushpakumara (Club rugby player)
In terms of our national team we have been very successful in the sevens and 15s. Our sevens team has performed really well. Overall it has been a very good year for rugby but I think there needs to be a little more attention given to rugby development a the grassroots level. There is a lot more money in rugby now so some of it should be diverted to places outside of Kandy and Colombo. We should also look to develop women’s rugby as it is something that is really growing around the world. - Dilroy Perera (Rugby referee)	Our rugby is definitely heading in the right direction. Rugby is really developing well in Sri Lanka now. The standard of our players is very strong and now companies are coming forward with sponsorships so a lot of money is coming into the game. - Dushan Maddumage (Rugby club member)
Over the past few years the state of rugby here has really been getting better. You can see that standards are good because there are a lot of schoolboys also playing for Sri Lanka. And nationally we have produced strong results in both the sevens and 15s. - Lee Keegel (Club rugby player)	We have made progress during the past year with our national team. I would not say this is the strongest Sri Lankan team we have had but we are doing very well and developing in all forms of the game. We are capable of achieving a lot more in the sport and more people are now moving towards rugby so we should wait and see how things progress. - Mohamed Sheriff (National rugby player)
I think the atmosphere for rugby in Sri Lanka is now very good. Players can earn from rugby. If we can maintain this progress we can reach a very strong level in world rugby in the future. I think these things should have happened a lot earlier. - Pasindu Yasantha (Club rugby player)	Rugby in the country has definitely made an improvement from previous years. We are a very strong sevens team. If we get more financing we could make even more progress because right now players in the country are all semi-professional. - Sudharshana Muthuthanthri (Club rugby player)