Access are Mercs Rugby 7s Champs after 16 years
Access beat Dialog - Pic Amila Gamage
The 46th Mercantile Rugby 7s dished out explosive Rugby throughout the tournament. The short version of the game attracted many diehard Rugby fans including schoolboys. This year’s Mercantile Rugby 7s attracted 31 teams. It was unfortunate to see defending champions MAS withdrawing from the tournament at the 11th hour citing injuries to their players. Their star player Fazil Marija, the Kandy SC and Sri Lanka play-maker, was hospitalised days before the tournament. The MAS team inclusive of many National players, would have been a very tough opponent to crack, if they had played in the tournament.
In the Cup/Plate Championship there were four teams competing for honours. They were Access, Dialog ‘A’, John Keels Holdings(JKH) ‘A’ and Nation Lanka all brimming with National players. In the Cup semi-finals Dialog ‘A’ met JKH ‘A’ and Access met Nation Lanka. Dialog ‘A’ made short work of JKH ‘A’ to win 26-12, while Access drubbed Nation Lanka 36-7. In the final, Access took sweet revenge over arch rivals Dialog ‘A’ to post a runaway 35-12 win. Winning the 7s crown after a lapse of 16-years was very rewarding for Access. The try-scorers for Access were Richard Dharmapala, Danusha Dayan, Kavindu Perera and Danushka Ranjan, while Chanaka Chandimal converted all the Tries.
For the losers, the try-scorers were Dulaj Perera and Suhiru Anthony. The Access victory is a fitting tribute to the untiring efforts of coach Nilfer Ibrahim, whose tactics and strategies paid rich dividends, which was amply supported by his judicious player substitutions in the crucial moments of the game. He was ably assisted by Sri Lanka National Under-18 coach M.J.M Mushtaq. The elated Nilfer Ibrahim said, “All the members of the team played their best and executed the game plan accordingly, to surprise our opponents to whom we lost in the Group stage. It was indeed sweet revenge. We also made tactical moves accordingly.
The player changing at the right time of the game really paid off. Access won it last time in 2000, and I was a member of that winning team.” The Man of the Final and Player of the Tournament was none other than Kandy SC and National player Richard Dharmapala of Access Group, who was outstanding throughout the tournament. Nation Lanka beat JKH ‘A’ 28-22, in a hard fought match to win the Plate Championship. Gayantha Iddamalgoda of Nation Lanka PLC, won Player of the final. The Bowl Championship was won by JKH ‘B’ beating Dialog ‘B’ 29-5. In the Semifinal JKH ‘B’ downed CDB ‘Reds’ 12-7 and Dialog ‘B’ defeated Kanrich Finance 10-7. Romesh Fernando of JKH won Player of the final.
In the Shield Championship, Brandix defeated PABC 26-7 in the Final. In the Semifinals, PABC defeated Janashakthi 17-14 and Brandix overcame Kandurata ‘B’ 12-7. The best Kasun Hurigalla of Brandix was adjudged Player of the Final. The Sajith Mallikarachchi Fair Play Award was won by Brandix. In the Ladies 7s Final CTC defeated Virtusa 5-0. In the qualifying rounds, CTC beat Office Network 15-0 and Virtusa too defeated them 10-5. The Bowl Championship had 10 teams competing in 2 Groups.
They were JKH ‘B’, Kandurata ‘A’, Citizens Development Business Finanace (CDB) ‘Red’, Nation Trust Bank (NTB), Kanrich Finance, Dialog ‘B’, CDB ‘Blue’, Sri Lanka Insurance, Sampath Bank and Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC). Lastly, the Shield Championship had 17 teams in 4 Groups. They were MAS Attune, Pan Asia Banking Corporation (PABC), Virtusa, Amana Bank, Commercial Bank, Brandix, Expo Lanka, Commercial Credit & Finance, National Development Bank (NDB), Gestetner, Janashakthi, HDPL, Hirdaramani, Millenium IT, Peoples Leasing Co, Kandurata ‘B’ and Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC).