Former Wesley captain Zalique Jayah to lead Lankan side
Lanka Lions bolstered by fresh young talent are determined to regain the Gulf Men’s Open title at the forthcoming Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens Rugby tournament.
Former Wesley and CH and FC three quarter Zalique Jayah will be leading the side for the first time in the blue riband rugby event in the UAE which begins on November 30 at The Sevens stadium.
“I’m really honoured to become the captain of Lanka Lions and thank to the (Lanka Lions Sports Club) committee for supporting me and the boys for having faith in me to lead this side,” said Jayah, 27, who captained Wesley College in 2008 and represented Southern Sharks at the Carlton International Sevens in Sri Lanka in 2013.
Zalique Jayah
“I hope to give my best to the team and expect same from boys with the aim of lifting the Cup for Lanka Lions,” said Jayah, an Emirates cabin crew member who is playing in the Dubai Sevens for the fourth year.
“We have a very good set of boys who are very keen on winning the Cup this year. We have many new players coming in and they are gelling into the team very nicely,” added Jayah who will have the services of Madisha Silva, who led Lanka Lions to a historic triumph at the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens Rugby tournament in 2015 by winning the Gulf Men’s Open title for the first time.
Former Trinity College, Kandy players Dilshan Kelaniyangoda, Hilmy ‘Bebo’ Mohammed and Anojan
Balasundaram are the other experienced players in the side which has been infused by new blood in Tharindu Malikge (Kingswood College, Kandy) and Miyuru Sandaruwan (Dharmaraja College, Kandy). Dubai Exiles youngsters Adil Deen and Jerry, who also plays for the UAE national team, also gives them the cutting edge.
Lanka Lions also known as ‘Ceylon Warriors’ will get a chance to get their team combinations and strategies right when they compete in the Eden Park Sevens tournament. This annual UAE sevens tournament serves as a preparation for the domestic teams taking part in the Dubai Sevens.
Lanka Lions coach Richard Murcott, who guided the side to a historic double of Eden Park Sevens and Gulf Men’s Open titles in 2015, said they had learnt from the mistakes of last year where they crashed out in the Cup semifinals at the Dubai Sevens.
Madisha Silva
“We didn’t recover enough from injuries. We had quite a lot of the squad carrying injuries. It has been taken care of this year,” said the former Havelocks coach who will be unleashing a new strategy this time.
“We are going to work towards strengths of side which ofcourse is speed and agility of players. Having said that we will have to change our patterns because teams have learnt it now. We will playing lot of close-end rugby using a few of XVs skills as well because without ball in hand, a side is very weak,” said Murcott with the Lanka Lions having begun preparations since August with the appointment of a new manager Jeremy Emmanuel and Fijian Jerry as assistant coach.
“We won’t be committing a lot into set pieces and stuff but when required we will change our plans. We will try these new patterns on 17th and see whether it’s going to work for us in the Dubai Sevens,” said Murcroft who will not settle for anything less than the Cup.
Former Sri Lanka and Arabian Gulf legend Roger Rodrigo, who is Rugby Chairman at Lanka Lions Sports Club, expressed his gratitude to the team sponsors Ice Watch, Sri Lankan Airlines, Suren Agencies and World Wide for backing the team every year.