President of Havelock Sports Club (SC) Rajiv Perera says his club’s eventual goal for the 2024-25 Inter-club Rugby League season is condensed in their desire to aim for the championship silverware, instead of settling for second or third places.
He made this declaration during a media conference held at the club house recently to officially proclaim the sponsors, who have tied up with the Park Club, ahead of the season and to issue details regarding its first XV Men’s and Women’s teams.
“We propose to settle for no less than the championship,” he stressed, adding: “In fact, our goal is threefold. Firstly, we intend to provide full value to our sponsors, who have joined us for the upcoming season, secondly to further boost Sri Lanka’s Women’s rugby via our own Women’s rugby team, and last but not least, for our Men’s team to fight for the Title and go all the way. These are the core targets and we will do our utmost to achieve those during the impending season.”
Asked what sort of impact the presence of debutants Sri Lions will have on the league tournament, the Havelocks President answered saying that they were yet to hear officially from the Competent Authority (CA) of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR), of its admission to the top circuit.
“Sri Lions enclosure is only being debated in social media groups, but we are yet to hear officially from the CA regarding their promotion. But, I am personally happy for rugby, if another team is added to the league, as it will become more competitive. However, we need to wait for the official stance of the CA on this.”
Perera, an ex-DS Senanayake rugby player, said that his Men’s squad, due to be captained by Abdulla Faiz, will feature around 12 talented schoolboy players, who had excelled for schools such as St. Peter’s, Isipathana, DS, Trinity, and Wesley.
The Men’s team is to be coached by former Sri Lanka and Kandy SC half-back Saliya Kumara, who will be assisted by Dhanushka Botheju.
He further said that his club has also decided to introduce a rugby team to boost the sport among womenfolk in the country, and it will be skippered by Leah Gamage and her deputy will be Chamodi Sathsarani.
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