SRI LANKA AIR FORCE WINS WARRIOR TROPHY RUGBY 7’S TITLE
8:51pm on Sunday 31st October 2021
The Club Rugby 7’s tournament got under way on Saturday (30 October 2021) where 10 teams commenced their battle for the “Warrior Trophy”. This much anticipated tournament saw the return of rugby 7s to the Sri Lankan Rugby circuit after a laps of almost two years due to the strict restrictions which were put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SLAF fielded two teams in the form of Air Force S.C. “A” and Air Force S.C. “B”. The other teams were made up of two teams from the Army, Navy and Police, a team each from CH & FC and Havelocks S.C. The first match of the tournament was played between Army “A” and Air Force “B” where the Army team outplayed the Air Force 31 to nil. During the first session of day one, Air Force “A” took on Police Griffins and outplayed them 31 to 10.
During the second session of day one, Air Force “B” was outplayed by the CH & FC team 19 to 10. The third and final session of day one, saw Air Force “B” narrowly loosing to Navy “B” by a margin of just three points. Police “A” also created a major upset when they comprehensively over powered Havelocks S.C. 26 to nil. The last match of day one saw Air Force “A” takes on Navy “A” and got the better of the seemingly over confident sailors. The scored of this encounter was 31 to nil.
With such a lot of excitement on day one the second day started for the SLAF with Air Force “A” taking on Army “A” in the Cup quarter finals. The Airmen were able to create yet another surprise win when they defeated Army “A” 33 to 17, thereby securing a place in the Cup Semi-Finals. Air Force “A” booked their place in the finals over Navy “A”. At one point Navy led 7-5 in the game. However, going into the final moments Winger, Ramitha De Silva scored in the dying moments of the game making sure of the win for Air Force “A”.
Air Force began their final endeavor by putting the Police outfit under pressure. They scored through Ramitha De Silva to break the deadlock in the crucial final. Sachika Fernando doubled the lead as Police seemed to have no answer to the Air Force assault during the first half. At Half Time the scores were, Air Force ‘A’ 14 (2 Tries, 2 Conversions) to Police ‘A’ nil.
Air Force started the second half through a try from Nuwan Perera under the post which was subsequently converted in to a goal as they continued to dominated proceedings. Nuwan Perera added insult to injury as he knocked over a penalty after the full-time whistle to record a convincing 24-nil win to bag the Warrior Trophy. The scores at Full Time were Air Force ‘A’ 24 (3 Tries, 3 Conversions,1 Penalty) to Police ‘A’ 00. Nuwan Perera from Air Force SC “A” was adjudged the Player of the Tournament.
Today’s (31 October 2021) final match was graced by the presence of the Minister of Youth and Sports, Minister of Development Co-ordination and Monitoring and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development, Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, M.P. as the Chief Guest. The Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana also participated for this historical sporting event which saw the Sri Lanka Air Force winning a major rugby title after a laps of 35 years. The victorious Air Force “A” Team was led by Leading Aircraftman Nuwan Perera. The event was not opened to the public due to COVID-19 restriction. However, a limited number of officers participated for this tournament which will no doubt be etched in the sporting history of the Sri Lanka Air Force. Dialog Axiata powered this tournament which saw the return of Rugby 7s to Sri Lanka.
The SLAF fielded two teams in the form of Air Force S.C. “A” and Air Force S.C. “B”. The other teams were made up of two teams from the Army, Navy and Police, a team each from CH & FC and Havelocks S.C. The first match of the tournament was played between Army “A” and Air Force “B” where the Army team outplayed the Air Force 31 to nil. During the first session of day one, Air Force “A” took on Police Griffins and outplayed them 31 to 10.
During the second session of day one, Air Force “B” was outplayed by the CH & FC team 19 to 10. The third and final session of day one, saw Air Force “B” narrowly loosing to Navy “B” by a margin of just three points. Police “A” also created a major upset when they comprehensively over powered Havelocks S.C. 26 to nil. The last match of day one saw Air Force “A” takes on Navy “A” and got the better of the seemingly over confident sailors. The scored of this encounter was 31 to nil.
With such a lot of excitement on day one the second day started for the SLAF with Air Force “A” taking on Army “A” in the Cup quarter finals. The Airmen were able to create yet another surprise win when they defeated Army “A” 33 to 17, thereby securing a place in the Cup Semi-Finals. Air Force “A” booked their place in the finals over Navy “A”. At one point Navy led 7-5 in the game. However, going into the final moments Winger, Ramitha De Silva scored in the dying moments of the game making sure of the win for Air Force “A”.
Air Force began their final endeavor by putting the Police outfit under pressure. They scored through Ramitha De Silva to break the deadlock in the crucial final. Sachika Fernando doubled the lead as Police seemed to have no answer to the Air Force assault during the first half. At Half Time the scores were, Air Force ‘A’ 14 (2 Tries, 2 Conversions) to Police ‘A’ nil.
Air Force started the second half through a try from Nuwan Perera under the post which was subsequently converted in to a goal as they continued to dominated proceedings. Nuwan Perera added insult to injury as he knocked over a penalty after the full-time whistle to record a convincing 24-nil win to bag the Warrior Trophy. The scores at Full Time were Air Force ‘A’ 24 (3 Tries, 3 Conversions,1 Penalty) to Police ‘A’ 00. Nuwan Perera from Air Force SC “A” was adjudged the Player of the Tournament.
Today’s (31 October 2021) final match was graced by the presence of the Minister of Youth and Sports, Minister of Development Co-ordination and Monitoring and State Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development, Hon. Namal Rajapaksa, M.P. as the Chief Guest. The Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana also participated for this historical sporting event which saw the Sri Lanka Air Force winning a major rugby title after a laps of 35 years. The victorious Air Force “A” Team was led by Leading Aircraftman Nuwan Perera. The event was not opened to the public due to COVID-19 restriction. However, a limited number of officers participated for this tournament which will no doubt be etched in the sporting history of the Sri Lanka Air Force. Dialog Axiata powered this tournament which saw the return of Rugby 7s to Sri Lanka.
