In a bid to promote and develop women’s rugby in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan Consul General Office in Melbourne has joined hands with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau to organize a mini rugby tournament.   

Sandith Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka Consul General in Melbourne was instrumental in bringing in Rugby Victoria as well as Melbourne Rebels to be involved in the programme which proved to be major boost in what turned out to be a very successful event. 

Sri Lankan female players representing Air Force Sports Club, CR & FC, Navy Sports Club and Army Sports Club were given an opportunity to showcase their talent in front of a visiting delegation from Melbourne with overseas training scholarships on offer for the selected players.

In addition to this, a special training programme was held for several Girls and Boys schools from Colombo.

Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka Consul General in Melbourne stated that the Consulate in Melbourne had initiated discussions with the Melbourne Rebels CEO, Baden Stephenson, and Neil Hay, President of Rugby Victoria and mentioned that Minister Harin Fernando highlighted the importance of promoting Sri Lanka as travel destination as well as a sports tourism destination during his visit to Melbourne. 

“They held fruitful discussions in order to promote women’s rugby in Sri Lanka and getting Sri Lankan female rugby players to join rugby clubs in Australia and to give them some exposure to international rugby during Minister Harin Fernando’s visit to Australia. He started to have conversation with both Melbourne and Victoria Rugby officials, based on the main initiative of promoting Sri Lanka as an ideal travel destination and also as a sports tourism destination,” he said.

The delegation from Australia arrived in Sri Lanka on the 17th of August 2023, including Baden Stephenson - CEO of Melbourne Rebels, Neil Hay - President of Rugby Victoria, Nic Styles ex-Wallabies player and coach and General Manager of Melbourne Rebels. (HARSHA AMARASINGHE)