The Sri Lanka national rugby union team, known as the Tuskers, represents Sri Lanka in men's international rugby union. The team has yet to make their debut at the Rugby World Cup. They have the longest tradition of organised club rugby in Asia, dating back to 1879, which was just 8 years after the founding of the world's first rugby union in England. They regularly compete in the Asian Five Nations tournament and are currently in Division I. In the 2010 tournament, they made it to the finals beating Chinese Taipei 37 to 7.
The Sri Lanka Sevens is an annual international rugby sevens tournament held in Sri Lanka. Sponsored by telecommunications provider Dialog, the event has been part of the Asian Sevens Series since 2015. It was founded in 1999 as the Singer Sri Lankan Airlines Rugby 7s.
The Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) was a Twenty20 cricket competition in Sri Lanka. It was intended to be the premier Twenty20 league in the country, held by Sri Lanka Cricket, when it replaced the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 competition.
The 1930 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia was the twelfth tour by a British Isles team and the fifth to New Zealand and Australia. This tour is recognised as the first to represent a bona fide British team and the first to be widely dubbed the 'Lions', after the nickname was used by journalists during the 1924 tour of South Africa.
Rugby union in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. It is a popular team sport with a history dating back to 1879. In 2012, according to International Rugby Board figures, there were over 103,000 registered rugby union players in Sri Lanka, making it the second largest rugby-playing nation in Asia, behind Japan.
Sri Lanka Rugby is the governing body for rugby union in Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest governing bodies in the world, being founded as the Ceylon Rugby Football Union in 1908.
Lakshman Namal Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He is one of three sons of Sri Lankan former President and current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and a member of parliament. He is the current Minister of Youth and Sports since 2020.
Sport in Sri Lanka is a significant part of Sri Lankan culture. Although the Sports Ministry named volleyball the national sport, the most popular sport is Cricket. Rugby union is also popular. Other popular sports are water sports, badminton, athletics, football, basketball and tennis. Sri Lanka's schools and colleges regularly organize sports and athletics teams, competing on provincial and national levels.
Football in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. Despite not being as well-regarded as the country's cricket team, football is the third biggest sport in Sri Lanka.
Colombo Hockey and Football Club is a Division 'A' rugby union team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka that competes in the Dialog Rugby League in Sri Lanka.
Havelock Sports Club is a Division 'A' rugby union team based in Sri Lanka that plays in the Dialog Rugby League. The Club has a long history and Rugby is the club's main sporting activity. The "Havies", as they are commonly known amongst its members, is situated in Colombo and the club's ground is known as Havelock Park. The club has produced some excellent players over the last few decades including Sri Lankan Nationals such as Michael Jayasekera, Hisham Abdeen, Graham Raux, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe and Rajeev Ganapathy. The club has struggled over the last decade to retain its players with their star performers crossing over to more star-powered clubs.
The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) is a professional American football league based in India. It was founded with eight franchises in 2011, and now has 23 franchises throughout South Asia, among whom 20 located in India, two in Sri Lanka and one in Pakistan. The league has had only one season till now.
Shehan "Lema" Pathirana is a Sri Lankan youth rugby union player. He has represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Youth Rugby Championships in 2010 and at the Junior Rugby Asiad in 2011. He has represented Royal College, Colombo at the 1st XV level since 2006. He captained Royal College, Colombo at the 67th in 2011.
The Sri Lanka Rugby Championship, known as the Dialog Rugby League due to its sponsorship by Dialog Axiata, is the major national rugby union club competition, held between the top Division 'A' rugby sides, in Sri Lanka. The annual home and away competition, featuring eight Division 'A' teams, has been held since 1950. The competition has been held between November and February for the last three seasons. The first round of the tournament runs for seven weekends with the final match of the first round in early January, no games are played over the Christmas holiday period. The second round also runs for seven weekends, with the final match in the beginning of March.
The Clifford Cup is the most prestigious club rugby knockout tournament in Sri Lanka, and arguably the oldest rugby tournament in Asia. The Clifford Cup commenced in 1911 and has been played continuously since 1950, having completed 79 seasons. The tournament began as a competition between the mercantile executives in Colombo and planters in the hill country.
Up Country Lions were a Division 'A' rugby union team based in Sri Lanka, competing in the Dialog Rugby League.
Sudharshana Muthuthanthri or Sudarshana Muthuthanthri is a Sri Lankan rugby player and the current captain of the Sri Lanka national rugby union team. He replaced former captain, Fazil Marija as the new skipper of the Sri Lankan rugby union team in 2015.
Sumanthiran Navaratnam, also known as Sumana Navaratnam or Summa Navaratnam, is a Sri Lankan former track and field athlete, Sri Lankan rugby union player, coach and business executive. He is regarded as one of the finest sportspeople from Sri Lanka. He is currently the oldest living Sri Lankan athlete at the age of 96 as of 2021.
The 2021 Sri Lanka Super League was the first season of Sri Lanka Super League, after a significant 3 Year delay resulting in Sri Lanka Football having a dry period of a lack of top division football. Today it was meant to be the top division of Sri Lankan football. The season after numerous political delays and lack of preparation finally kicked off in the middle of the pandemic on 19 April 2021. The Super League was the brainchild of the current President Jaswar Umar.
Chandrishan Perera also spelt as Chandrashan Perera was a Sri Lankan rugby union player, coach, commentator, journalist, lawyer and administrator who also served as former captain of the national side. He represented Sri Lanka rugby sevens side from 1979 to 1994 in the position of winger. He was nicknamed as Shan.
