The Sri Lanka national rugby union team, known as the Tuskers, represents

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in men's international

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

. The team has yet to make their debut at the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

. 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 The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was call ...

tournament and are currently in Division I. In the 2010 tournament, they made it to the finals beating

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

37 to 7.

History

Sri Lanka National Rugby Union Team (A5N 20140510)

Early years

Sri Lanka Rugby has a long history, dating back to the days of

British colonialism The British Empire was composed of the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. I ...

. The first party to introduce Rugby to Sri Lanka is Kingswood College in Kandy, with the first club, Colombo Football Club, being established on 28 June 1879.A 100 years of Unbroken Tradition!
The nation's first "national" match was on 12 September 1907 and involved an All Ceylon team against the professional All Blacks (the

New Zealand rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team (Māori language, Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the ...

) under

rules on their

1907–1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Australia and Great Britain Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Mus ...

. The professional All Blacks won the match 33-6. The Ceylon Rugby Football Union was founded 10 August 1908. In 1974 it changed its name to the

Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union 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. History The Ceylon Rugby Football Union was founded in 1908. T ...

20th century

In 1932 the Ceylon RFU XV won the All India Cup at all India Rugby Football Tournament Both the

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

and the

1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia The British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia in 1950 was the first post-war tour made by the Lions; there had not been one since 1938. The 1950 team was the first to be nicknamed "the British Lions", rather than just "British I ...

played unofficial matches in Ceylon on their way home.

Mahesh Rodrigo Mahesha Rodrigo (30 June 1928 – 7 January 2011) was a Ceylonese sportsman who represented his country in first-class cricket and rugby union. He was educated at Royal College, Colombo and played for the First XI cricket team and First XV rugby ...

, better known as an international cricketer, also captained the national team. ;World Cup qualifying ;1995 World Cup In 1994, Sri Lanka entered into their first World Cup qualification tournament for a spot at the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in Sou ...

. They were drawn in Group A with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. After only losing by five points to Malaysia, they would concede 92 more points against the other two teams in the group to finish bottom of the group with no points. ;1999 World Cup In 1997, Sri Lanka participated in the opening round of 1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying. After defeating

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in the opening round, they next took on Chinese Taipei and Malaysia with the winner going through to the third round. After knocking off Malaysia by 22 points in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

in their opening match, they would be eliminated after losing to Chinese Taipei 31-27 which gave Chinese Taipei the spot into the third round.

New millennium

The furthest they have made was to Round 2 of the Asian qualifying competition for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

in France. The Sri Lanka rugby team performed above expectations during the qualifying campaign for the World Cup, and saw their world ranking improve from 68th to 43rd place, and its Asian ranking improve to fifth place. ;World Cup qualifying ;2003 World Cup ;2007 World Cup

2010s

Asian Five Nations and World Cup qualifying; 2008 - 2010 2008 was the first year of

, which replaced the

ARFU Asian Rugby Championship The Asia Rugby Championship, or ARC, is an annual rugby union competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. The competition was originally known as the Asian Rugby Football Tournament when founded in 1969, and was call ...

and the

ARFU Asian Rugby Series The Asian Rugby Series was an international rugby union competition held between Asian national rugby sides. The tournament started in 2003, initially as an alternative to the ARFU Asian Rugby Championship, but was merged with the ARC in 2008, to ...

. At the Divisional tournament Sri Lanka finished third, drawing against

and losing to

. The

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

team withdrew from the tournament due to lack of visa availability and were relegated to Division Two. In 2009 Sri Lanka again finished third in the Divisional tournament defeating

(51-17) in the 3rd-place final, remaining in Division One. Sri Lanka won Division One of the 2010 Divisional tournament beating Singapore (23-16) in the final, thereby winning promotion to the 2011 Asian Five Nations for the first time. ;2011 - 2016 Despite a drawn match with

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

(13-13), Sri Lanka lost its remaining three matches in the 2011 Asian Five Nations tournament and finished last, resulting in its demotion out of the Asian Five Nations. In the 2012 Division tournament the team won two matches but were defeated by the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, which meant Sri Lanka missed out on promotion and remained in Division One. At the 2013 Division tournament held in Colombo, Sri Lanka were successful in winning all three of its matches earning a promotion to the Asian Five Nations. In 2014 Sri Lanka lost all four of its matches in the

and were relegated back to Division One. At the 2015 Division tournament held in the

in May, Sri Lanka beat the Philippines 27-14 to become the champions of the Asian Division 1, resulting in the team qualifying to compete in a challenge match, in June, against the third ranked Asian team and a potential spot in the 2016 Asian Championship. Due to financial reasons, the challenge game was cancelled with

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

remaining in the tri-nations division and Sri Lanka in the Division 1 competition for 2016. In 2016 Sri Lanka finished second at the Division tournament held in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

in May. Sri Lanka defeated both Singapore and the Philippines but lost to hosts

Home grounds

* Colombo Racecourse International Arena (Main Ground) * CR & FC Grounds –

Colombo 7 Cinnamon Gardens ( si, කුරුඳු වත්ත ''Kurundu Vaththa'', ta, கறுவாத் தோட்டம்) is an affluent neighbourhood in Colombo, Sri Lanka located 3 kilometers south-east from Colombo's centre. Cinnamon Garde ...

* CH & FC Grounds – Colombo 7 * Police Grounds – Colombo 5 * Army Grounds – Galle Face * Nittawela rugby stadium–

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

* Air Force Grounds – Ratmalana * Navy Grounds – Welisara *

Havelock Park Havelock Park ( si, හැව්ලොක් පාර්ක්) is a multi-purpose stadium in Havelock Town, Colombo Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest grounds in the country. The sporting complex is located in Havelock Town and is bordered b ...

– Havelock Town * Maligawa Grounds -

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

Bogambara Stadium Bogambara Stadium ( si, බෝගම්බර ක්‍රිඩාංගනය) is a multi-purpose stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka It is one of the oldest grounds in the country. Stadium is currently used mostly for Rugby matches and hosted the gam ...

- Kandy * Peoples' Park -

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

* Slim Line Grounds — Pannala * Vincent Dias Stadium -

Badulla Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is ...

* Army Grounds — Anuradhapura

Players

Current squad

Officials

Coaches

* Head Coach: Matt Lee (2019–Present)

Council Members

* Chairman — Dr. Maiya Gunasekera * Team Manager - Sanjaya Fernando * SLRFU President - Asanga Seneviratne * Vice President - Lasitha Guneratne * Secretary - Rizly Illyas * Executive Director - Dilroy Fernando

Former coaches

* George Simpkin (?-?) * Willie Hetaraka (September 2006-?) * Tavita Tulagaese (?-) * Rob Yule (March 2007–August 2008) *

Dawie Snyman Dawid Stefanus Lubbe Snyman (born 5 July 1949) is a former South African rugby union player and coach. Playing career Snyman represented the Free State schools at two consecutive Craven Week tournaments. After school and completing his militar ...

(August 2008–April 2010) * John Carrington (2009) * Johan Taylor (? -January 2011) * Ellis Meachen (January 2011–March 2012) * Ravin Du Plessis (January 2013–?) * Inthi Marikar (2009 - 2010) * Leonard de Zilwa (2014-2015) * Tony Amit (?-?) * Johan Taylor (2015–2019) ;Assistant coaches * Tavita Tulagaese * C. P. Abeygunawardene * Norman Laker (August 2008–April 2010)

Overall Record

Sri Lankan Test record against all nations as of 2013:

Upcoming fixtures

Recent results

Green background indicates a win. Red background indicates a loss. Yellow background indicates a draw.

References

External links

2007 Rugby Asiad

Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union official web site

List and results of all IRB sanctioned international rugby games played by Sri Lanka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sri Lanka Rugby Union team Asian national rugby union teams