Lanka Lions roar to glory at Dubai Rugby Sevens

Lanka Lions roared to glory by winning two trophies in the social segment at the Emirates Airline Dubay Rugby Sevens tournament at The Sevens.

The Lankan expatriates based in Dubai led by evergreen Roger Rodrigo held off the powerful Barrelhouse Barbarians to edge them out 17-14 in the playoff final for the Bowl title.

"It was a great victory," said Rodrigo, the 48 year-old former Sri Lanka and Arabian Gulf scrum half, who masterminded their victory.

They beat Riyadh Scorpions 14-12 in the playoff semifinal.

Significantly it was the 24th year of the former Dubai Exiles stalwart's participation in the annual tournament.

The icing on the cake was their resounding 45-7 victory in the Gulf Men's Open Plate final against Lions RF & CC from Doha.

Madeesha Silva opened the floodgates with a spectacular dash as the Lankan team led by 'Dagi' Fonseka outplayed their opponents to score seven tries to one in a lop-sided content.

Ameen Jamail was their star performer scoring two tries while Deva also sparkled as they combined effectively displaying superb ball handling skills and pace to outclass the opposition.

It was a sweet triumph for the Lanka Lions who last won the Gulf Men's Open Plate title in 2008. They overcame Dhofar Nomads 19-0 and Bahrain Firbolgs 22-12 en route to the finals.

Their decision to invite Neil Foote from New Zealand to coach the side a fortnight before the event paid rich dividends.

"I'm really pleased with the way the boys performed. We got off to a bit of a shaky start but as the tournament went on and we got to play a little more together they clicked," said Foote.

"It was just a matter of just using the skills that are obvious to Sri Lankans. They had speed and really good stepping skills," said Foote who is familiar with Sri Lankan rugby being coach of a leading school Trinity College, Kandy.

"We based everything on stregnth of team rather than strength of inidividuals. That was the pleasing thing for me as we had 12 people that were capable of performing as we wanted them to. There was some really good talent in their team. It was just pleasing that we got some reward for it," said the Wellington-based coach.

Lanka Lions sports secretary Roger Rodrigo said their achievements was made possible thanks to the behind the scene support of sponsors Lenovo, Aramex, FDC, SriLankan Airlines, Mihin Lanka, African+Eastern, Kist Sri Lanka, On Three 20 by John Keells, Peoples Bank, Continental Financial services, Suren Agency and Ice Watch.

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