Dilroy and Aruna to officiate at Dubai Rugby Sevens

By Ranjeeva Seneviratne

Two leading IRB qualified referees from Sri Lanka - Dilroy Fernando and Aruna Jayasekera will officiate as touch judges at the prestigious Dubai International Rugby Sevens which will be worked off at the Dubai Exiles Rugby grounds on November 29 and 30. Dilroy and Aruna will also referee in the inter-club tournament of the Dubai Rugby Sevens which will be conducted at the same venue.

They have been invited by the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union.

Two more referees from Sri Lanka - Priyantha Gunaratne and Pradeep Fernando will referee in the International Veterans Sevens, International women's Sevens and Gulf under 19 Sevens which will be conducted at the same venue on November 29 and 30.

The Sri Lanka sevens rugby team has not been invited for this year's tournament. They last took part in the Dubai Rugby Sevens in 2003 when they were knocked out by Zambia by 17 points to 12 in the semi-finals of the shield competition.

They were relegated into the Shield competition after suffering a 14-38 defeat at the hands of debutantes Uganda in the quarter-finals of the Bowl Championship. Since then the Lankans have not been invited for the Dubai Sevens.