Young Bunga Raya Sevens squad finish sixth in Colombo

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Rugby Sevens Team secured a sixth-place finish in the men's event at the Sri Lanka leg of the Asian Rugby Sevens Series. The team faced losses against Thailand and Japan before winning against Uzbekistan in the group stage, advancing to the quarter-finals. However, they were defeated by Hong Kong with a score of 78-0 in the last eight.

The squad rebounded with a 42-17 victory over South Korea before losing 33-5 to Sri Lanka in the fifth-place decider. Nik, the team leader, anticipated the challenge posed by Colombo, as several core players were unable to participate due to injuries. The team deliberately fielded younger players, aged 18 to 19, to provide them with competitive exposure at this level.

While they were not disheartened by their losses against Japan and Thailand, their primary goal was to advance past Uzbekistan and reach the quarter-finals, which they achieved. Meanwhile, the National Women's Rugby Sevens Team concluded the tournament in ninth place overall, after securing wins against Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan in their classification matches, but losing all three group matches against Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore.