Coaches named for 15s, 7s and Women’s team: SLR banks on Lewke, Nawaz and Leonard

• Fazil, Saliya and Asela decline offers 

Ex-Sri Lanka captain and backrower Dushanth Lewke and former national star and loose forward Shamy Nawaz were named as the head coaches of the Sri Lanka Men’s 15s and 7s teams respectively, by Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) yesterday (9).

The appointments were confirmed to The Daily Morning Sports, by the SLR president Pavithra Fernando.

Asked as to why the game’s controlling body had overlooked the likes of Fazil Marija (Kandy SC), Saliya Kumara (Havelocks) and Asela Deshapriya (Air Force) for the appointments, the SLR head said the trio had declined the offers by the ruling body.

“I personally contacted them all but they declined,” he said. “So, we had to fall back on those who had excelled for other teams.”

Under Kumara’s guidance, the Park Club emerged runners-up of the concluded Clifford Cup Knockout Tournament to eventual winners CR and FC, while Deshapriya trained Air Force SC for Plate honours in the Inter-Club League, while they also beat CH and FC and advanced to the semifinal before losing to CR.   

Lewke recently masterminded CR and FC to a double in the concluded Maliban Inter-Club League and Clifford Cup Knockout tournaments, where they in particular got the better of previous champions Kandy SC thrice in the League competition.

The former Royal and CR skipper Lewke, who is also a World Rugby Level 3 Certified Coach previously served as the forwards coach for the Tuskers during the 2025 Asia Rugby Top Four Tournament.

For the 15s team Lewke has been supplied with the support staff of Henry Terrance, Lasintha de Costa, Tharanga Premakumara and Vishwamithra Jayasinghe.

Terrance will function as the forwards coach, de Costa as the assistant coach, Premakumara as physio and Jayasinghe as the strength and conditioning coach, respectively.

Dushanth Lewke and his coaching staff will have a busy schedule to contend with, the Tuskers scheduled to host the New Zealand U85kg team for two Tests fixed for 25 April (Colombo) and on 3 May (Kandy), after which they will move into the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship featuring HK, UAE and Korea.

In the Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Championship, Sri Lanka is slated to host Hong Kong China in Colombo on 24 May, tackle United Arab Emirates in Dubai on 5 June and face South Korea in Incheon on 13 June.  

Meanwhile, SLR has retained the services of Shamly Nawaz for the 7s team, following the improvements made by the Tuskers in two legs of the Asian Sevens Emirates Championships last year.

Nawaz himself a World Rugby Level 3 Certified Coach is to be supported by the likes of Amjad Buksh as his assistant, Dansha Dayan as the Iten coach, Dilan Zoysa as the strength and conditioning coach and Shafin Majid as the physio, respectively.

The Lankans also face a hectic 7s schedule this year, with the Aichi Nagoya Asian Games from 1-3 October in Japan being the most high-profile competition where they will strive for medal-winning performances.

Sri Lanka is also set to host the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series Round 2 from 17-18 October in Colombo.

Former Sri Lanka star Leonard de Zilwa has been named the head coach of the Sri Lanka Women’s rugby team, with M. Saldeen as his deputy and Nimesh de Silva as the physio.   

 Source -  The Morning