Serendib International Cup

Official logo of the Serendib International Cup
Tournament details
Host nation  Sri Lanka
Venue Colombo Racecourse
Date 26 Oct – 1 Nov 2013
Countries  Madagascar
 Poland
 Sri Lanka
No. of nations 3
Final positions
Champions  Madagascar
Runner-up  Sri Lanka
Third place  Poland
Tournament statistics
Matches played 3
Tries scored 13 (4.33 per match)
Top scorer(s) Sri Lanka Riza Mubarak (28)
Most tries Madagascar Bernard Razafindranaivo (3)

The Serendib International Cup (known as the Dialog Serendib International Cup for sponsorship reasons) was an international rugby union competition for emerging nations held in Sri Lanka in 2013 (Serendib is the old Arabic, Persian and Urdu name for Sri Lanka). The Seredib Cup was contested by the hosts Sri Lanka and the Malagasy and Polish national rugby teams. The tournament was backed by the International Rugby Board and was played over three match days in Colombo between 26 October and 1 November, coinciding with the 2013 end-of-year rugby union tests.[1][2]

The tournament served as a pan-regional competition in Asia that will further the profile of Asian rugby and international rugby in Sri Lanka, as the region prepares to host the Rugby World Cup for the first time in 2019 in Japan. The tournament also provided an invaluable platform to step up in performance and ranking for all three Unions as well as the opportunity for the emerging nations to play internationals matches outside of their own region.[3]

The competition was set bring together thriving Unions that are experiencing unprecedented growth, participation and interest in the sport.[1] Its future plans are to make it into a second tier World Cup, which is set to expand to 16-24 teams in the years to come.[4] It will be the launch of a new era in Sri Lankan Rugby as the country is becoming a leading contender in Asia.[2]

The competition was won by Madagascar following their 17-12 victory over the hosts on Day 1, and their 25-21 victory over Poland on Day 2.

Background

The three participating unions are high performance emerging nations with the sport having an ever growing presence. The competition comes as all three unions are still in the process for qualifying for a place in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The national sport in Madagascar, Test matches regularly attract 40,000 capacity crowds against others high performers of the region such as Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Madagascar is two wins away from qualifying for the 2015 Rugby World Cup placing third in the 2013 Africa Cup. Poland is a highly competitive FIRA-AER Union currently placing third in the 2012–14 European Nations Cup First Division B.

Sri Lanka has one of the largest number of registered players in the world currently boasting 58,000 players, positioning the Union within the top 15 in the world. With Sri Lanka's win the 2013 Asian Five Nations division 1, the 2014 Asian Five Nations will see their return to the top ranks of the championships. This tournament will be preparation for the Union's high performance programme for next year's Asian 5 Nations. The winner will qualify directly to 2015 Rugby World Cup as Asia 1, while the runner-up will enter the Repechage.[3]

For the development of the sport in Sri Lanka, the hosting of such a tournament is key in growing awareness by building stronger commercial and broadcasting platforms. It comes in addition to the annual Asian Five Nations Asian championship, founded in 2008. Rugby in Sri Lanka is currently worth more than 1–2 billion Rupees and is widespread throughout the country. According to SLRFU President Asanga Seneviratne rugby could become Sri Lanka’s most popular sport within the next decade. The SLRFU envisions the tournament to becoming a second-tier world cup.[5]

Namal Rajapaksa has been named as the captain of the Sri Lankan team ahead of the tournament, as Yoshitha Rajapaksa is out of the squad due to injuries.[2][6]

Format

The tournament is a round-robin, where each team plays one match against each of the other teams, with points being awarded at the end of each match: 4 points for a win, 3 points for a draw and 0 points for a loss. Bonus points are also awarded: 1 point for scoring 4 tries or more in a match whether the teams losses or not and 1 point for a loss within 7 game points. A loss by 8 points or more would give the team no bonus point.

Participants

Table

Position Nation Games Points Bonus
points
Total
points
Played Won Drawn Lost For Against Difference
1 Madagascar (44) 22004233+908
2 Sri Lanka (39) 21013842-415
3 Poland (28) 20024651-522

Pre-tournament IRB rankings in parentheses.

Points are awarded to the teams as follows:

Results Points
Win4 points
Draw3 points
4 or more tries1 point
Loss within 7 points1 point
Loss greater than 7 points0 points

Fixtures

All matches are to be played under lights.[2]

Sri Lanka v Madagascar

26 October 2013
17:30 SLST (UTC+5:30)
Sri Lanka  12–17  Madagascar
Pen: Mubarak (4/6) 5', 26', 31', 74'
Report Try: Rakotonirina 19' m
Razafindranaivo 55' c
Tolotra Ramaromiantso 79' m
Con: Rakoto (1/3) 56'
Colombo Racecourse, Colombo
Referee: Japan Taku Otsuki (JRFU)

Madagascar v Poland

29 October 2013
17:30 SLST (UTC+5:30)
Madagascar  25–21  Poland
Try: Razafindranaivo (2) 12' c, 15' c
Rakotoarivelo 43' m
Con: Rakoto (2/3) 13', 15',
Pen: Rakoto (0/1)
Drop: Rakoto (2/3) 33', 46'
Report Try: Sirocki 36' c
Pawelec 68' m
Con: Banaszek (1/2) 36'
Pen: Banaszek (3/4) 8', 29', 40'
Colombo Racecourse, Colombo
Referee: Sri Lanka Irshad Cader (SLRFU)

Sri Lanka v Poland

1 November 2013
19:30 SLST (UTC+5:30)
Sri Lanka  26–25  Poland
Try: Fernando (2) 37' c, 56' c
Con: Mubarak (2/2) 36', 57'
Pen: Mubarak (3/5) 21', 34', 52'
Drop: Mubarak 61'
Report Try: Bachurzewski 18' c
Pawelec 31' m
Sirocilli 77' c
Con: Banaszek (2/3) 18', 78'
Pen: Banaszek (2/4) 27', 50',
Colombo Racecourse, Colombo
Referee: Japan Taku Otsuki (JRFU)

Statistics

Points scorers

Pos Name Team Pts
1 Riza Mubarak  Sri Lanka 28
2 Dawid Benaszek  Poland 21
3 Bernard Razafindranaivo  Madagascar 15
4 José Rakoto  Madagascar 12
6 Niroshan Fernando  Sri Lanka 10
7 Craig Bachurzewski  Poland 5
Dawid Pawelec  Poland
Robert Pawelec  Poland
Benjainina Rakotoarivelo  Madagascar
Alain Rakotonirina  Madagascar
Ratsimba Tolotra Ramaromiantso  Madagascar
Szymon Sirocki  Poland
Tomasz Sirocili  Poland

Try scorers

Pos Name Team Tries
1 Bernard Razafindranaivo  Madagascar 3
2 Niroshan Fernando  Sri Lanka 2
3 Craig Bachurzewski  Poland 1
Dawid Pawelec  Poland
Robert Pawelec  Poland
Benjainina Rakotoarivelo  Madagascar
Alain Rakotonirina  Madagascar
Ratsimba Tolotra Ramaromiantso  Madagascar
Szymon Sirocki  Poland
Tomasz Sirocili  Poland

Squads

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