Wijethilaka: “I want to be an inspiration for rugby and my country”

To help celebrate International Women’s Day 2019, Asia Rugby is putting a spotlight on some of the inspirational women in the region.

In the first of our series, we spoke to Sri Lanka captain Sanjeewani Wijethilaka.

Sri Lanka women are on the rise and their 7s side put in some excellent performances on last year’s Asia Rugby Women’s Sevens Series.

With an eye on becoming one of the top three sides in Asia,

Wijethilaka is proud of how rugby is developing in her country, which has recently seen the Get Into Rugby programme introduced to 25 districts in 26 days.

“Rugby is growing in Sri Lanka, but of course we still need more facilities and more tournaments to participate in,” said Wijethilaka.

“Since I was a kid I always wanted to be an athlete and represent my country so to do so, and captain them, is a dream come true.

“I want to be a sport ambassador, an inspiration, for rugby and for my country. I have always loved rugby and although we have limited facilities compared to the men, we are developing.

“Having a series event here in Sri Lanka helps. We play in conditions that we know, in front of a home crowd and that helps to motivate the next generation.

“Lots of school children come to watch the tournament so it helps us find new players as well as promote women’s rugby in Sri Lanka on an international level.

“For us the next steps are to keep on learning with the likes of nutrition, strength and conditioning, and hopefully play more competitive matches.”

Shout out to @SriLankaRugby_ who took rugby to 5,000+ children in 26 days through GIR

Full story here: https://t.co/fIKbNo86a6 pic.twitter.com/Fmj7fbJM1P

— Asia Rugby (@asiarugby) February 19, 2019