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Kandy Sports Club’s Fazil Marija is set to captain Sri Lanka at next weeks Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. Along with Marija, seven players from Sri Lanka’s must successful club have received call ups: Sheriff, Gayan Weeraratne, Saliya Kumara, Pradeep Liyanage, Sanjeeva Jayasinghe, Radhika Hettiarachchi, and Sajith Saranga.

Air Force’s Chanaka Chandimal is the only newcomer in the team which will be coached by former skipper Hisham Abdeen, under whose leadership Sri Lanka famously won the Bowl Trophy at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1984. The Sri Lankans have a long association with the tournament, playing in the inaugural tournament back in 1976. They face a daunting challenge in their opening game on Friday taking on IRB World Sevens Series champions New Zealand, before meeting Australia and Zimbabwe the following day.

The Sri Lankans will be looking to improve on their performances in last years Hong Kong Sevens, soundly beaten 35-10 by Russia in the Bowl Quarter-Finals and head to So Kon Poh as overwhelming underdogs once again.

Of the 24 teams set to take part in Hong Kong, the combined West Indies side is one of only five not to have taken part in the recent Rugby World Cup Sevens. The other four are Asian sides China, Chinese Taipei, Korea and Sri Lanka.

The 12 man outfit comprises three players from Guyana, two from Trinidad & Tobago, two from Bahamas, three from Jamaica and one from each of Bermuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The team includes three players currently playing rugby in England: Jamaican James Jones from Premiership club Sale, countryman Luther Burrell currently with Leeds and Kevin Mc Kenzie from Guyana, who has recently joined Bracknell. The West Indies were present at Punta del Este earlier in the year and at the Trinidad and Tobago International Invitational Sevens, but have had struggled for top-end competition in recent weeks. To counter this an agreement with Rugby Canada has seen both the West Indies and Canada to train together in preparation for Hong Kong.

“It’s a great opportunity to stop on the way through to Hong Kong and get a couple run-outs,” said West Indies Coach Joe Whipple before adding, “[The Canadians] play a quality game with a lot of structure. It helps us a lot. “

Despite facing Kenya, USA, and Scotland in Pool F, Whipple is in confident mood and especially rates his sides chances against the Africans.

"I think the key to playing against Kenya is to keep the pressure on them,” Whipple said before adding, “We’ll be up in their faces and we’ll see how they react. We’ve got legs too [and] we run pretty well. Most of the world sprinters come out of the Caribbean and not out of Kenya. We just gotta keep their legs down and our legs up a bit.”

With their World Cup Seven’s exit against Portugal still fresh on their minds, Canadian Coach Shane Thompson said the Canadian side has been working hard on fixing their mistakes and are keen to try out some different combinations.

After the recent losses of Bryn Keys and Jordan Kozina over the weekend, Sean Duke and Chauncey O’Toole return returning to the line-up. John Moonlight, cousin of Canada’s Sevens try scoring record holder Dave Moonlight, comes in for his debut and will inject some size and pace into the forwards.

“We’ve had a few changes since our list trip at the World Cup,” Coach Thompson said of the five players coming into his squad. “On one hand it’s starting over but at the same time, it’s getting new guys in there getting experience for down the road.“

Sri Lanka Squad for Hong Kong: Fazil Marija (Captain), Sanjeeva Jayasinghe, Mohamed Sheriff, Gayan Weeraratne, Saliya Kumara, Pradeep Liyanage, Radhika Hettiarachchi, Sajith Saranga (all from Kandy SC), Suranga Arunashantha and Chanaka Chandimal (both from Air Force), Dinusha Chathuranga (CR and FC) and Dilanka Wijesekera (CH and FC). Coach Hisham Abdeen, Manager Imthisham Marikar.

West Indies Squad for Hong Kong: Albert Larose (Guyana) ; Claudius Butts (Guyana); Kevin McKenzie (Guyana); Kelson Figaro (Trinidad & Tobago); Andre Cabera (Trinidad & Tobago); Hollis Green (St. Vincent & the Grenadines); Jeremico Cooper (Bahamas) Devon Woodsede (Bahamas); James Jones (Jamaica); Luther Burrell (Jamaica); Nicholas Fraser (Jamaica); Tom Healy (Bermuda).