KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 (Bernama) -- The coaching team has yet to confirm the starting 15 players who will carry the national men’s 15s rugby squad’s challenge in their first playoff match of the 2025 Asia Rugby Championship (ARC) against Sri Lanka this Saturday.
However, national forwards coach Faiz Ali said all players appear ready to face Sri Lanka, and the coaching team now just needs to select the best 15 to take the field on Saturday.
“We’re already in Colombo, and we can see the players are calm and prepared to face Sri Lanka on Saturday.
“The best 15 players will start the match, but we need to discuss and assess the team as a whole to ensure we field the strongest line-up against Sri Lanka,” he said in a video message shared with the media today.
The Bunga Raya 15s squad will depart for Colombo on April 19 to face the hosts — who are also the Division One champions — at Racecourse Stadium.
The match against Sri Lanka is crucial as it is the national squad’s last hope to remain in the ARC 2025 Premier Division, with a loss resulting in relegation to Division One.
The Bunga Raya 15s finished last in the 2024 ARC campaign after losing to South Korea (5-55), Hong Kong (6-70) and the United Arab Emirates (19-62).
-- BERNAMA
