Sheriff and Bilal in?

At the conclusion of the ever- luminous Carlton sevens, many people would have been left to ponder why Bilal Hassen and Mohomed Sheriff did not take the field as many times as the others who were included in the squad. 

 

Bilal Hassen the CR&FC hooker and third row forward was drafted in together with the Kandy SC backline player Mohomed Sheriff due to their significant show at the Mercantile sevens tournament conducted mid November. The two players who were left out were Police SC’s second row forward Romesh Archirige and CR’s Wing three quarter Dinusha Chathuranga. Both Bilal and Sheriff who warmed the bench for as many as six matches hardly had the opportunity to go against the opposition right throughout the tournament. 

 

Recycling players during a match is a vital aspect of sevens rugby, and has a huge impact on the outcome of the match. From a coaches point of view the two players could have been kept out since they were the newly drafted couple to the side.  A lot of factors could have played in the minds of the coach, for example, adoptability of the pattern of play, fitness levels etc, but then why was Danushka Perera, and Anurudda Wilwara given a go? 

 

Danushka Perera who was not a member of the provisional squad made the final team for the Carton sevens with Wilwara too being a new addition to the whole setup. Perera was put in to the side due to an injury on Charith Seneviratne who opted out of the tournament. Danushka Perera an aggressive player by nature gave in a gutsy performance at the sevens and was exceptional in his communications with the rest of the players during the matches. And Wilwara on the other hand had a good tournament especially playing as one of the main attacking players in the side. 

 

These two above mentioned players played almost every game in the tournament and had a huge bearing on the outcome with Wilwara in particular scoring a handful of tries with a memorable double against the South African Vipers. 

 

Speaking in an interview with Yes Fm, the coach of the national sevens squad said, that Bilal and Sheriff were kept out of the playing seven in the Carlton tournament because they were not used to the pattern of play and they did not have the proper combination. Anurudda Wilwara who was the first to join out the additional players to the immediate squad trained with the team for some time before the Carlton sevens tournament. 

 

It was a clear fact that Bilal Hassen who was given a very short stint against the Kazakhstan side gave in a hearty performance with ball in hand and also covered a lot of ground in defense. Mohomed Sheriff too hit the gaps in attack when he was given the opportunity. Even after performing on day one, the team management opted to keep them out of the playing seven. What was the thinking behind this?