Clinical Sri Lanka defeated Malaysia by 59-19 in the 2025 Asia Rugby Men’s Championship play-off game played at the Racecourse Stadium in Colombo.
The win enabled Sri Lanka led by Nigel Ratwatte to qualify for the 2025 Asia Rugby Championship — the elite tier of Asian rugby.
Sri Lanka will now play alongside the United Arab Emirate, Hong Kong, and South Korea in the Asia Rugby Championship, which also serves as a pathway to the 2027 Rugby World Cup to be played in Australia.
Sri Lanka who are ranked 40th in the world made a statement of intent by scoring in the opening stage of the game through winger Janindu Dilshan.
The Tuskers scored four more tries through Danushka Ranjan, Akash Madhushanka, Dinal Ekanayake and Naveen Marasinghe while the visitors managed a solitary goal in the first 40 minutes of play.
At halftime, hosts Sri Lanka led 33-07 after scoring five tries.
Dinal Ekanayake kicked off the second half with back-to-back tries to put the game further away from the Malaysians and their hopes of securing a place in the top tier of Asia Rugby.
Although Malaysia scored two tries in the latter stage of the game, Sri Lanka responded with tries from Janindu Dilshan and Dahan Wickramarachchi and sealed a famous victory in front of a jubilant crowd at the Racecourse this evening.
