Sri Lanka’s rugby players are in the process of doing a crash course in fitness to prepare for the upcoming Carlton Sevens rugby tournament which the country will host on November 28 and 29, in Colombo.

With the majority of training days lost due to the non availability of players from the forces, the focus in the Sri Lankan camp is on fitness.

Sri Lanka’s fitness trainer Mohotilal Jayatilake told The Island that he would do everything possible within his capability to raise Sri Lanka’s game but warned, "There are no short cuts to fitness".

"This is an international tournament and fitness plays a major role. Just about 40% of the squad has reached the desired fitness levels. The rest haven’t done enough training during the off season," he said.

Jayatilake said he is also concerned about the slow recovery rate in players after strenuous training sessions. "When the fitness levels are down, fatigue level sets in fast. The advantage in being fit is one can recover fast after training," he said.

He added that the players should understand that fitness wins games when the skills of both teams are equal.

Rugby Selection Committee Chairman Ajith Abeyratne said that that the team’s captain would be nominated by Monday. The general procedure regarding any nomination by the national rugby selectors is that it has to ratified by the sports minister.