Ekanayake Nominated For HSBC SVNS Awards
20 year old Australian Rugby 7's player Aden Ekanayake, a rising speed-star of a familiar origin, has been nominated among 3 players for the HSBC SVNS Rookie of the Year Award!
Making his debut last December in the HSBC SVNS Series held in Cape Town, Aden Ekanayake now has his name on the nominees list for the 'Rookie of the Year' at the HSBC SVNS Awards 2025, alongside Enahemo Artaud (France) and George Bose (Fiji) who have also made significant waves in the tournament.
The Sri Lankan Connection
As obvious as it seems, Aden is of Sri Lankan origin but is often mistaken for being related to Priyantha and L.V. Ekanayake, the former Anthonian and Sri Lankan Rugby legends who share the same name and physicality. But Kuma Ekanayake, his father who is not related to either, has been very supportive of him and his brothers (Tallen and Chayton).
Kuma Ekanayake with his son after earning the Australian 7's jersey
Aden on the other hand did not just parachute himself as a bright prospect for the future of the oval ball in the shorter form for his country of birth. He was part of the Australian team at the Global Youth Sevens in 2022 and the former captain of the Australian Schools Rugby team in 2023.
Subsequently, he was part of the Gordon Rugby 'Colts Programme' as a prospective talent with a few years left in his schooling career at Barker College. Having fast-tracked into the National Pool while being an 18-year-old, he was a regular 14th man across various tournaments until his debut a few months back, and narrowly missed the chance to be part of the Olympic squad last year.
A Dream Debut at the HSBC SVNS
The HSBC SVNS tournament, which was inaugurated in 1999 as the IRB World Rugby Sevens Series, is held annually across 8 countries in 5 continents. Aiden earned his Aussie 7's cap for the Cape Town leg in the tournament and was able to score a try on debut.
@sri.lankan.genes 🏉🌟 *Aden Ekanayake’s First Try for Australia 🇱🇰
♬ original sound - Sri Lankan Genes
Having played in 18 matches, Aden has scored a total of 4 tries wearing the No. 23 jersey, including the try that sealed Australia's place in the Cup finals earlier this year in Perth, his best moment since his debut try. Australia are currently placed 6th in the points table with the Los Angeles leg to be carried out this weekend.
It would be interesting to see if Aden could go on to win this award, but we certainly look forward to seeing many great things by the young talent of a Sri Lankan origin on the big stage in Rugby 7's!