In a stimulating turn of events, five players fresh out of the schools rugby turned the game on its head for Kandy Sports Club drawing 29- against the visiting Abu Dhabi Harlequins in the Asia Rugby Western Club Championship at Nittawala last evening.
Coach Sean Wijesinghe’s bold decision of opting for a new look Kandy outfit was a successful wager with the schoolboys turning things around for the hometown club to end the match in a hotly contested draw.
Five players; Heshan Jansen, Chatura Seneviratne, Lakshitha Ranaweera, Diluksha Dange and Sanushka Abeywickrema made impressive contributions to Kandy’s cause. “The new guys played well, they were key to our success and for the draw” added the stand-in captain for the side Damith Dissanayake whose team scored a last minute scintillating try to make it all square having trailed 17-10 at half time.
Filling in the shoes of the reliable Roshan Weeraratne’s scrum half position is quite a challenge. Playing his first ever game as a scrum half, the former Trinity College player Sanushka Abeywickrama was impressive on his debut with his distribution and long ended passes.
Abeywickrama was quick to pounce on the free ball, brushing shoulders against the strong Irish born Andrew Semple of the Abu Dhabi Harlequins, the 20-year-old handled the pressure from the opening minutes.
Substituting the debutant Abeywickrama with yet another, Wijesinghe brought in two replacements to the backline, giving the Kingswood combo; Heshan Jansen & Lakshitha Ranaweera their first appearances.
The Harlequin players standing tall at 6 ft’ paused for a moment to deliberating on two players, almost half their size making way on to the field.
“The Kingswood halves combination re-enacted”
The duo have been quite successful in the schools arena to an extent of rising Kingswood’s stake from the ‘B’ division back to the top tier and now the two of them find each other on either side, albeit a different jersey.
Taking control of the last twenty minutes of play, it was vital that Kandy scored twice after trailed 17-29. The chemistry between the Jansen-Ranaweera duo was evident and they were crucial in Kandy’s fight back –- Thilina Wijesinghe stepped up as a senior campaigner and played an important role as fullback – as the Kandy Club crash landed the Harlequins.
Ranaweera was quick and tactful but was also feeling the jitters playing his first match for the club almost giving away possession experimenting quick passes but his first day in the big office, in the city of Kandy, every schoolboy dreams of wearing the Kandy Sports Club jersey someday.
Jansen had accuracy on his passes, found his partner at his disposal mostly and allowing Kandy to execute their set pieces quite well.
Kandy played sans their key players with most of them rested for the upcoming club rugby season. The Western Club Rugby Champions Leagueserved well as a prep for the defending champions to give adequate game time to their players before going into the main stage.
“The young players combined very well with the senior players and that was good to see” added the Kandy Captain who was happy with his team’s effort.
Josephian Chatura Seneviratne and Trinity College wing-three quarter also made their debuts for the club in the Harlequins match but did not get sufficient game time to excel. Next week’s fixture would give them an opportunity in showcasing their skill set.
The home team might have not got the expected result at the end of the day but the club’s investment on the next generation of players will pay rich dividends.
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