After a hardfought 1st leg which took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka and New Zealand U85KG will lock horns once again but this time up in Nittawela. The scoreline at the end of the 1st leg read 16-27 and it’s fair to say that the Tuskers pushed the New Zealand weight restricted side to their absolute limits.
Last year when these two sides met, Sri Lanka were not even close to making a case against the visitors. They had more speed and they had more composure compared to the hosts. But 12 months later, the story has actually changed. It was not even close to being a walk in the park like last year for the New Zealand side as Sri Lanka showed much more control and tactical prowess. From the start of that 1st leg Sri Lanka asked questions from their opponents and that first half might very well go down as one of the best first half performances by a Sri Lankan outfit in the 15a side format of the game.
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Now one could argue, what’s so great in a game that Sri Lanka ultimately lost? Well it all goes back to the performance last year and how they played this year. During both the games New Zealand had significant leads, 40 in the 1st leg and 26 in the 2nd Leg. So 11 time around is a huge improvement. The fact that New Zealand skipper Jarred Percival had to settle by showing the posts rather than going for a try during penalties which they received even inside the Sri Lanka 22m territory showed the brilliant structure that Sri Lanka showed in defending. Of course there were a couple of mistakes which led to a couple of tries but then again this is the first 15a side game they are playing after more than 9 months.
Coming into the 2nd leg Sri Lanka will surely look to address some of the concerns they had during the 1st leg with the first one being the lack of proper replacement players in the bench. Due to injuries, retirements and sevens commitments the bench strength Sri Lanka had during the 1st Leg was not even close to what the full strength bench looks like for Sri Lanka. The injury to Omalka Gunaratne played a huge part in this factor as the experience of the former captain could have been priceless to end the game on a high. Also the lack of star players in the backline was a huge issue that Sri Lanka faced once again due to the above mentioned reasons. Heshan Jansen’s injury meant Sri Lanka had to go with two debutants in the international arena at the pivotal scrum half position but for the 2nd Leg according to rumors former national cap Kavindu de Costa is making a return to the national side after making his long awaited return to Sri Lanka during the Club Sevens tournament representing the eventual winners UUDS Tuskers.
Injection of Gunaratne and de Costa would definitely be a much needed boost for Sri Lanka as they look to topple the visitors not by just a point or two but by over 11 points to clinch the Sir Graham Henry Trophy for the first time. During the 1st Leg Sri Lanka had some phenomenal performances unarguably the best one being Pulasthi Dassanayake. The way he carried himself during the game especially during the defensive maneuvers was a treat to watch and he certainly showed glimpses of a top class player. Thilina Bandara was once again instrumental with the lineouts as he managed to disturb the opposition lineouts against the throw. Young debutant Yuwan Pathirana also had a great outing as the youngster who played just 1 game as a starter during the club season showed a lot of potential backing the call by the management to start him as the fullback.
Sri Lanka have made some tactical changes to the squad as Lasindu Karunathilake will be a finisher at Nittawela while the hometown boy Tharindu Chathuranga has been given the opportunity of captaining the national side. Mursheed Zubair who played as Fly Half will switch back to his prominent position of Fullback while Thenuka Nanayakkara has been trusted with the Fly Half duties. Manilka Ruberu and Jayathu Rajaratne will start in the 2nd Leg as Yuwan Pathirana has been shifted to the bench while Janidu Dilshan will miss out. Denuwan Wickramarachchi has also earned a call up for the 2nd Leg as the youngster Naham Hemachandra has missed out.
During the 2nd Leg Sri Lanka would be hoping that all these changes will work out as expected and the whole squad plays out of their skin to produce a memorable win against the New Zealand U85KG side, a win that can spark a lot of positivity towards the whole rugby fraternity in Sri Lanka and of course the team as they get ready for a busy year ahead. As the game will be an entrance free encounter, expect to see a packed crowd at Nittawela to support the Tuskers as they look to chase down a 11 point deficit.
