Kandy Sports Club will face Bahrain RFC on the 31st of this month at Nittawela for the first match of the Asia Western Club Champions League (AWCCL) 2018.
Holders of Silverware in their respective country’s domestic league, Kandy SC and Bahrain RFC will now embark on their journey to conquer West Asia!
Bahrain RFC
In their early days, Bahrain RFC struggled to find success in the local and domestic leagues, but through the years and expansion of the sport, Bahrain RFC stood up to the occasion and gradually began to dominate tournaments like the Arabian Gulf Cup and in the Dubai Seven’s.
Since the introduction of the AWCCL in 2015, Bahrain RFC is yet to claim the Championship title. But after beating Dubai Exiles earlier this year and being crowned West Asia Premiership Champions, they will be confident of going all the way this time around.
Head Coach, Louie Tonkin, made the difference in his maiden campaign last year, grooming the team to finish as Runners-up at the AWCCL 2017 and Champions of the West Asia Cup.
Strengths
The Club has a vast number of players who have the exposure and experience of playing in the UK and European regions. Especially former Welsh junior national team players as well.
Their forward pack is known to be lethal, and very mobile, which will put the Kandy big boys to a real test.
Kandy SC
Kandy Sports Club will be led by Senior Player, Richard Dharmapala. We all know that the Kandy back line is one to beat, but this time around it’s going to be a hefty task for Dharmapala and his boys as the big guns – Srinath Sooriyabandara, Gayan Weeraratna, Dhanushka Ranjan and Danush Dayan will be out on National duty.
However, this means the Kandyan youngsters, Heshan Jansen, Diluksha Dange and Lakshitha Ranaweera will have the opportunity to don the Kandy jersey in this year’s AWCCL as well.
Last year, Bahrain RFC got the better of Kandy at Nittawela, after beating them only just, as the scored read 24 points to 23 at the end of the eighty minutes.
Kandy will hope to surprise the visitors and get the upper hand early on, to redeem themselves from last year. With that in mind, the local champs will have to set up a ploy which will counter the Bahrain pack, their main strength.
Prediction
IF the pack manages to hold the opposition off, Kandy will most likely win the game with a ten-point gap.
IF the Kandy backs fail to maintain a steady defense line, you would back Kandy to win the game with a narrower margin.
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