After the fourth week of Dialog Rugby League, Kandy wrecked the unbeaten run of the defending champions Navy at Welisara (16 – 06) whilst CR overpowered Sharks (46-10), Army eased passed Air force (33 – 10) and the first under lights match of the season where Havelocks hosted CH&FC (34 – 05) ending with a victory after back to back losses in the previous two weeks.
Navy v Kandy
A humdinger of a game was on the cards with the two giants of club rugby going up against each other with many putting their money on the Sailors, the defending champions. Welisara was decked in customary fashion with a sea of blue covering the ground packed in with Navy troops and a fearsome Gorilla beating his chest and leading the intimidation. Kandy set about calmly going about their warm up seemingly oblivious to the Gorilla and packed crowds and on the back of a most brilliant individual performance by foreign player flanker Christopher Cloete & Sean Wijesinghe’s boys defended magnificently to stall wave after wave of Navy attacks to secure a win at Welisara for the first time in 5 years.
Navy, has nothing to blame but themselves, perhaps they did not play to their game plan; certainly Leonard De Zilva will go back to the drawing boards. Kandy on the other hand made less errors some of which went in their way. Roshan Weerarathne’s come back after injury was a big plus point for Kandy as even a 100% not fit Weeraratne was seen controlling the game really well especially his box kicks resulting favorably for the visitors. Not many scrum halves are capable of good territorial box kicks which is very important in the modern game.
Navy scored 18 tries in 3 games prior to this match; which clearly shows how well Kandy has defended by not allowing the Sailors to score a single try. Navy made key errors with the game management where they had penalties after penalties in the opposite 5m for which they opted a scrum once and it was the right decision, but the second time Yoshitha opted to tap and run followed by Halaifihi who ended up knocking it on. It can be argued that when you have the best No 1 – 7 in the island in your pack, you can always take a re-scrum in the opposite 5m. They almost had a penalty try on offer as Kandy was making infringements in the scrum, but those chances were lost in vain.
Also in the last 10minutes some penalties could have been taken to the post and deficit reduced for the hosts. Perhaps Navy did not go to touch due to an uncontested line out in the early second half by Kandy which was an obstacle for the Navy driving maul. Nevertheless, Kandy’s defensive pattern was rock solid; in one instance Nigel Ratwatte made a fantastic chase to stop Dinusha Chathuranga scoring off Setefano Cakau’s chip.
During a scrum in the center field this is how it looked (below graphic) good friends, national and Carlton 7’s team mates but they were foes for 80minutes. Oscar Ouma must have played against Cakau in the IRB 7s series, but this was a different format but both displayed their skills reasonably well.
Soori playing at 10 looked logical but the sevens sensation is not really up to his mark. He played as half back most of the time for Up country lions last year. Soori also spots the gap between his opposite number and the full back where he puts his little drubber kick and chases, which did not happen the way he wanted this time around.
Gayan Weerarathne played a brilliant game despite being yellow carded for illegal tackle. Kandy with 14 men for 10 minutes did not panic. Despite a bit of romance in the middle with Gertha Perera, the good shepherd ‘Christ -opher Cloete’ was monumental, great awareness, pace, power and stamina and also the chilly weather helped him to be in the field for 80minutes which left Quinton Crocker in the bench for whole game. In addition to this Cloete was hitting 60m kicks during the warm up ! Perhaps he was taunting his countryman ?
Talking Points : Christopher Cloete – Soori at outside half – Navy decision making
Havelocks v CH&FC
CH after the brilliant fight against Army last week could not showcase that much more. Rimzie Jamaldeen who scored all the points against the Soldiers last week, lost his touch as he was unable to make the penalties to points. Then again the Havies did well as a comeback after the disappointing loss in Kandy and even though they did not do too good in the second half, hopefully this win must have helped heal them a bit.
Sandun Herath has found his rhythm as he made some good yards with the ball. Josh Kaifa’s break from the shorter side was well supported by Herath where Havies made a solid try escaping from their red zone. Dulaj Perera on the other hand looked like he was getting better and better after the CR match. He made the most number of yards with his running game. As mentioned in the below graphic A) he eased passed from his opposite number and the centre like a livewire B) he made territorial kicks when needed which took the pressure off the hosts. These may be basics skills for a No10 yet he perfected it.
Captain Radeesha Senavirathna is small made but he made some great tackles for CH also Hamza Hassen showed his mobility in running with the ball and Shehzan Salih who finished school this year playing for Kingswood showed maturity as a scrum half. Pium jayasinghe had to come out early as he was not in a condition to start and Gayan Rathnage also suffered a head injury. CH don’t have much options in replacements and definitely need to recruit one or more foreigners. However, so far this young and dynamic team has showed good potential.
It is a long season but when Havies play CH in the second round at least one of these teams have to change the colour of their shorts if it is not too expensive making home/away shirts as it was a bit difficult to figure out the players.
Talking Points : Sandun & Dulaj finding their rhythm – no depth in CH bench – Confusing outfits
Air Force v Army
The Soldiers with their second new outfit of the season outclassed the airmen but it was not a cohesive performance perhaps this is due to the greasy conditions with the rain. They also rested Pio Tuwai, Chula Susantha, Prince Chamara and Mohamed Rizvi (injured). It was all Army and Sanivalati Ramuwai’s show in the first half.
Sashan Mohamed coming to the action with two tries showed that Army has a good depth in their squad. It was not the start Andrew Benson wanted as most of his passes went astray. However, skipper Rohitha Rajapaksa managed to overcome some of the Benson’s passes and also showed good skills in distance kicking. The intensity went down after both teams made continuous knock ons and forward passes although Army controlled the first half. Ramuwai’s pace and power was unstoppable for the hosts despite their valiant effort in defense.
After lemons, the Airmen boosted the first threat in the opposite territory especially scrum half Prasad Malinda coming from the bench and providing quick balls and once, he dummied from the ruck and made a fabulous 35m run. It was a great physical battle in this game as they play for the pride. Most importantly, the Air force have improved in their discipline and as a result they did not get any cards despite their skipper Prasanna Zoysa getting suspended with a red card in week two.
Moreover, the Army attacking line looked flat most of the time, perhaps they could have scored more if the line was deep. Army inches away to make a try in the second half, the ball was turned over in the breakdown Charith Senavirathne the acting skipper for air force had a breathtaking 100m sprint from the blind side which was unstoppable for the Soldiers.
If the line was deep probably the full back could have chased and put an effort to stop Senevirathne. Sanjeewa Patabadige came as a replacement and scored the consolation try in the final minute of play for the hosts. The final score stood 33 – 10 for the visiting Army team. The Air Force only can ponder on their second half performance considering it a win with 10 – 07 without foreign players in their team.
Talking Points : Sanivalati Ramuwai – Army flat on attack – Charith’s 100m try
CR&FC v Sharks
Robbie Malneek is utterly impressive for the Reds this season, last week he started from the bench and we witnessed his importance where he almost led the Navy team astray. Anurada Herath and Rochana Hettiarachi also shone against the Sharks. Coach Imthi Marikkar is keen on an attacking rugby style as a result the above mentioned three quarters are simply doing what the coach wants.
CR had few more chances but handling errors due to the wet condition slowed them up. Sharks on the other hand drowned with 3 losses in 3 games. Their combination is not working in both defense and attack. Joseph Dunn and Wagawulagi Emori are the main aces but Sharks also needed something like the CH&FC needs which is another one or two foreigners in the squad as two players cannot take on a long season injury free.
Nevertheless, the Sharks are not looking in buying a team but they are looking to build the team with youngsters. They also need to be composed and find out a way to display their performance as there is nothing to lose for them.
Talking Points : CR attacking style – Robbie Malneek – Sharks defense & attack
