The first leg of the HSBC Asian sevens series was played last weekend at the Petaling Jaya stadium in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.
Picture Courtesy – Hiran Weerakkody | SLRFU Communications
The tournament was shadowed by thunder showers and a muddy pitch which made for some scrappy but entertaining Rugby. 12 teams assembled in Kuala Lampur to kick off their campaigns in the first of a four tournament series to determine Asia’s sevens champions.
The Tuskers from Sri Lanka went in with high hopes looking to stamp their name as one of Asia’s top Rugby Nations, a feat which to be fair was moderately successful. The Lankans led by Faazil Marija played some spectacular rugby at times but unfortunately also played some disappointing rugby at other times. They went in with a young yet fierce squad and were certainly the most likely team to pull off a few upset wins.
The tuskers kicked off their campaign with a solid 21-00 win over Kazakhstan, after which they went down in a valiant 29-14 loss to Japan. On day two Sri Lanka took on the surprise package Malaysia in the cup quarter-final with a score-line of 29-10 to move into the semi against Hong Kong. Sri Lanka started the game well, scoring twice but failed to hang on to their lead and eventually went down 29-12. The third place play-off against Korea was a disappointing one as the Lankans seemed to be worn out in tough conditions. The Koreans did well to take the game to a 10 all draw at full time after which they burrowed over the line to score the golden try to take the game in extra time.
Sri Lanka’s top performer was undoubtedly the little maestro Srinath Sooriyabandara. The petite half back danced, pranced and jinxed his way to six spectacular tries scoring a total of 32 points in five games. His absolute lighting pace was not match for any team as he outran everyone he came up against. The highlight of the tournament was definitely his try against Hong Kong where he stepped his way past the entire Hong Kong defensive line and then completely out paced the sweeper to score on the corner.
Along with ‘Soori’s stellar performance the Tuskers Skipper Marija was also true to form as he did extremely well controlling the game from the first five-eight position. Marija was Sri Lanka’s second highest points scorer running in three tries and 6 conversions accumulating 27 points over five games.
Regrettably it was only Soori and Fazil who consistently performed well whilst the rest of the team just displayed spurts of brilliance and a lot of mediocrity. The likes of Sandun Herath, Pradeep Liyanage and Saliya Kumara were nowhere near their best.
The Tuskers struggled all through the tournament in the set pieces as the scrums were atrocious and the line-outs were average whilst the kick-off’s which are the most crucial set piece in 7’s was not up to par. It was clear that the Tuskers missed their two giants, Shenal Dias and Sajith Saranga. The young forwards Jason Dissanayake, Shehan Pathirana and Sudarshana Muthuthantri were solid in defense but were just not strong enough in the scrums and around the break-down.
Ball retention for the Lankans was dismal as they struggled to hang on to the ball against the Japanese, Koreans and the players from Hong Kong. Firstly there was way too much kicking against the big teams. The semi-final was purely lost on inaccurate kicking. After Sri Lanka scored the first try off a kick chase they attempted to kick on the few occasions they had ball in hand. The Tuskers also struggled at the breakdowns and found themselves constantly conceding turn-overs in the rucks.
The Defense was also an issue for the Lankans all through the tournament. The likes of Dissanayake, Pathirana, Marija, Muthuthantri, Ratwatte and Liyanage did well against the bigger opponents but the rest were simply not up to par. The pattern of play on day two was simply Sri Lanka either lose possession in the break-downs or kick the ball away and the oppositions scores within a few phases of receiving possession.
The fact that Sri Lanka produces much smaller and nimble players must be taken into account, unfortunately in this professional era this is no longer an excuse. The players must get stronger in order to hold their own. Sri Lanka rugby has improved in leaps and bounds over the last few years and that is certainly something to be proud of, but at the same time as fans we must demand the best from our lads.
The Hong Kong skipper summed it up best in his post-match interview stating his team wanted it more than Sri Lanka.
