Sri Lanka junior rugby team felt short by 3 points in the first match against Korea on Sunday as the final score stood 31-28 in favour of the visitors. On Wednesday evening, Junior Tuskers will have to counter the tough opponent Hong Kong, who beat Chinese Taipei in their first match 44 – 05.
Hong Kong played in the Junior Rugby World Trophy (JWRT) last year as the hosting country along with other 7 countries. However, they could not promote in to Junior World Championship (JWC) as a result they have to play in the JWRT qualifier and be on top again in order to advance to play in Portugal next year.
Already the visitors made a strong statement thrashing the Chinese Taipei team. Nevertheless, they will not underestimate the Tuskers and will be looking forward for a strong challenge. Hong Kong captain/full back Hugo Stiles who is having the hairdo of the elite team winger Tom McQueen, is in great form and his reliable boot will be an added bonus for the visitors. Number 8 Rich Lewis is also a strong player and it will be interesting to see how he takes his opposite number on Wednesday evening.
Sri Lanka on the other hand almost shell-shocked the Korean teams with an early try by Sudam Sooriarachchi. At the end of the full time, all the efforts felt short with few basic errors by the boys in green. Tarinda Ratwatte led the team from the front brilliantly, he must be guttered with his penalty which hit the post and sailed in to the defenders hand just before the half time. The hulky – bulky Omalka Gunarathne was simply astonishing and proved that he is the most powerful player on the field on Sunday.
Before the tournament Sri Lanka coach Nilfer Ibrahim speaking to Thepapare.com said that “We should take home advantage to play the game at 2.30 and not at 4.30, because we have trained at this time and our players also used to the heat whereas visitors will feel uncomfortable.”
However, this was not the case as the match against Hong Kong will start on Wednesday evening at 4.30 and Nilfer added saying that the boys are still well focused and if they capitalized the ball possession and territory, they can still overcome the tough Hong Kong team.
Chinese Taipei and South Korea will also play their second game tomorrow at the Race Course ground at 2.30 p.m. Do join for the updates and live streaming via www.thepapare.com
