Like I said in my preview, this was a weekend where the top three were expected to win and the bottom three expected to try and consolidate. Only Army managed to lose with some respectability, as the front runners Navy and Kandy dismissed Lions and CR summarily.
I unfortunately did not get to see any of the games this weekend, so analysis will be less detailed, until next week.
Navy v UCL
The Lions scored only one try against Navy, and that should tell you the sort of dominance the Navy team had. They are turnover kings and if anybody loses the ball against them, there is no chance.
Navy picked up their bonus point and are merrilly on their way to the title. Next week will decide whether the league stays theoretically open until the last weekend, or if Chichi Rajapaksa can lead them to their maiden league title.
Kandy v CR
Despite holding on grimly for 40 minutes to go into half time at 3-0 to the home side. CR capitulated in the last 30 minutes conceding 44 points to the rejuvenated Kandy outfit. Kandy too run the ball in counter attack with breathtaking flair. With their major players back in form, they will be hoping to challenge Navy at Welisara next week.
CR meanwhile, despite being gutsy in the first half did not have the defensive stability to counter Kandy’s running game. The missed opportunities in attack and defence have characterised their season so far, and the battle for fourth is their main headache.
Army v Havelocks
Diyagama is a place where Army like to play. And with a half time lead, they may have sensed an upset on the cards. But Havelocks have always been strong in the last quarter of their game with the bench strength of their forwards. The only time this was not obvious was in their last game against Kandy.
Nevertheless, they came back strong, and although Dabare went over the line and couldn’t put the ball down, Herath did enough on the other wing to get his team in front though, and the 27-19 win was enough on the day, but did not showcase the defending champion class of this Havies side which has lost a little bit of magic as the season wore on.
