Sri Lanka came into the game with Omalka Gunarathna and Kevin Dixon making it to the starting lineup in place of Dinuk Amarasinghe and Reeza Rafaideen. Right away Chinese Taipei were put under immediate pressure as the Tuskers made it straight inside Taipei territory through Danushka Ranjan who made a dashing run towards the try line and offloaded to Dixon who drew first blood for Sri Lanka in the first minute. He converted his own try as the home team were up by seven points.
Danushka Ranjan was next to score after Skipper Srinath Sooriyabandara stepped off three defenders and made one final pass to Ranjan who touched down in the near corner. Dixon’s kick was unsuccessful as Sri Lanka extended their lead with another five points.
Sri Lanka were running riot against the hapless Taipei players who were desperately defending for their lives. However, it was of no use since the Tuskers just kept going! Getting on with the action was Danush Dayan who scored the third try for Sri Lanka after accelerating his way over to the try line. As Dixon’s kick drifted away from the posts the referee blew the half time whistle.
Half time: SL led 19 – 00 CT
- Score breakdown: Kevin Dixon 1T 2C, Danushka Ranjan 1T, Danush Dayan 1T
The second half got underway as the senior campaigner Gayan Weerarathna added his name to the score sheets with two quick tries early on in the second half. Dixon failed to add the extras in the first occasion but corrected himself in the second as he bisected the post.
As the game neared its end, Kavindu Perera and Kevin Dixon scored a try each in similar style, slicing through the gap and touching down under the post.
It was a wonderful day for the Sri Lankan men as they remain unbeaten on day 1 beating China 19 – 12 and in the final game of the day Chinese Taipei 43 – 00.
Full time: SL won 43 – 00 CT
- Score breakdown: Kevin Dixon 1T 2C, Kavindu Perera 1T, Gayan Weerarathna 2T
Matches will commence at 10.30a.m tomorrow as Sri Lanka are set to meet Hong Kong in their first game.
Sri Lanka vs China
China kick started the game deep inside their opposition territory and straight away Sri Lanka were tested through a line out inside their own half. However, the Chinese forwards managed the steal possession and through the big man Yong Qiang Chen, the men in red drew first blood in 2nd minute in their 3rd leg opener.
Chen barged through the defenders after collecting the ball from the back of the line-out and ended up under the post, making it easy for Chao Zhang who added the extra two.
Sri Lanka struck back almost immediately from the restart when Reeza Rafaideen made a wonderful break inside his own ’22 and made it all the way over the centre mark where he offloaded to Dinuk who sucked in two defenders and created space for Danush Dayan to touch down under the post. Sudam Sooriyaarachchi added the extra two.
Five minutes into the game, Sri Lanka were swinging the ball both ways trying to force an overlap. That’s when Danushka Ranjan got his first touch of the ball, and right away he shifted straight to fifth gear and made a dashing run over the try line. Unfortunately, Sudam Sooriyaarachchi missed the conversion.
Photo Album – Asia Rugby Seven’s Series – Leg 3 (Day 1)
The home team slowly but surely seemed to get control of the game as skipper Srinath Sooriyabandara foxed the Chinese defenders from the back of a ruck inside the ’22 and dummied his way under the post putting Sri Lanka on a comfortable position going into half time.
Half-Time Score: SL led 19 – 07 China
- Score breakdown: Yong Qiang Chen 1T, Chao Zhang 1C, Danush Dayan 1T, Danushka Ranjan 1T, Srinath Sooriyabandara 1T, Sudam Sooriyaarachchi 2C
The second-half got underway with the Chinese men taking the upper hand scoring early on. Haitao Li scored a solitary try for China as they looked to bridge the gap.
However, Sri Lanka managed to hold onto to their lead till the end of the game securing their first win in this 3rd leg.
Full Time Score: SL won 19 – 12 China
- Score Breakdown: Haitao Li 1T
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