This week’s drama began with Army visiting Navy at their home base in Welisara. Although this match was expected to be closer than it was, the Army being shorn of its foreign players for such a key game was a surprise.
Army were said to be having financial constraints in keeping their foreigners, and if they too are unable to field foreign players like the Air Force, it will keep them out of the reckoning for top honours.
The local boys had to make do and put up resistance that was not able to match up to the devastating running of the returning Setefano Cakau. Dinusha Chathuranga, playing in his natural position of wing three quarter scored a brace for the winners with Navy remaining unbeaten with a 31 – 13 victory.
Police v Kandy
In good news for Kandy fans, their home team seems to be purring into high gear as the season goes on. It appears the Kandy think tank have read ThePapare and returned Fazil to outside half, and bringing David Halaifonua into dangerous territory. This is paying rich dividends with the talented youngsters Wilwara and the Perera twins doing the damage out wide.
I certainly wasn’t expecting a 62-6 thrashing of the cops, who are also going through their own travails with Nizam Jamaldeen resigning as coach.
However, it seems Kandy have woken from their slumber and will need to front up in the forwards when they meet the likes of Havelocks later on in the season.
Sharks v CR
CR underlined their status as a team that does not travel well, when they huffed and puffed their way to a win in Beliatta against the Hambanthota Sharks.
The 24-12 victory was achieved in the dying minutes with CR able to score only 2 tries against an opposition that showed them a thing or two. CR were vastly outclassed in terms of their foreign players, and it was only when last years Man of the Tournament Nissan Atui was brought on, that the tide changed colour from blue to red.
It is still baffling to see Nissan starting from the bench, given his obvious quality. CR have tremendous talent in their ranks if they can find a hard running three quarter as a foreign player to do some damage in midfield and also to counter the other teams foreigners defensively.
The performance was well below expectation from the Longdon Place boys and the Sharks will take heart from their close game. It was a step in the right direction for them.
CH v AF
The battle of the wooden spoonists turned out to be the closest game of the weekend with Air Force running out 27-22 victors. It was a deserved victory for the Airmen who had been manfully plying through this season without any foreign recruits.
CH find themselves dead last in the table and it would appear that they have no further games which they can look to win, as Air Force was their only realistic chance of notching up one in the victory column.
Havelocks v UCL
The Upcountry Lions came into this game hoping to upset the defending champs. With the game postponed by a day, the anticipation grew and it was good to see Nizam Jamaldeen back with the whistle. Unfortunately, his fitness let him down during the game and there were several breakdown penalties missed. So much so that Jamal was seen awarding a scrum from a pile up twice in the game, which is a call rarely seen made.
Despite that he controlled a feisty game well, and the 36-25 win for Havies was hard fought. The champs have never looked fluid this season and the problem as I see it is Irfath Meedin at scrum half. His combination with Niroshan Fernando has not quite hit it off yet and as a result the wingers are kept in cold storage most of the time.
Sandun Herath touched the ball once or at the most, twice, in the match and it shows that the fluency to bring in such a devastating finisher is just not there. This will upset them against Navy and Kandy if it is not fixed.
Havelocks scored early after pressure from the Lions and then relaxed when they were 19-5 up. The Lions ably led by Sooriyabandara who is playing in the dangerous position of fly half for Upcountry, clawed their way back into the game. At 26-18 and Havelocks losing Viliami Hakalo to a yellow card the game was poised on a knife edge, but Mithun Hapugoda’s intercept try had already taken the wind out of the Lions’ sails.
Havelocks, despite possessing some dangerous runners, are winning their matches up front. Their line out is solid and their scrum devastating. They also have a beautifully balanced third row with Muthuthanthri’s work rate complemented by the sharpness of Lema and the size of Fale’afa.
The Lions unfortunately waste Nigel Ratwatte at full back, and it is difficult for Imthie Marikkar to accommodate Soori, Dilan and Nigel in the halves without some sacrifice. Kanchana Ramanayake is playing well enough to keep Ratwatte out of the no. 13 jersey and the Lions will continue to have to strive for the best combinations.
The win sets up next week’s game between Havelocks and Kandy beautifully. Rumour has it that Hale T Pole is touching down today. And with the return of Shenal Dias to the second row, Havelocks look like they just might have enough quality to win a second championship.
