Navy outplayed the Soldiers, Kandy Silenced the Cops whilst Air Force secured their maiden win over Sharks.
Havelock 21 – 19 CR & FC
A breathtaking and nerve wrecking second half display from both the teams under lights. Not too many points on the board, 6-3 in favor of the hosts at half time. CR went into the lead in the second half with quick successive tries. One by Heshan Maduranga which was just luck as it bounced where he knocked-on with the ball inches from the try line.
The second saw Dulaj Perera taking the restart but the Havelock’s defense was caught napping. Above graphic explains the awareness demonstrated by the Reds three quarters. 1)Dulaj restarts and chases 2) Sasanka Ariyarathna collects and sends to Robbie Malneek 3) Malneek with a thumping 63m spiral kick 4) Heshan chases the ball with good awareness showed by 5) Billy Rophea and 6) Kanchana Ramanayaka who foxed the Havies defenders.
Ishan Noor was sin-binned in the vital minutes for being off-side, therefore, Sudarshana Muthuthantri had to make a decision whether to go for kick on post or to the corner and have driving maul. With the score at 16-11 in favour of CR and 15 minutes remaining on the clock, Shanaka Amarasinghe challenged ThePapare commentary box to guess what skipper Muthuthanthri would do and opinions differed; Kandy SC No7 Chris Cloete said that he will go for touch and fancy the driving maul and Ameen Mohamed agreed but Shanaka was all for going after the 3 points. All guesses proved wrong as Muthu opted for a scrum. Perhaps because his main ball carrier Shehan Lema was out early with an injury and a few lineouts went scrappy and also having a one man advantage in the scrum with Noor yellow carded.
Sithum Peiris’ inexperience was apparent as he moved into the No 8 slot of the missing Noor leaving his own spot open. Havies had the better weight in the pack therefore CR would not hold on the pressure on that occasion. Kavindu de Costa and Taufa Sione for the hosts worked well in that scrum to take on the lead as Sione scored through Costa’s off load.
Last five minutes of play was electrifying and CR making a mistake resulted Dulaj Perera to put things in control with the penalty kick. This game was all about decision making in pressure situations and being disciplined in the field.
Havies will now play Navy whilst CR will host Kandy this weekend.
Talking Points : Noor’s Yellow card – Heshan’s controversial try – Muthuthantri’s decision making
Navy 43 – 08 Army
Inconsistency is the word for the Soldiers, they have a talented outfit but sometimes things don’t go their way. Navy on the other hand enjoyed running amok in a beautiful weather conditions. Their forwards were on song once again as they affected a 20m driving maul inside their 22m line to the center line.
Kalana Amarasinghe showed great hunger to collect the ball and gain yards and also to make tackles. Hasitha Perera displayed some rare handling skills and Halaifihi was too good to spot the space and at times Army defence just let him run on.
Three quarters also made so many errors with handling. Rohitha Rajapaksa had an average time in his new position; his feeding and kicking looked reasonable, going for 2 drop goals which were not quite the correct decisions, but he didn’t have too many options either. Pio Tuwai’s absence was also a mental factor for the Soldiers. Coach Mothilal of Army should try both Fijians in 12&13 to start with for a change.
The only try came for the Soldiers by Sashan Mohamed but the credit should go to Saniwalati Ramuwai for a zig zag run in to space. Army prop Suranga Dilshan was the hero for his peach of a grubber kick by the 22m line which looked perfectly skillful. Nevertheless, the Soldiers were unorganized in handling and capitalizing ball possession in to points and as a result Navy took advantage.
The last try for Navy came with another good piece of work by the little Richi Dharmapala. Bilal’s throw from the lineout was quickly given by Sharo Fernando to Richi, who then dummied passed the opposite No 5,6,9 & 10 then passed on to his support player Bilal. All the replacement Hooker needed to do was was to run in to the corner but it was a good chase by Army full back. The Tusker was too strong as he scored the final try for the Sailors.
Talking Points : Navy forwards strength – Kalana’s gigantic show – Mothilal has to rethink on strategy
Police 03 v 37 Kandy
It was a physical battle between these two teams as always; Apisai Nagaliva v Koto Pongi in a much expected battle. Apisai was not only bleeding on his head by a contact, he was also try-less in the last three matches. Kandy played a largely physical battle last week against the Sydney club Warringah due to the absence of CH & FC. Where they lost 35 points to 24.
However, the Cops look like losing their sparks and if they play like this, beating the airmen will also be a problem for them. The rest of the players have to give 110% and not rely only on Apisai every time. Kandy’s Christopher Cloete is back after resting two weeks. What an impact he provided with both his attack and defense. The clear different between the cops and Kandy was that Kandy’s local talent and experience is pure class. Especially the three quarters need no introduction; Fazil Marija, Gayan Weerarathne, Nigel Ratwatte etc…
Talking Points : Police local talent – Cloete’s performance – Lavanga Perera excelling
Air Force 68 v 15 Sharks
Air force sealed the maiden win whilst Sharks says this is it! Unfortunately they have had to pull out from the league due to injuries of players. The last two weeks the Airmen were very impressive as they seem to have learnt a lot and gelled well with their foreigners.
Surely, Police could learnt one or two lessons off the Airmen’s performance. Opete Delana and Vilikese Koilagi are playing really well in the center field. Nuwan Perera as fly half did immaculately well feeding the ball and also with his kicks, out of all his eye-catching drop goal. This Friday it will be a great test for both Army and Airmen as they take the field at Race Course.
Talking Points : Sharks out – Air Force first win – Nuwan Perera at 10
