Two wins in a week have resulted in a significant gain for Sri Lanka in the rankings, while other big winners are the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Luxembourg.
Sri Lanka are the biggest climbers in the latest World Rugby Rankings after moving up nine places from 47th to 38th in the world to equal their highest ever position since the rankings were introduced in October 2003.
The newly-crowned Asia Rugby Championship Division 1 champions earned 2.84 rating points after they overcame Kazakhstan in midweek before going to beat host nation the Philippines 27-14 in Saturday’s final.
The Philippines drew first blood in Manila when Alex Aronson kicked them into an early 3-0 lead, but Sri Lanka hit back with a three-try blitz, captain and fly-half Fazil Marija leading from the front with a fine individual effort.
Centre Danushka Ranjan was next to get in on the act after he fended off two would-be tacklers to score his third try of the tournament. Midfield partner Kanchana Ramanayake then added another after being put away by Ranjan. Riza Mubarak failed to convert any of the tries but was on target with two penalties as Sri Lanka kept in control of the scoreboard.
The Philippines had seen two ‘tries’ chalked off for infringements before Jeff Gregson finally scored their first and only legitimate try with two seconds of the half remaining to cut the gap to 13 points.
Defences were on top in the second half and no further tries were scored, each side kicking two penalties apiece for a final scoreline of 27-14 in Sri Lanka’s favour.
Officials received us @ the airport in style feels good to be back home and we didn’t come back empty this time. pic.twitter.com/TikJYddc8a
— Fazil Marija (@Fazilmarija) May 10, 2015
WELL BALANCED
“The loss is a bitter one at the moment but I’m really pleased with the effort the guys have put in. I thought that today we really put it all together in the second half, particularly in our attack, but our defence was wanting and we took some wrong options on the pitch,” said Philippines coach Stuart Woodhouse.
“It’s disappointing of course but I think the loss will be good for Philippines rugby in the long-run. We are still learning and developing as a team and the guys will go back and review what we did right and what we didn’t, so I am sure we will come back stronger. It is a good division, the teams are really balanced and all have different styles. So now we can prepare ahead for next year and come back stronger,” Woodhouse added.
Afterwards, Nalin de Silva, Secretary of Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union, revealed how a pep talk from Sri Lankan cricket legend Mahela Jayawardene had inspired the Tuskers to victory.
“This is fairly young team with seven debutants appearing in the squad and we had to prepare them mentally and physically,” de Silva said. “We (the SLFRU) had a few programmes to make players mentally tough. Former cricket captain Mahela Jayawardene shared his experience with the players on playing sport at the highest level.”
With the win Sri Lanka have a chance to move up to the top tier of Asian rugby next year if they choose to challenge the bottom-placed team at the conclusion of the Asian Rugby Championship. If held, that match would take place in the home nation of the third-place finisher in the Top 3 on 6 June. Starting in 2016, there will be a mandatory promotion and relegation play-off match.
KAZAKHSTAN FINISH THIRD
In the third place play-off played prior to the Division 1 final, Kazakhstan beat Singapore 32-12 after outscoring their opponents five tries to two.
Kazakhstan slip one place to 42nd in the World Rugby Rankings as their earlier defeat to Sri Lanka was factored into the calculations while Singapore are now ranked 59th after a four-place fall.
Japan’s comprehensive 66-10 victory over Korea in the elite tier of the Asia Rugby Championship did not affect the ranking of either nation. Japan remain in 11th with Korea 22nd after their victory in Fukuoka.
Two other matches were played in Asia over the weekend, producing wins for United Arab Emirates (53-22 v Thailand) and Malaysia (46-13 v Chinese Taipei) in Division 2.
The three full rating points earned by UAE moves them up three places to a new high of 87th, while Thailand drop eight to 72nd. Malaysia leapfrog Andorra, Singapore and Cayman Islands into 57th after a 1.11 points gain. Chinese Taipei are now ranked 62nd after a fall of two places.
UKRAINE GAIN
A healthy crowd of 7,500 turned up at the Arena Lublin to see the European Nations Cup Division 1B clash between Poland and Ukraine, which the away side won 20-17.
The victory improves Ukraine’s ranking by 1.14 points to 53.49, lifting them above Kenya into 31st place. Poland drop two places to 37th with Paraguay and Tunisia the beneficiaries.
The remaining matches in the European Nations Cup 2016 were both top versus bottom affairs and went according to the form book.
Luxembourg and Bosnia and Herzegovina both completed a ‘grand slam’ of victories in Division 2C and 2D this season respectively with narrow wins over Denmark (13-5) and Norway (16-10).
Luxembourg only gained 0.31 of a rating point but it was still enough to see them climb two places in the rankings to 65th. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s win came with a 0.38 of a rating point bonus but their ranking of 80th remains unchanged. They are, though, now only three tenths behind Denmark above them.
