Sri Lanka under 20 rugby team created history when they beat Chinese Taipei by 31-06 points in the final match day at Race Course international rugby stadium on Saturday afternoon to walk-away as the runners-up of the JWRT Asian Qualifiers 2014.
After two losses against Hong Kong and South Korea, Sri Lanka had to put up a gallant performance against the giant-killers, Chinese Taipei and win the game to secure their place in the top division next year. Captain Tarinda Ratwatte kicked off the game sharp on 2.30pm with a new-look starting XV compared to their previous two encounters. Sri Lanka got a perfect opportunity to put points on the board early on as Chinese Taipei was infringed for holding on to the ball but Ratwatte failed to bisect the posts with his kick.
After early attacking by the Sri Lankans, Chinese Taipei secured 3 points in their first offensive move as the Lankans were caught off-side by the referee and full back Po Wei Huang fired the penalty right through the posts. (Sri Lanka 00 – Chinese Taipei 03)
With both teams settling down after 10 minutes of rugby, Chinese Taipei were on the attack but the Lankans held on bravely near their try line though they gave away many penalties which the foreigners favoured to take a quick tap and run but in the 14th minute they finally kicked a penalty through Po Wei Huang to extend the slight lead. (Sri Lanka 00 – Chinese Taipei 06)
Sri Lanka conceded 7 penalties before the cooling break which resulted in early catching up by the hosts but a massive turnaround came after the one-minute water break as Sri Lanka finally got things sorted as skipper Tarinda Ratwatte touched down under the posts in the 19th minute of the match after a good passage of clean handling by the backline gave winger Bhanuka Gamage the space to sprint down the left flank but he unselfishly passed to his skipper when he was tackled with inches close to the try line. Ratwatte made no errors with the conversion as the hosts took the lead. (Sri Lanka 07 – Chinese Taipei 06)
Clinical handling errors by both teams made the game a slow affair as the momentum swung both ways with the exchange of territory and possession. Referee reset scrums occasionally as they were scrappy with both set of forwards struggling to put up a fine show in the set-pieces.
Just before the half-time whistle, Sri Lanka number 8 Omalka Gunaratne scored his first try of the tournament after the Tuskers inched forward through uninterrupted phases as Chinese Taipei conceded penalties in their own half. Tarinda Ratwatte converted brilliantly as Sri Lanka stretched their lead.
Half Time: Sri Lanka 14 – Chinese Taipei 06
After the lemons, Chinese Taipei stand-off Lee Ssu Hsiao Chein restarted the match amidst a poor turnout from the fans for a junior international match. Both teams tried their very best to play to their game plan though they failed due to unforced errors. Sri Lanka looked the more settled unit as they were mingling in the Chinese Taipei territory most of the time during the second half.
After 52 minutes of rugby, replacement prop-forward Ganuka Dissanayake used his upper body strength to power over few defenders to score as Sri Lanka took control of the match with the visiting boys wearing down. Skipper Tarinda Ratwatte was accurate with the conversion.
(Sri Lanka 21 – Chinese Taipei 06)
Poor handling was seen throughout the 2nd half as well and the spectators were disappointed due to the slow pace of the game. With less than 10 minutes to go for the long-final whistle, Sri Lanka was desperately searching for the bonus-point winning 4th try to become the runners-up of the tournament and magnificent Ratwatte scored his 2nd try of the match to the delight of his team mates and the all the rugby fans in Sri Lanka after he sneaked through the Taipei defense to touch down beside the posts and converted his own try. (Sri Lanka 28 – Chinese Taipei 06)
As the game was heading for a definite Lankan win, Chinese Taipei prop-forward Hung Chi Pan was yellow-carded for a scrum infringement and he went out of the playing area furiously.
Sri Lanka continued their good work in the 2nd half as they used their forwards and backs perfectly together to form a lethal attacking partnership but lacked the finishing touches on many times.
In the final move of the match, Tarinda Ratwatte ended his glorious day with 3 more points as referee awarded an easy penalty kick after a line off-side infringement by the tourists.
Full Time: Sri Lanka 31 – Chinese Taipei 06
After Hong Kong thrashed South Korea in the final game, Sri Lanka went up ahead into the 2nd place with 8 points and was awarded with the runners-up trophy and will stay in the top division of the junior rugby championship in Asia next year.
Referee – Maurice Buttler
ThePapare Man of the Match – Tarinda Ratwatte (Sri Lanka Captain – 21 points)
Joyful leader of the Tuskers, Tarinda Ratwatte spoke exclusively with www.thepapare.com after the match and gave his thoughts on the win – “After our disappointing losses to South Korea and Hong Kong, we wanted to win this game for the set of players who would like to compete in the top division next year as well to give another shot at the Junior Rugby World Cup. Out of the 25 players, 12 players are eligible to play next year and I’m pretty sure they have a good chance of putting up a better show next year.”
Sri Lanka head coach Nilufer Ibrahim was extremely pleased with his team and he shared his views with www.thepapare.com – “We lost the last two games due to our own faults. We practiced as a squad less than 10 days and today only we clicked as a unit. I’m pleased we came up with a better performance today.”
