The undisputed defending champions of Sri Lanka’s Club Rugby arena, Kandy Sports Club, defeated Havelock Sports Club 27-22 in their week-5 clash at Nittawela on Sunday (7th January). The winners departed the field soon after the game without much fanfare, sans the usual pomp and pageantry, as the hill country lads survived one of the most challenging battles in many seasons.
With this win, Kandy continues their dominance and leads the points table, winning 5 out of 5 and securing 4-try bonus points in every game they’ve played in the Nippon Paint Club Rugby League.
It was a game to remember for ages as the hometown team faced one of their biggest hurdles at their fortress in Nittawela amidst a very vociferous and emotional crowd in attendance, which filled the stands in the rugby-crazy city’s hallowed sporting venue.
The game was contested in the best of spirits and sportsmanship. One may call it luck or fate – there were no serious injuries faced by any of the players throughout the game.
Kandy missed a golden opportunity within 5 minutes with a good 50/22 by Nigel Ratwatte, putting them within 5 metres of the try line. Kandy’s Sadhuka Athukorala was sin-binned in the 13th minute. After 15 opening minutes with no scoring, it was Havelock’s Senal Deelaka who surprisingly scored the first try off a rolling maul with Samuel Maduwantha cool as a cucumber making no mistake with the extras to put the park club into the lead. (HSC 7-0 KSC)
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In the mid-first half, some iconic trademark Kandy rugby displays were on offer as the 25th minute saw a good old vintage 2000s Kandy-style run as Dinal Ekanayake scored in the left-most flank after Tarinda ‘Tari’ Ratwatte spotted a rare space to boot the ball. Ratwatte put over the tough angled kick to equalise. (KSC 7-7 HSC)
In the 29th minute, experienced campaigner Danushka Ranjan scored off a punt by veteran star Srinath Sooriyabandara. Soori’s years of experience were a clear-cut resemblance to that move. Tarinda missed the extras (KSC 12-7 HSC). Soon after, the hosts suffered a heavy blow after a yellow card was shown for Tarinda Ratwatte in the 31st minute for a high shot. Capitalising on the man advantage, Havies played with a positive approach as Randitha Warnapura scored the equalising try for Havies in the 33rd minute with Maduwantha slotting over a tough kick, and the visitors took a 14-12 lead. Soon after that, within seconds, Chathuranga Kudalige scored under the post of a mistake by Havies stand-off Sandesh Jayawickrema. Nigel Ratwatte added the extras (KSC 19-14 HSC). Sandesh’s kick was charged down with the former Peterite unexpecting the move, which occurred in split seconds to grab away the short-lived lead for the park club. At the brink of halftime, Samuel Maduwantha made it a 2-point game, putting over a penalty to make it 19-17 at lemons.
Half Time – KSC 19 – 17 HSC
Just 2 minutes into the second half, Havelock’s forward Udara Lakshan was sent off for a high shot, with the first points of the 2nd half being put over by Tarinda Ratwatte as he took the safe option and went for the posts (KSC 22-17 HSC). This was probably the first time Kandy opted for 3 points rather than going for touch. They were always in an aggressive mode and went for the big 5-pointers from the corner in the previous games.
At this moment, both teams were messy and failed to put together any structured phases; nonetheless, the excitement was top-notch, with a lot of quick blitzes from both sides.
Srinath Sooriyabandara, who looked as if he was just out of school like he used to in 2008 straight of Isipathana, scored through a sublime dash in the 53rd minute in a solo effort by evading 3 defenders, made it 27-17 in favour of Kandy. Tari missed the extras. Youngster Dinupa Senavirathne, in the 60th minute, scored for Havies after the Park Club lads put on some valuable phases by keeping the ball alive. It was all Havies in the last few moments as they charged with all their might and fired a barrage of artillery against Kandy to keep them at bay, with the home side having to defend almost the whole final quarter in a do-or-die effort.
Havies had 5 unforced knock-ons in the games, and Kandy had 2. On a shocking note, Kandy Sports Club conceded 14 penalties throughout the 80 minutes of full game time, whereas Havelocks gave away only 6. However, the Hill Country Club held on to a hard-fought victory, which tested them to their fullest and exposed their weak pointers, too, which their biggest rival, CR&FC, would have definitely taken notes from. Kandy’s future course will heavily depend on the number of mistakes they commit, and lessons learnt from this game will be critical.
Havies, on the other hand, put on a stellar performance in a very high-tempo encounter which had all the high-pressure moments, especially playing in the Nittawela fortress where aura itself is intimidating towards visiting teams. That is all but a beautiful part and parcel of the game we all love-Rugby, The Hooligans Game-Played by Gentlemen. Havelocks would definitely make everyone’s monies worth in their crunch game when they take on yet another bunch of glamour boys of Lankan Rugby, CR&FC, at next week’s clash.
Kandy will play Navy at Welisara on Saturday 13th, and CR will host traditional rivals Havies the same day at Longdon Place. Both matches kick-off at 3.45 pm.
Match Breakdown
Full Time – Kandy SC 27 (4T 2C 1P) beat Havelock SC 22 (3T 2T 1P)
Black Knight Player of the Match – Srinath Sooriyabandara
Yellow Cards – Sadhuka Athukorala, Tarinda Ratwatte (Kandy) Udara Lakshan (Havelocks)
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