Navy SC showcased their intent on defending the title when they thrashed Police SC by 64-24 points in their Dialog Rugby League week 2 encounter played at Police Park on Saturday.
Navy needed to put up a strong performance in their 1st outing in Colombo while Police were faced with an uphill task after losing to Havelock SC last week. Apisai Naqaliva of Police SC kicked off the game on a perfect evening for running rugby. Police got an early penalty to put points on the board but full back Samantha Lakshan failed to bisect the posts.
Navy SC got their act together perfectly in the 8th minute of the match after a series of attacking phases when Captain Yoshitha Rajapakshe touched down. Riza Mubarak made no errors with the conversion. (Navy 07 – Police 00)
Police replied back superbly to level the scores when their winger Heshan Gunaratne out-ran Chamara Dabare to score in the far corner of the field. Samantha Lakshan converted. (Navy 07 – Police 07)
Navy winger Dinusha Chathuranga finished off a superb Joeli Lutumailagi break in the 15th minute to put the sailors in front once again as they found their attacking game going. Trusted boot of Riza Mubarak failed to convert. (Navy 12 – Police 07)
Fijian center-three quarter Joeli Lutumailagi versus his country-mate Apisai Naqaliva was the biggest battle of the game as both centers were a treat to watch and Navy’s Joeli won the first bout when he broke through the Police defense. Riza Mubarak once again missed the conversion. (Navy 17 – Police 07)
Dinusha Chathuranga scored his 2nd try of the match through his brilliant individual skills after Police knocked on the ball deep inside their opposition territory and a Navy player kicked the ball 
to an open area where the winger collected and darted through to touch down under the posts. Riza Mubarak added the extra points. (Navy 24 – Police 07)
As the game reached the 30-minute mark, Navy’s newest foreign recruit, New-Zealand based number 8 Pau Halafihi took off from the back of a rolling maul and gazed past few Police defenders to score his 1st try in Sri Lanka. Riza converted with ease. (Navy 31 – Police 07)
Dinusha Chathuranga completed his hat-trick of tries when he was awarded the ball after the initial work was done by Pau Halafihi in another scintillating line break with only 5 minutes of the 1st half was remaining in the game clock. Riza made no mistakes with the conversion.
(Navy 38 – Police 07)
Against the run of play, Police SC scored their 2nd try of the match after Apisai Naqaliva collected a poor line-out throw from Achala Perera and sprinted away but the move was completed by Samantha Lakshan as he touched down with the Navy players failing to defend properly. Samantha missed the conversion as referee blew the half-time whistle
Half Time: Navy 38 (6T,4C) – Police 12 (2T,1C)
After the 10-minute break, Riza Mubarak recommenced the match. Sri Lanka’s 7s sensation Srinath Sooriyabandara playing as a fly-half and he was completely silent until he unleashed his unique side-steps in the 47th minute of the match to slice through and score under the posts. Riza bisected the posts with ease. (Navy 45 – Police 12)
Navy continued to pile up tries as Joeli Lutumailagi once again displayed his sensational speed strength when he dashed through to score his 2nd try for the evening after sprinting from nearly the middle of the ground. Riza Mubarak continued his good work by converting. (Navy 52 – Police 12)
Navy’s heavier and stronger forwards were superb in scrums as they were too strong for the Policemen while their backs were always ready to run attacking angles.
After 3 quarters of the game was done and dusted, Navy’s replacement hooker Dulanjana Wijesinghe barged through to score another try to completely silent the Police crowd. Riza Mubarak added the extra points. (Navy 59 – Police 12)
The other new recruit for Navy, Fijian 7s star Leo Naikasau was dangerous with ball in hand and he made an early impact when he was included in the final 20 minutes. He scored a superb try near the left corner flag in the 65th minute to complete 10 tries for Sailors on a wonderful performance on Week 2. Riza missed the conversion. (Navy 64 – Police 12)
Police found their wheels in the final 10 minutes after their replacement prop-forward Prasath Madusanka intercepted a Navy pass and scored a memorable try. Samantha Lakshan made no mistake with the conversion. (Navy 64 – Police 19)
Experienced Police lock-forward Romesh Acharige scored the final and the 14th try of the match when the Police rolling maul worked perfectly in the dying stages of the match. Samantha Lakshan failed to add the extra points but Police got a bonus point as they scored 4 tries.
Navy SC played as a champion outfit with many stars in their team and they are no doubt capable of retaining the title.
Full Time: Navy 64 (10T,7C) – Police 24 (4T,2C)
Referee – D.Nimal
ThePapare.com Man of the Match – Pau Halafihi (Navy no.8)
After the game, Navy SC head coach Leonard De Zilwa shared his views on the game exclusively with www.thepapare.com, “ Our guys played according to the game plan and as a team. Glad to see that they have improved a lot from last week.”
