The Sri Lanka Rugby sevens team played their final pool game against Namibia in the World sevens series qualifiers a short while ago. It is the best game the Tuskers played in the series so far as a Jason Dissanayaka try leveled the score 7 – 7 before the half time but a mixture of bad luck and bad play saw the game end 26-14 to Namibia.
Sri Lanka started off the game well with Anuradha Herath making a few yards from the kick-off, his off-load finding Sudarshana Muthuthantri who went on to contact but lost possession at the break down as he was isolated.
It took five minutes for Namibia to score the first try although Sri Lanka had more ball possession. The Tuskers countered with some crispy handling from right to left which saw Danushka Ranjan making a scintillating break from the middle but unable to finish with a try. Namibia’s was yellow-carded off leaving Sri Lanka in a good position as the opposition was a man short.
Sri Lanka eventually ran in to the opposite half with a turn-over ball and won a penalty by the Namibian 22m. A quick tap taken and sent out wide finding Dissanayaka in the corner to score the first try. Srinath Sooriyabandara made the difficult conversion look easy and scores were levelled.
Namibia showed some courage in their defense. There was a missed opportunity for the Tuskers to lead before the half time as Ranjan broke through the defense once again but didn’t have enough support.
Anurudda Wilwara saves the Tuskers from total embarrassment
Hong Kong defeated Sri Lanka Tuskers yet again by 31 points to 05 at the world series qualifiers in Hong Kong.
Namibia broke the shackles in the 9th minute to score the second try. Sri Lanka’s try-magnet Sooriyabandara equalled the scoreboard at the 12th minute with a dummy run from the corner which looked a possible accidental off-side with Herath crossing in the front of the defense. However, Sooriyabandara’s try was awarded and the game got intense. Namibia made a kick-chase after receiving the restart, Sooriyabandara at the sweeper lacked some game understanding to fall on the ground to secure the ball as that would mean the chaser is unable to tackle until he is back on his feet. Instead he rushed to stand up and run and as a result was knocked-out by the Namibian chaser to score their second try easily.
Namibia capitalized on Sri Lankan mistakes to convert in to points as they scored their third try to put the game to bed 19 – 14. The Tuskers played with heart, but Sri Lanka was unlucky as the last 90 seconds saw a couple of misjudgments by the referee as the Tuskers were penalized twice. Namibia just needed a win by 5 points to secure a quarter-final spot and they exceeded the lead with another try after a quick tap and run from the second penalty.
Full Time : Sri Lanka 14 – 26 Namibia
Sri Lanka are out of the qualifiers as they lost all three games but this game is one that they showed some great attacking spirit and looked a good match to the opposition against the previous two games which was played yesterday.
Meanwhile, Chile surprised the much fancied Hong Kong to a 31 – 00 defeat in pool F game.
