A fortnight ago the U20 sevens team won the Asian sevens title, and now here the U18 young brigade has followed the same path winning all 6 games in Chinese Taipei.
In the first leg in Hong Kong a month ago Sri Lanka U18 finished third behind Hong Kong and Thailand. However in this leg there were no teams from Hong Kong, South Korea or Japan making things easier for the young Tuskers. This tournament will certainly be good exposure for the young Tuskers who displayed some good sevens rugby.
Sri Lanka 10 – 05 Chinese Taipei
Chinese Taipei dominated the first 4 minutes of the game, but the Lankans were solid in defense using the tactical dogleg and some rush defense. The Isipathana scrum half Harith Bandara was lucky to get away with only a warning for swinging arm from the referee instead of the yellow card. Hosts Chinese Taipei was superb in the first half putting loads of pressure. Sri Lanka gave away possession with 2 attacking scrums.
In another scrum, Josephian Chathura Senavirathne was sin-binned and with a man-advantage Taipei scored the first try in the corner. A penalty option went a begging as Peterite Theekshana Heshan forgot to take the basic tap, passing without moving the ball off his feet. Taipei went on the attack and had another chance but a forward pass dismantled the possibility and the referee blew the half time.
HT : Sri Lanka 00 – 05 Chinese Taipei
The hosts restart did not find the 10m and as a result Sri Lanka took the free kick from the center line. Isipathana winger Chamodh Fernando broke the defensive line and then a few switch passes between Dinuk Amarasinghe and Heshan and the ball found its way back to Fernando to score the equalizer. Senavirathne missed the wide conversion.
Taipei had momentum with possession and territory but decided to make a cross kick which was perhaps not the right decision. The bouncing ball resulted in a ‘dummy’ and luckily Senavirathne managed to pick up and sprint almost 100m for a try. Bandara missed the conversion.
Chinese Taipei had yet another chance but credit to some brilliant defensive work by the junior Tuskers this was abated. Finally Sri Lanka had the last scrum success where Bandara managed to feed the ball and then send to his schoolmate Fernando who kicked the ball sensibly in to touch at full time.
Sri Lanka U18s eye glory after perfect start to Asian Schools’ 7s
Sri Lanka 19 v 14 Chinese Taipei (Last of the group game)
What a game!! Pretty much the finals, as the Antonian Dinuk Amerasinghe scored a brilliant last minute try to secure top spot for Sri Lanka. There were an astonishing three yellow cards for Sri Lanka one in the first half and two in the second half which saw them playing the last 2 minutes with only 5 men on the field.
Taipei scored the first try beating past Henekankanamage with a 2 v 1 defense to put the early lead. Then Amerasinghe received a yellow card for a high tackle, which caused some chaos in the defense as it went wobbly which resulted in hosts Taipei scoring their second try to lead 14 – 00.
More fumbles and some panic set in to the Lankan unit but Trinitian Anuka Boyagoda dancing through off-loaded to Royal center Janidu Dilshan who in turn landed it to the hands of Peterite Theekshana Heshan which resulted in the first try before half time and Senavirathne missed the easy conversion.
In the second half Sri Lanka gained momentum early on with Heshan scoring a stunning try with a lovely dummy. Senavirathne added the extras to put the deficit by just 2. However, holding on to the possession Sri Lanka went a bit loose. Some poor discipline in defense meant both Dilshan and Fernando going in to the sin-bin which led the Tuskers play with only 5 men until the final whistle.
The young Tuskers sucked up the pressure well and forced on with a never give up attitude. Boyagoda and his twinkle toes was once again outstanding. His off load to Amerasinghe saw the latter sprinting almost 70m beating the Taipei defensive line to a sensational finish.
Sri Lanka 19 – 14 Philippines
As expected it was a close game for the junior Tuskers in the morning. Philippines had more possession with three big ball carriers in their team. But Sri Lanka made a valiant effort in defense and countered to score two quick tries. Captain Henekankanamage was outstanding once again as he scored the first try in his usual way. Theekshana Dasanayake scored the second try collecting a loose ball in the opposite 22m.
Sri Lanka with the lead of 12 – 00 and the Philippines hit back with a lovely converted try before the half time. In the restart Sri Lanka scored the third try through Chamodh Fernando’s 60m dash. Chathura Senevirathne added two conversions for the junior Tuskers. Philippines did not give up and created some threat as they scored in the final minute to finish as 14 – 19 defeat.
