Niroshan Fernando and Rizah Mubarak scored all the points for the Tuskers who managed to defeat a strong Poland team 26-25 at the Racecourse Grounds.
DawidBanaszek kicked off the third and final game of the Dialog Serendib International Cup as the Tuskers took on Poland in a dead rubber. Both teams fell to a fast Madagascar side earlier in the week and looked to make amends to compensate for their losses in this game.
Sri Lanka made quite a few changes to the lineup going in to the Poland game with the inclusion of a few ‘sevens’ players in the squad, and seemed to be the more settled in the beginning stages of the match. Niroshan Fernando who had a forgettable start against Madagascar looked more composed with the ball in hand, and also seemed more in control of his passing that was vital for the Tuskers who were looking for victory.
Poland who then began to grow into the game failed to capitalize when in possession, as there were far too many handling errors. The down pour of rain earlier in the evening made their cause much tougher as the ball was very slippery to handle.
The Tuskers did really well to hold off the marauding Polish forwards earlier in the game but Poland used a line out to good effect to bundle their way through to score the first try of the game. Craig Bachurzewski was the enforcer on that occasion as Poland put seven points on the board with Dawid adding the two points for his team.
Dawid added three more points to their score with a penalty from around the 30 metre mark. The Polish captain used good technique to find accuracy and power on his kick to make it count for his team.
Sri Lanka put the first points on the board through Rizah Mubarak who hammered in an audacious penalty. Namal Rajapakse did the initial good work winning the penalty for his team as the Tuskers looked to get back in the game.
Poland hit back almost immediately with a brilliant try on the left flank. Dawid failed to make the conversion as it hit the right upright as the Lankans trailed 15-03.
Mubarak added more points to his tally with another beautiful strike to score a penalty as the Lankans continued to be in debt to his boot throughout the tournament.
The Tuskers slowly crept back into the game when Sadun Herath broke through the Polish defense to offload to Niroshan Fernando who blazed through to score Sri Lanka’s first try of the tournament. Mubarak added the extra points to reduce the deficit to just two points as the Tuskers looked more confident team going into half time.
Poland started the game with most possession as they looked to use their pack weight to good effect. However, handling errors marred the Polish attack as they failed to keep possession in tight areas eventually losing the advantage.
Poland scored the first points of the second half through a Dawid Banaszek penalty. Niroshan Fernando misplaced a pass in his own half that put pressure on the Tuskers who eventually conceded a penalty.
Michal Wierzejski was penalized with a yellow card for upending Sathya Ranathunga leaving the Polish team with fourteen men. Mubarak added three more points on the board with a brilliant penalty that followed from 40m out.
Niroshan went on to score his second with a well worked try from the Lankan half. Niroshan running on the blindside, started the move for the Tuskers as he passed to Sadun Herath who made good ground allowing the his mates to take advantage as Fernando picked the ball up and went on to score under the post. Mubarak added the extra points to give the Lankans the lead for the first time in the game.
Fullback Mubarak narrowly missed a penalty opportunity with the ball hitting the left upright. However, the Lankans earned themselves five –metre scrum and Rizah Mubarak pounced on the opportunity with a drop goal to take his match tally to 16 points.
Dawid had a very good opportunity to cut the deficit and put pressure on the Tuskers in the last five minutes, but unfortunately for Poland the opportunity was scuffed.
Tomas Sirocilli then managed to score a try for the Poland who tried to comeback with a last ditch effort as Dawid converted to cut the deficit to just one point as the game ran down to the wire.
However, the Lankan defense held strong to see through the last few efforts Poland could conjure as the Tuskers won 26-25 in a nail biting encounter.
