A step forward

The Sri Lanka's crushing win over China at Saturday's Rugby World Cup qualifier has brought Sajith Mallikarachchi and his team a step closer to the Asian qualifying round finals.

Having won their last four IRB Rugby World Cup qualifiers in-a-row, Sri Lanka has just one more hurdle to clear against Hong Kong, if they are to make it to the World Cup finals from Asia, along with Japan and South Korea.

A win over Hong Kong is even more important to Sri Lanka as it would draw Mallikarachchi and his lads to the main cup championship of the 2006 Asiad to be worked off in Sri Lanka later this year.

Saturday's convincing 30-0 win over China would be a great morale booster for the team after coach George Simpkin suddenly left them just a few days before the Hong Kong Sevens, though he was 'not threatened' by a senior player.

Despite China having the luxury of a heavier pack, it was Sri Lanka which won majority of set pieces. Sri Lanka forwards dominated in scrums and line outs and often fed their backs. The Lankan forwards combined effectively with the three quarters with a smooth halves combination - Amjad Buksh and Asanga Rodrigo, to run down as many as four tries.

Fresh after his recent stint in New Zealand playing top grade competitive rugby, No.8 Dushanth Lewke was outstanding. He had total control in loose play and inspired the forwards to dominate.

Nalin Ekanayake, Viraj Prasantha, Jayantha Ranaweera, Anuradha Dharmatilleke, Senaka Bandara, Dilanka Wijesekera and Sean Wijesinghe played well to strengthen the Lankan pack. While Prasantha was smarter than his opposite number in scrums, Dharmatilleke and Bandara dominated in line outs.

Centres Sajith Mallikarachchi and Fazil Marija were outstanding in adding speed to Sri Lanka three quarter line. Experienced winger Sanjeeva Jayasinghe continued his good work and made some threatening moves. Rodrigo's booming kicks were a blessing to the home team.

While congratulating Sri Lanka team for their smart win, we would like to stress that we should not get carried away by that victory. China took to rugby only eight years ago and we never took them as a serious opponent when thrashed them 2-0 in a back to back Rugby Union Tests in 1998.

That was the greatest period ever in Sri Lanka rugby as we beat China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand to share the No.3 slot in Asian rugby behind Japan and South Korea.

But there was no vision to take our rugby forward then. Series of administrative blunders by former SLRFU officials saw our rating in Asian rugby going down to as low as No.9 or 10 by the last Asiad. We never took teams like Thailand, Singapore and China as serious opponents before. But at the 2002 Asian Games, we suffered a humiliating 0-73 defeat at the hands of Thailand.

From the Asian No.3 ranking we jointly shared with Taiwan in 1998, Sri Lanka slumped to No.10 and even lost to teams like Singapore and Thailand. But now, Sri Lanka has slightly climbed up in the ratings to be No.5 in Asia. Could we call it a real development? Certainly, not. We are nowhere near the standards we have achieved in 1998 when people like Dr. Maiya Gunasekera worked with a vision and had a good feeder pool.

Furthermore, China apparently did not play their best team. As veteran rugby writer Lal Gunasekera has pointed out in his match coverage, China has not played many of their regulars. Instead, China fielded a makeshift side with as many as 12 soldiers and the team looked rather unfit under humid conditions.

It was not the formidable Chinese team we expected. Sri Lanka expected a tough time even under their home conditions but in the end, the visitors painted a poor picture. Chinese Manager Wei Rizhi too had admitted that their team had many new faces. He attributed that and hot conditions in Colombo as main reasons for their downfall.

We are not underestimating Sri Lanka's win but would like to open the eyes of the officials to remind where we really stand. Hence, the win over China is nothing to crow about, though it could be an inspiration to put the house in order after recent setbacks.

The real test for the team would come in a fortnight's time when they become the guests of Hong Kong in their crucial world cup qualifier.

If we could beat Hong Kong in their own territory, Sri Lanka could feel happy that they have regained their lost prestige. That is the target that every one of us should look forward to. Considering the talent that we have and presence of an experienced man like Simpkin, that is a goal within our reach, provided the players give out their brilliant best.