CR and FC crush Havies to win Clifford Cup

S. Sivendran

RUGBY: CR and FC won the prestigious Clifford Cup and the magnificent Caltex Cup by crushing the hapless Havelocks on Saturday August 12 in a one sided game by 37 points (3 goals, 2 tries and 1 penalty) to 5 points (1 try) at Longden Place in front of a mediocre crowd.

Clifford Cup finals in the years gone by attracted massive crowds and it was a problem to contain the crowds at Longden Place. Even the mounted police had to be brought in for crowd control.

But at this Cup Finals only the main pavilion was partially filled and the open terraces around the grounds were vacant which was an indication that the crowds were not being attracted to this Clifford Cup final especially with the withdrawal of the League Champions Kandy SC.

Even the rugby on show was not befitting a Cup Final as the winners CR and FC were seen scoring tries at will with little or no resistance coming from the young Havelocks players who appeared overawed by the big occasion and lacked big match temperament.

The score was a clear indication that this was a mismatch and not worthy of a cup final.

There were several past rugby stalwarts who were seated with me during the match and some of whom I met after the match lamented at the standard of rugby and the poor crowd attendance on this day, such as Faiz Hamdoon, a former Zahira College and CH and FC Captain, Quentin Israel, a former Trinity College and Havelocks Rugby Player and a knowledgeable rugby coach who guided the destiny of rugby at St. Thomas College and Trinity College with distinction, Ibrahim Hamid, the former Zahirian rugby player and a Police Captain and Saliya Udugama a former Trinity College and Army Ruggerite.

They were all of the opinion that unlike in the past the club rugby standards have dropped and the crowds were not attracted to club matches.

But the school matches continue to draw crowds as they play an exciting brand of rugby.

The new constitution of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union was formulated in the early nineties with the view of having Provincial Unions which would form more rugby clubs in the provinces and afford more participation to the youth in the outstations.

But sadly no new clubs have been formed and it is only the good old clubs such as Kandy SC, CR and FC, CH and FC any Havelocks who are keeping the game alive today.

Even the teams such as Police, Army, Navy, Air Force and University (who were famous for their robust rugby and matched the big clubs) are today playing sub-standard rugby.

The Up Country clubs such as Dimbulla, Dickoya, Uva and Kelani Valley who played in the Clifford Cup tournament in a home and away league tourney during the fifties and sixties do not play competitive rugby in the big league after the British planters left the shores of Sri Lanka.

Even our rugby development in the provinces which has been active in the outstations along with the provincial unions spreading the gospel of rugby have still not produced rugby teams who could match upto the Senior clubs.

This was proved by clubs such as Old Trinitians SC, Kandy Youth SC, Kurunegala RFC, Galle RFC, Old Zarians RFC and Jawatte Lions who play a poor brand of rugby and finally fade away.

On Saturday the crowds that came for the Clifford Cup finals expected the favourites CR and FC to have a tough time against the young and enthusiastic Havelocks.

But it was not to be as Havelocks appeared to be suffering from stage fright and were not a fighting outfit as the traditional Havelocks of yore were famous for.

From the sound of the first blast CR and FC went on the offensive for which the Havelocks had no answer and folded like a pack of cards as the match progressed.

The CR and FC forwards led by Pavithra Fernando and the threequarters blended beautifully to demolish the Havelocks.

First it was a rousing maul by CR and FC, which they are famous for, their hooker Anuja Perera to touch down which went unconverted 5 - nil.

This was followed by some good back division play for Avantha Hettiarachchi and Asanga Rodrigo to score tries. Senthil Kumar converted one of these tries and put over a penalty for CR and FC to lead 20-nil at lemons.

The first half saw CR and FC camped in the Havelocks territory all the time and Havelocks were able to enter the CR half barely once which showed the abundance of ball possession by the Red Shirts.

During the second half CR again went into attack and in the third minute with their centre Mohamed Sheriff intercepted a pass and dazzled through the Havies defence and when challenged sent the ball to Ashen Karthelis to score under the posts.

Senthil Kumar converted to take CR to a 27-nil lead. At this stage the Havelocks began to show glimpses of a fight back. Which resulted in their number eight Harrison scoring an unconverted try by the corner flag.

CR and FC increased their lead with a last minute try initiated by M. Sheriff off Havelocks knock on and made use of the advantage play rule to send his winger Dinesh Kumar to run a good 50 metres down his flank and score.

Senthil Kumar kicked correctly to take CR to a 37-5 Clifford Cup victory. It is rarely we see a lop-sided Clifford Cup victory where there is a gaping gap in the scores seen at this final.