Army rugby guns to silence Kandy?
S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports corr.
RUGBY: Sri Lanka Army will have to fire all their guns if they
are to restrict the marauding Kandyans up in the hills when they take on
the defending League champions Kandy Sports Club in their Caltex League
Segment ‘A’ Division rugby tournament match at the Nittawela Rugby
Stadium in Kandy on Sunday at 4.30 p.m.
Last week Kandy Sports Club opened their season with a crushing 77-0
win over Old Zahirians Sports Club while Sri Lanka Army lost to CR & FC
3-32. Therefore on form and considering the home terrain advantage Kandy
Sports Club will go out firm favourites to win this match.
The clash between Kandy Sports Club and the Sri Lanka Army has always
drawn large crowds, and it will be necessary for the organisers to
strengthen security at the gates. It is from the gate collection
together with the magnanimity of the sponsors that club survives and
keeps itself afloat.
Kandy Sports Club is likely to be at full strength for this match
except for former Sri Lanka skipper and centre Sajith Mallikarachchi who
is in the injured list and the local team will miss his hard running and
bone jarring tackles against the rugged soldiers.
Up in the front Kandy’s Kishore Jehan, skipper Jeewa Galgamuwa,
Anuradha Walpola, should have the edge over Army’s Meepage, Mahesh
Perera and Palihena with their more professional play.
In the second row Kandy’s Senaka Bandara and Sumedha Jayasinghe
should tower above Army’s Susantha and Ratnayake and this should ensure
a steady flow of possession from the line outs.
There will be a hot contest in the third row between Kandy’s Imran
Bisthamin, Sean Wiejsinghe, Dilip Selvam and No. 8 Dushantha Lewke
against some bone jarring tackling by army’s Silva, Karunaratne and
Herathge. Kandy’s No. 8 Dushantha Lewke who had a good game against the
Old Zahirians should once again put up a good performance, A highly
disciplined player who will not get flustered under any circumstances
and maintains his cool all through the game.
It will be interesting to see how Kandy’s halves combination of
Saliya Kumara and Fazil Marija fare against Army’s Dharshana and Kapila
Knowlton.
But it is against Kandy’s back division that the soldiers are likely
to run into a heavily mined field having penetrative runners like
Pradeep Liyanage, Chamara Withanage, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, Sameera Silva
and full back Nalaka Weerakoddy who often forms the over lap to surprise
the opponents.
All in all it is going to be an interesting game and to sum it up
will be Kandy’s finesse against Army’s ruggedness. The Nittawela green
is in topping condition with constant watering and nurtured by its
General Manager Iswan Omar.
The probable teams:
Kandy SC (from) Kishore Jehan/Saranath Hettiarachchi, Anuradha
Walpola, Senaka Bandara, Sumedha Jayasinghe/Kapila Silva, Imran
Bisthamin, Sean Wijesinghe/Dilip Selvam, Buddhika Talagampola, Dushantha
Lewka (No. 8), Saliya/Prasad Chathuranga and Fazil Marija, Sameera
Silva, Chamara Withanage, Pradeep Liyanage, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe,
Dhanushka Pushpakumara, Nalaka Weerakoddy. Stand byes Eranda Weerakoddy,
Mohammed Jabbar, Ruwan Hettiarachchi, Dev Anand, Nilfer Ibrahim.
Army SC Meepage (captain), Mahesh Perera, Palihena, R.M.G. Ratnayake,
Susantha, Kobbekaduwa, Silva, Herathge, Karunaratne, Dharshana and
Kapila Knowlton, Vajira Jayatillake, Duminda Wickremaratne, Asanga
Perera, Upali Wickremasinghe, T.A. Silva, Karunatillake. |