CR have the edge over Army

Ranjeeva SENEVIRATNE

RUGBY: The Sri Lanka Army which failed to produce their fire-power and surrendered meekly to CH and FC in their last outing face another tough task when they confront CR and FC in their Caltex ‘A’ Division League second round rugby match at Longden Place tomorrow.

The famed Army forwards failed to provide the sparkle while the three quarters lacked imagination on how to pierce the CH defence last week and they will have to come up with a much better display if they hope to contain the Red Shirts tomorrow.

CR and FC which scored a convincing 32-15 win over Police last week have made three changes for tomorrow’s match.

Burly Senthil Kumara, a tireless player in the loose and a reliable place kicker comes into the side at the expense of hooker Anuja Perera while former Wesley skipper Kasun de Silva replaces Asoka Gunawardena as flanker.

In the back division Sri Lanka centre Mohamed Sheriff moves to the wing making way for former Thurstanite Shane Aravinda to play alongside Lasintha de Costa as a centre. The soldiers have made one change with Kumarasiri replacing the injured Duminda Wickremaratne on the wing.

The Army ‘eight’ should make amends for their poor performance last week with a power-packed display tomorrow. With skipper Nushal Meepage leading from the front ably supported by Kotalawela, Susantha, Pushpakumara, Kobbekaduwa and Manoj Silva the Army pack is expected to outplay the CR ‘eight’ in the loose.

The return of Pavithra Fernando and Naveen Wijetunge saw the CR ‘eight’ give a sterling display against the Policemen last week but it is left to be seen how they will cope with the marauding Army forwards tomorrow.

The Red Shirts with a superior back division will strive to make maximum use of the possession which comes their way. Their new halves combination of Zulki Hamid and Ashan de Costa hit it off smoothly last week.

Centre Lasintha de Costa, Mohamed Sheriff and winger Dinesh Kuamra (with his daring runs) should be able to breach the Army defence tomorrow. CR scored a convincing 32-3 win over Army in the first round game played two months ago but tomorrow’s game should turn out to be a close tussle.

CR and FC - Suranga Swarnatilleke, Senthil Kumara, Shamil Mohamed, Anuradha Dharmatilleke (Captain), Henry Terrence, Pavithra Fernando, Kasun de Silva, Naveen Wijetunge, Zulki Hamid and Ashan de Costa, Dinesh Kumara, Lasintha de Costa, Shane Aravinda, Mohamed Sheriff, Radhika Hettiarachchi.

Army - Nushal Meepage (Captain), Perera, Nishantha Kotalawala, Pushpakumara, Ajith Susantha, Nishantha Kobbekaduwa, Manoj Silva, Upul Suranga, Tharindu Dharshana and Upul Kumara, Saliya Handapangoda, Suranga Pilimatalawa, Asanka Perera or Chandrasekera, Kumarasiri, Kapila Knowlton.