Lanka face tough task against HK

Ranjeeva SENEVIRATNE

The Sri Lankans who were held to a 13-all draw by UAE in the curtain raiser of the HSBC Asian Five Nations Rugby Tournament face the tough task of overcoming formidable Hong Kong in their second match at Longden Place at 3 p.m. today.

Hong Kong who began their campaign by scoring a smashing 23-10 win over Kazakhstan at Almaty in their opening game went down fighting to mighty Japan by 22-45 last week and will go out favourites to win today’s match.

The forte of Hong Kong have been their power-packed forwards especially Nick Hewson, Mike Waller, Renaud Chevens, Nigel Hobbles, Brent Taylor and Mark Goosen who are expected to come up with another sterling display which should see their ‘eight’ prevail over their counterparts in the loose.

They are also likely to dominate possession with Brent Taylor likely to get the better of his vis-a-vis Achala Perera in the set scrums while the duo of Mike Waller and Renaud Chevens will come up against Lanka’s Senaka Bandara and Sajith Saranga in the line outs. The Lankan three quarters gave a superb display running the ball at every opportunity against UAE despite the soggy ground conditions and should give a repeat performance today.

The halves combination of Roshan Weeraratne and Fazil Marija should click today which would see hard running centres Pradeep Liyanage, Gayan Weeraratne and that powerful runner on the wings Nuwan Hettiarachchi and the attacking full back Saliya Kumara tearing apart the Hong Kong defence.

If the formidable Sri Lankan third row of skipper Sean Wijesinghe, Yoshitha Rajapaksa and Danushka Perera along with the three quarters could bring down their strongly built opponents with some bone-crunching tackles then the homesters may be able to give Hong Kong a run for their money.

The National coach of Hong Kong Dai Rees from Wales said that his team came up with a fine display against Kazakhstan to beat them 23-10 in Almaty and although they lost to Japan (22-45) it was their best performance in recent years against the Japanese. We are not taking the Sri Lanka match lightly and expect a tough fight in today’s game.

He said that Hong Kong led by centre Tom McColl is a well-balanced side with a powerful set of forwards and a superb three quarter line.

Hong Kong - Alex Ng, Brent Taylor, Nigel Hobbler, Mike Waller, Renaud Chevans, Mark Goosen, Nick Hewson, Pale Tauti, Peter Makee and Keith Robertson, Yui Ken Shing, Tom McColl (Captain), Lee Jones, Rowen Varty, Ross Armour.

Sri Lanka - Henry Terrence, Achala Perera, Eranga Swarnatilleke or Kishore Jehan, Senaka Bandara, Sajith Saranga, Danushka Perera, Yoshitha Rajapaksa, Sean Wijesinghe (Captain), Roshan Weeraratne and Fazil Marija, Nuwan Hettiarachchi, Pradeep Liyanage, Gayan Weeraratne, Charith Seneviratne or Lasintha de Costa, Saliya Kumara.