Kings, Vipers, Eagles pose tough challenge:

Southern Sharks out to clinch title

Dilanka MANNAKKARA

The Carlton 7s second leg is ready to kick off today and tomorrow at the Royal College sports complex ground to give rugby fans a breathtaking 7s rugby experience played by both national and international stars who already stamped their class in Bogambara with breathtaking skills, mindblowing speed and vociferous tackles.

The Southern Sharks captained by former Sri Lanka Scrum Half Amjad Buksh were the deserving winners of the first leg by defeating the favorites Central Kings captained by playmaker Fazil Marija and the score was 19-14.

The second leg in Colombo will be even more intensely contested with teams practicing harder and getting to know their foreign stars better. The Southern Shark’s foreign stars including the likes of Nalu Tuigamala and Edwin Cocker displayed some powerful runs pinching the gaps and breaking tackles with immense speed.

Tuigamala would be one of the players to watch and his attacking skills would be vital for the Sharks to retain their title. The New Zealander was literary unstoppable at times where he took on the defense and made gaps for his teammates to run on to.

The powerful three-quarter stood out with his explosive rugby and was strong when going in to contact.

The Sharks also posses the likes of rock hard forward Dilip Selvam, nippy scrum half Srinath “Podi” Sooriyabandara, skipper Buksh as well as Sri Lanka Development squad skipper Dinusha Chathuranga.

The runners up and the pre-tournament favorites Central Kings however would pose a tough challenge for the Sharks with their star studded line up headed by Skipper Fazil Marija who is one of the best players in the Asia region.

Marija teamed up with his foreign stars Zar Lawrence and Benjamin Botica to create a lethal three-quarters combination during the Kandy leg and hopefully we will witness some expansive style of rugby played by the Kings. Lawrence, a heavily built New Zealand All Black is a total package of immense strength and speed and Kings would be expecting a lot out of him.

The Uva Vipers led by Kosala Thisera were the surprise package of the tournament and proved that 7s is anyones game by bagging the third place in Kandy.

The Vipers team which includes giant Kandy SC Forward Sajith Saranga, St. Peter’s schoolboy sensation Dhanuskha Ranjan and Last year’s Royal College skipper Shehan Pathirana played as a unit and defended very well. They defeated the Eastern Eagles 17-07 to win the Plate Championship and they would be overjoyed as their youngsters have performed par excellence. Former Anthonian Skipper Tharindu Chanaka had a superb day two for the Vipers while All Blacks Sevens specialist Amasio Valence was the playmaker for them and they would be licking their lips in Colombo to better their performance.

The Eastern Eagles captained by CR Centre Lasintha De Costa would also be a force to reckon with as they displayed some amazing sevens skills in Kandy.

Former Thomian Centre and Kandy SC player Anurudha Wilwara would want to continue his good form in Kandy while aggressive Scrum Half Suranga Pushpakumara would want to use his speedy foreign three quarters to pinch the defenses.

The North Western Blacks who were quite disappointing in Kandy despite having a very strong squad with the likes of Pradeep Liyanage, Radhika Hettiarachchi, Chanaka Chandimal as well as Kiwi Star Rocky Khan and would definitely try to bounce back to the top of the table.