Lankan rugby ascendance commendable
View(s):Schools rugby took a back seat with the stop for Holy Week and the arrangement to ensure that matches did not clash with the A5N tournament. The passion will rise as the schools league begins after the New Year celebrations. The third week of rugby will be completed as some of the games are rescheduled for Monday (8) while some were played on Friday. The story will unfold after this week’s games and will recommence where passion may turn to fury. There will be a tough ask for the top five slots as well as the bottom five. There is speculation that the league format will change to 32 teams in eight groups of four playing on a round robin basis and then proceed with eight group winners vying for the cup while others will play for different titles of another league. There will not be relegation if this takes root. There will be more to be talked about after the logistics are known.
The Lankans in action in their last weeks games.
A resurgent Sri Lankan team focused on playing together helped Sri Lanka overcome Chinese Taipei as well as Thailand. Thus they are on the way up. The win against Thailand was more convincing than the first win against Chinese Taipei. Sri Lanka led 6-3 in the first game after a somewhat disappointing first half. They then turned on the gas as they registered five tries in the second half to notch up a comfortable 39 points to 8 win. It was an unexciting first half which saw many opportunities unconverted despite Sri Lanka having the advantage in possession and territory. That is why the score-line stood restricted.
By the time this column is in print the fate of the A5N Division 1 winners will be known as Sri Lanka has to play one match against Kazakhstan, who has one win against two by Sri Lanka. The turnaround of Sri Lanka is laudable, and it could now set its sights on being amongst the first five. In the opening game played on Sunday (31), Kazakhstan, the first seed in the group and pre-tournament favorites along with Sri Lanka, went down to Thailand 32-10. Kazakhstan was not comfortable with the heat of over 32° C coming from home where it was a 1°C. They however recovered somewhat in the second match to beat Chinese Taipei. In addition to the heat the Kazakhstan team made mistakes in ball handing and other wrong decisions.
Sri Lanka, who came alive in the second half of their first match, were up and about from the first minute of their game against Thailand as they took a very comfortable 28 to 0 lead at the end of the first half and ended up winners by 45 points to 7. They also secured the bonus point like in the first match. The forwards played much better than in the first match, dominating the set pieces as well as the breakdown. Shenal Dias, winning four of the lineouts against the throw, was a factor that has to be mentioned. The backs did very much better and were responsible for all the tries. Sri Lanka took off as though a score of much above fifty was possible. They seemed to have taken their foot off the gas in the second half. It looked like they had lost their way in the game plan. While having two dangerous trying 
scoring prospects on the wings, Weeratne at centre failed to distribute the ball and denied chances of putting more points on the board.
Kazakhstan bounced back in their second game to beat Chinese Taipei by 42 points to 10 to create an outside chance where they had to beat Sri Lanka and also get bonus points while giving none to Sri Lanka.
Having suffered the heat in the first game, the Kazakhstan team never came out of the air conditioned dressing room till the game was about to start. Indiscipline saw Kazakhstan being handed two red cards for stamping and a tip tackle. They will miss these players in the final match against Sri Lanka. The history of the team suggests that a lack of discipline has been there over the years and they have been receiving red cards at almost every tournament. In this respect the local lads were much more disciplined and more focused on the job of winning.
Sri Lanka also had the advantage of playing on their home ground. It was also nice to see the ground filled despite the second match being played on a working day. After all, Sri Lanka loves rugby and the path to the first five and a fling with the 2019 Rugby World Cup is not far away. More talk on that after the last nail has been used.
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB
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