Dhanushka’s Tuskers come from behind to dump Taipei
View(s):Asian 7s Rugby Series
By Aubrey Kuruppu
Sri Lanka's Hirantha Perera eyeing the ball - Pic by Amila Gamage
Danushka Ranjan’s Tuskers came from behind to defeat Chinese Taipei by 26 points (3 goals, 1 try) to 7 (a goal) when the Asian Rugby Sevens Series unveiled its Third Leg at the Racecourse grounds in Colombo.
The Tuskers had to come from behind. Their opponents dominated the opening minutes, retaining possession and probing for an opening. They were first on the board with a neat try in the right hand corner. This was the outcome of some superb backing up by two of their players.
The Sri Lankans bided their time, waiting for an opportunity. When it came, they took it avidly. Richard Dharmapala went over for Srinath Sooriyabandara to add the extra points, seven-all at the halftime.
What followed in the second half was a good example of Sevens Rugby. Dharmapala enlarged the lead with his second try. This time Kevin Dixon did the honours. The last two tries came courtesy of Kanchana Ramanayake. Sri Lanka had tour tries of which three where converted.
One got the impression that the Tuskers did not operate at full throttle and reserved their energy for the more important games to come. Also, the outcome of this game was going to be a given, as Sri Lankan had thrashed these opponents 43-12 in the First Leg in Hong Kong.
The Sri Lanka Women’s team flattered to deceive. An early try by speedy Thanuja Weerakkody, the right extreme was converted for the home team to lead 7-0. They scored another later. But the Hong Kong team came back well to run in three tries, one of which was converted, for a 17-12 win.
