Can the Havies resolve subdue the Kandy charge?
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Kandy SC and Havelocks SC will meet this week to decide who will remain unbeaten and head the points table at the end of round one. This match will be a test for Havelocks who will have to play in front of a huge partisan Kandy support base. While crowd presence in Colombo which has seen a little peak seems to be tapering towards the base line though not falling to a trough. The attendance in Kandy has been high in numbers. This will be a distraction to Havelocks who have been more structured in their approach while Kandy has so far not been the side that has displayed flare and potential as in previous years.
Havelocks on the other hand has performed better than expected having lost a number of players who defected from the Park Club. Will it be a forwards battle as we have seen with both clubs or will teams opt to be bold and open the game to the backs. The man in charge of the whistle in this game is expected to be from Singapore. There has been much grumbling about the local referees who have stood for 19 matches where both parties to the game, players as well as referees have not been able to focus or to open up the game. Mistakes are a common occurrence at all levels of rugby.
Traditional rivals CR and Havelocks locked horns at the red den last week. Sans fire and fury played in front of a insignificant crowd, for a CR-Havies, the match was a major mixture of dropped passes and missed opportunities that robbed it of excitement despite the close score of 31-22. Havelocks who had a comfortable half time lead were jolted in the second half by CR who seemed woken up. They however could not catch up to grab the tail and over power Havelocks.
For the Havelocks it was sweet revenge beating CR last week. They would also have tasted equal satisfaction when they beat CH two weeks ago. Havelocks lost a host of players who were grabbed by both CR and CH. Yet they have done well in the first five weeks without stars but have been showing other stars in the horizon.
Kandy won against CH but the performance cannot be much to their liking. Kandy came with thumbs up by managing and controlling the game which was not the forte of CH. CH with a long list of star names appear to be playing better as individuals but have not been in synergy. They have not been able to create a situation where the whole is greater than the simple sum of its parts.
Army went down to Navy despite dominating play in most of the second half and continued play sometimes for around 8 to 10 phases. Yet they could not touch that ball over the goal line as again they seemed to lack thinking on the field. Army also seem to be attracting penalties and also yellow cards for reasons arising from either lack of skills that they have brought with them. On the other hand are players reacting to the whistle as within the support team of Army. They tend to record and express much about the mistakes of the whistle which builds a culture which sees the specs of dirt in the eyes of others but remain blind to the beam in their own.
Meanwhile, the news of the junior’s performance has not been very encouraging having lost to Chinese Taipei in their first outing of the Asian Under-19 championship. They will play Hong Kong on Saturday and Korea on Tuesday. Incidentally in the opener Korea beat Hong Kong.
The Sri Lanka team left early for conditioning themselves at a cost but the outcome is less than what was expected. Hopefully if they beat Hong Kong, hopes will be kept alive. The importance of junior rugby to feed the future national teams has to be emphasized if we are serious in getting a better place in Asian Rugby. Hong Kong have kept their hopes alive for a place in the World Rugby Sevens as they beat Kenya but failed in their bid after Canada forged ahead in the tournament where the winner will be placed in Pool B at the World Cup in Japan along with defending champions New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Namibia. The important point to note is that Hong Kong are making strides and attempting to be in the arena of world rugby as another from Asia. That at present is the only team that seems to begetting closer to Japan the only country that is vying at the top level of rugby from this part of the world. Korea may be a wait and see.
This is at a time when we are getting closer to the start of school rugby season where there is a huge amount of money spent and lot of raving and ranting. Where do all these players end? There is a need for a re-look at the post junior rugby structure, if the game is to be sustained.
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, Coach and an Accredited Referees’ Evaluator IRB