A game of importance of its own
The Sailors and Cops will be vying for in the bottom half for the Plate title of Dialog Rugby League - File pic
All interest this weekend will centre on the clash of giants on Saturday. Even though the winner of the league will be known by the time today’s Navy-Police clash at Welisara gets underway, this game has an importance of its own. Navy could use it to finish fifth, a position currently occupied by the Soldiers who meet hot favourites, the CH, at the latter’s home venue.
It will be recalled that the Army thrashed the CH in the first round. But that was a different time and a different place. The Army played red-hot rugby on that day, while the CH was struggling to utilize its undoubted potential.
Back to the Navy who seem to have floundered on the high seas. Three wins in the first round held out the promise of more. But their subsequent results were disastrous. Five losses were ended by a one point win over the Air Force, that too, thanks to a last minute penalty by the skipper. Push has come to shove, and Weerasinghe’s Sailors will be going all out to topple the Police.
The talent and the skill are there, but the Navy has not really shown all that in their performance. They pushed Kandy all the way in a dramatic encounter they were unlucky to lose. Forwards such as Kasun de Silva, Charith Silva, Amith Gunasinghe and Adeesha Weeratunga are capable of rallying their mates to achieve a last Hurrah.
Mohamed Absal and Mushin Faleel have been good in attack. Flier Buddima Piyaratne carries the hopes of his team. He should be scoring more. Gihan Perera has finished off well. That leaves the skipper, Thilina Weerasinghe, who will be called upon to play a bigger role in the proceedings.
While the Navy is more physical in their approach and work the forwards hard, the Police seem to blend the roles of the pack and the backs better. One of the fittest teams in the tournament, their scoring potential is evident from the fact that they scored heavily, even in defeat. A sub standard team will not score 25 and 26 points against the CH and the Havelocks respectively.
At times, the Police, who have speed in the back division, play thrilling, open rugby. They were stupendous in the first game against the Havies, running away to a 26-0 lead. That they subsequently lost the game is a different matter. The Police approached that peak performance against the Army in round one, when they dished out some exciting running rugby to win 41-19.
Sachith Silva is one of the players who has made the Police tick. Lightly built, but an intelligent player, Sachith is the fulcrum of their attack. He runs well, spots the gaps and certainly poses problems for the defence.
Janith Chanaka and Iroshan Silva have cut through the defence to provide tries for the Police.
Hooker Rasith Silva, back from suspension, must be a sadder, but a wiser man. An integral part of the pack, Rasith together with skipper Udara Suriyapperuma, Shanaka Harischandra and Danushka Edirisuriya supply the power to the Police pack.
Their Fijian, Emosi Vunivosa, is an interesting player. He sits back, biding his time, before he springs into action at a time of his choosing. He makes a difference with his incisive running.
This is an encounter between the seventh and the eighth in the table. The Navy has four wins to Police’s three. The difference is not akin to the difference between chalk and cheese.