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Kandy SC looking for perfection

By Aubrey Kuruppu
Never change a winning combination, says one school of thought. Why not change it if you can make it still better, maintains another. The champion Kandy sports club team, who steam-rollered their way to a mind-boggling 141-0 win over local rugby's unfortunates, Old Zahirians, obviously seem to get great store by the second point of view.

It could be that their opening salvo in the tournament wasn't flawless. It could also be that the team think-tank feel that their imports cannot, and should not, be kept under wraps any longer. They must be given some, exposure to local; conditions and this Sunday's game against the Air Force could be a good testing ground for the Fijians - fly half Sireli Drill and number eight - Peceli Titiganua.

Play -maker Mallikarachchi moves to the center to play alongside Liyanage/Vithanage. This is the position he played in the much of last season in which, last it be forgotten, his team grabbed almost every trophy on offer. The Airmen certainly cannot relish the prospect of meeting a back division that has, in addition, Hettiarachchi, Jayasinghe and full back Weerakkody.

The back division may be sleek and dandy, but many of Kandy's win can be attributed to the powerfully built, rampaging set of forwards. Lock Basnayake and flankers Wijesinghe and Chelvam stand out with their tireless displays.

Having scored that massive 141 and put some distance between them and the other clubs, Kandy SC would like to turn it on once more and widen that bonus - point gap, quite apart from all that, landslide wins early on imbue the team with confidence and that invincibility factor. Over -confidence and arrogance must however be avoided.

On the other hand, some at least of their opponents could be quaking in their boots when the hill country juggernaut gets moving. This leads one to question if this team can be beaten?

All that will be in the future and the Army and CR must be sharpening their claws. But for this present, the not-so-formidable Air Force tem will strive with might and main, at least initially, to match Kandy SC. If, as expected, they do find the going for tough, they could cave in and conduct an avalanche of points.

The Airmen surprised many rugby fans by leading the CH and FC at the breather. But a combination of missed penalties and the rather more formidable arsenal on call for the Maitland Crescent Club finally did them in.

Coming to Sunday's game, the Air Force could well have their moments, but ultimately class will prevail. The Airmen would have done well if the final score line does not resemble the outcome of the Sri Lanka - Zimbabwe test.

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