Sri Lanka’s Bronze dream

It is just not the cold weather breezing across England but the victory over South Africa that has contributed to take the heat off the English Coach Robinson. This victory has taken the heat off the English coach but is yet not enough to consolidate his position. England after being led 18 to 6 at the half time managed to beat the South Africans 23 -21 through a last minute try by substitute prop forward Vickery . This week on the 25th will see England take on South Africa in the second test. Maybe the case for Robinson will be much better after that. Good news is that the English clubs have rallied and come to England’s rescue with Premier Rugby agreeing to relax the restrictions on its players. This means that coach Robinson will have, for the game on the 25th, its skipper Martin Corry and seven others who otherwise may have not been available.

Argentina who earlier beat England came back with a superb second half rally to beat Italy 23-16 after being led 9-3 at the break. Another performer of note is Ireland who beat Australia 21-6 in a match palyed in bad ground conditions and fraying tempers. This victory for Ireland follows their win over South Africa 32-15. It seems only New Zealand is ahead with another win over France 23-11 following their previous weeks mauling of 47-3.

The current standing in world rankings is that of New Zealand and France taking spot one and two with Ireland climbing o 3rd slot up two places from their previous position at 5. Australia goes down to number 4 with South Africa down to number 5. Argentina is now at number 6 while England is at number 7. A point in world rugby is that countries which are scoring more tries continue to win matches. A recent report on the Tri Nations 2006 highlights “the key factor behind New Zealand’s success being their ability to score more tries than the opposition. The All Blacks advanced a trend that is becoming increasingly apparent in Test matches between Tier 1 countries - forwards making proportionally more passes than they used to’’. This is what has emerged from the game analysis.

In the Asian Qualifiers for the Rugby World Cup Korea beat Hong Kong, 23 -5 and will meet Japan ,in what will be the decider ,on the 25th. A win to either side will determine who will play at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Earlier Japan beat Hong Kong 52-3 thus reaching the RWC final round for the sixth time. Scoring a hat- trick of tries in the first half for Japan was Phillip O’Reilley the former Canterbury Flanker.

Sri Lankan’s may remember the Japanese referee Taizo Hirbayashi who officiated in the China vs. Sri Lanka match. This was his first test match. He also officiated in the Sevens played in Kandy. Taizo has moved ahead in his refereeing career and is now in the IRB second panel. He follows Japanese Naoki Saito who refereed the world cup in 1995 where each country had at least one referee. What makes a difference of the appointment of Taizo is that the international panel is now merit based. It seems that Taizo is the new kid on the block as he will referee all eight sevens tournaments. Sevens will be the starting point for a young referee in the international circuit.

In the meantime the Sri Lankan sevens team will take wing to Doha where they will participate in the Asian Games sevens tournament to be played on the 10th and 11th of December. Sri Lanka have been drawn into pool B along with China and India. Sri Lanka plays their first match against India on the 10th. Hong Kong, Korea and Thailand are in Group A while Japan Taipei and Qatar are in Pool C. The draw favours Sri Lanka to come into the Semi Final and very possibly to play for the Bronze at least.

The margin of victory against India is to be an important factor in the determination of the places in the semi final. The Sri Lankans who have been at practice together for the last couple of weeks will be able to pull off the games with a good showing. If Sri Lanka beats China the semi final berth and possibly a shot at the Bronze at least will be within reach. We wish the Sri Lankan all luck and hope they will continue their ascendancy in the Asian circuit.