It is that time of year again. We are just twelve days away from the beginning of the Chevron powered Caltex Inter-Club league knockout tournament. Undoubtedly reigning league and knockout champions Kandy who possess a virtual Sri Lankan XV are the favourites once again.
But of more interest would be who can challenge Kandy this year. The two contenders who spring to mind are CR and FC and Navy. The latter beat the Champions in arguably the match of the tournament last year at Welisara by 12 points to 11. Navy lacked consistency last year and that put paid to their title chances, a mistake they no doubt would want to correct this year.
Taking a closer look at the two contenders lets start with Navy who are led by open side flanker Yoshitha Rajapaksa and have named a 38 member squad for this year’s tournament. On paper they look a strong outfit Sumedha Malewana at Number 8 will support his Captain. R. Peiris is the hooker and will ensure that his forwards get the ball from the lines out. Navy also has a strong back division with W. Pushpakumara operating from the base. Navy has a couple of choices when it comes to the position of stand off with Samamtha Lakshan and Dev Anand both able to readily slot in.
Kandy SC players in action against Army last year. |
However, Navy may opt to use both with Anand as centre. This is a ploy Navy used well especially against Kandy last year. When it comes to wingers Navy has a choice. There is Y.P.K. Mathagaweera, Niranjan Wickremaratne, M. De Silva and J.L. Edirimanna. Ace place kicker Nuwan Hettiarachchi will man the last line of defense.
Chairman of Rugby at Navy Commodore Nanayakkara has assembled the squad in such a way that they have cover for any position. First choice props are likely to be D. Pulikkuttiarachchi and S. P.Swarnathilaka. There are six players vying for the two second rower berths in N. H.M. Bandara, S. Deen, Tyronne Harison, R. N. M. Ruwanthilaka, M. W. A. J. Jayasuriya, and G. K. S. Wijayasinghe. Scrum Half W.W.S. Pushpakumara is another player who will be pushing for a starting berth.
Sri Lankan Number Dushanth Lewke will Skipper CR and FC this year. Lewke leads a formidable pack which includes Ashen Karthelis, Dhanuska Boteju, Terency Henry, ace hooker Anuja Perera, Dhanushka Perera, Sharo Fernando, Bilal Hassen and Ishan Noor to name just a few.
The people are there and so is the talent. What the ‘Red Shirts’ have been unable to in seasons past is to execute game plans successfully in every single game. This is something Kandy has a master’s degree in.
Another problem CR and FC had last year was that first choice scrum half Srinath Sooriyabandara was a little slow off the base and kept getting caught with possession. Obviously the consequences were twofold with the Red Shirts giving away possession and their backs being starved of the ball. If CR and FC have addressed the problem they can certainly challenge for the title. Second choice scrum half Dilan Soysa is quick off the mark and has the ability to punt off both legs. First choice stand off Ashan De Costa is a line breaker and along with the likes of Niroshan Karunaratne, full back Rizah Mubarak, brother Lasintha, Nuwan Chamara, Wishvamithra Jayasingha and company can tear any defense to shreds.
The rest of the CR and FC squad reads as: Nigel Ratwatte, Zafeer Jhan, Dinusha Chaturanga, Niroshan Fenando, Arjuna Bopitiya, Roshanka Kodituwakku, Heshan Gunarathne, Shehan Dimithri, Nishan De Silva, Sunanda Abesekara, Arjun Manoharan, Sachin David, Idris Omar, Shabeer Mohamed and Duminda Lakmal.
Ultimately though to win against Kandy, one has to man mark their entire back division and in particular full back Radhika Hettiarachchi and play maker Faazil Marija. Fail to do so and you can kiss your chances of beating Kandy a ‘long kiss goodnight.’
It is also important to note that the likes of CH and FC, Havelocks, Air Force, Army and Police are not competing simply to make up the numbers. They are also playing for the league title. So let’s hope for an interesting season where the winner is not known by the end of the first leg of matches.
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