Rugby: Philippines beat Sri Lanka 39-22 in Asia Division I

Philippines recorded a comfortable 39-22 win against Sri Lanka in the first match of the Asia Division I Rugby Championship 2019 played at the Municipal Stadium in Chinese Taipei on Wednesday (29).

The first Division I semi-final was won by the defending champions who will face either Singapore or hosts Chinese Taipei in the final on Saturday (1).

Rob Fogerty opened the scoring inside the first minute for the defending Division I champions, breaking through the defence after just 44 seconds.

Sri Lanka hit back with a penalty from Samuel Maduwantha before 20 minutes of end-to-end rugby was followed by a penalty from Daniel Matthews for the Philippines.

Hooker Prasath Hettiarachchige used his own power and that of the Sri Lanka forward pack to force his way over the try line for Fazil Marija’s side’s first try of the match with the conversion from Thilina Wijesinghe taking them into a 10-8 lead.

But quick thinking from scrum-half Tim Berry saw him dart over the line on the stroke of half-time with Matthews’ conversion leaving the score at 15-10 at the break.

The Philippines started the second-half as they did the first, playing a number of phases before Fogerty burst through to add his second try of the match. 

Matthews added the extras for a 22-10 lead.

Ned Stephenson and Justin Coveney added two further tries as the side ranked 53rd in the world ran into a 39-10 lead against Sri Lanka ranked 43rd.

There was still time for another two tries for the Tuskers, Umesha Biyanwilage bundling over before captain Omalka Gunaratne scored with the last play of the match but the victory was already confirmed for the Philippines.