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Message: <blockquote data-quote="fazil00789" data-source="post: 7364362" data-attributes="member: 162985">Sri Lanka Ruggerites Shine In SingaporeWill they go? wont they go? This is the unfortunate question that has always cropped up amongst rugby followers over the last two years with regard to the availability of the best players in the country when the National team is about to undertake an important assignment such as the Division 1 Asian 5 Nations tournament when the question that should be discussed is will they win? or wont they win?. Unfortunately it was no different this year as well. It’s a sad indictment on the various levels of administration at Union, Province and Club level that this situation has allowed to be repeated again & again mostly based on petty club & personal agendas with the root cause being the contentious issue of captaincy.However thankfully the best players were available and selected this time around, with the team taking wing to Singapore under the captaincy of Pradeep Liyanage after a 3 day preparation camp in Kandy. The team had a couple of sessions in Singapore before the first match against Chinese Taipei.Semi Final verses Chinese Taipei. The Taipei team has been the nemesis of the Lankan team over the past two tournaments, winning by a 12 point margin on both occasions.(35 – 23 in 2008 and 36 - 24 in 2009). However in both those instances Sri Lanka had to field depleted teams. With the full compliment of players available this time around the team’s chances had improved greatly.Kick off time arrived. As the teams lined up for their respective National Anthems it was apparent that the Taipei players were physically bigger than their counterparts. Within the first 5 minutes of the game Sri Lanka suffered a major blow losing the services play maker and fly half Fazil Marija to an and ankle injury that would see the end of his tournament. Nevertheless the team did not let this set back affect them and showed great composure to clinch a resounding victory by 37 – 07 after leading by 21 – 07 at half time. The feature of this performance was how well the forwards and three quarters combined in open play to tear the Taipei defense to shreds. The handling and offloading skills shown by the front row of Terrance Henry, Achala Perera and Suranga Swaranatillake was exceptional in addition to dominating the scrums. Ashan Karthelis and Dushantha Lewke were outstanding at lineout time starving the opposition of good ball while providing the backs with good ball from their own throws. Lewke along with flankers Dileep Selvam and Sean Wijesinghe had a terrific game in the loose. Young Roshan Weeraratne making his debut was solid from the base and relived pressure on many occasions with his kicks from the base. The Lankans should be particularly thankful to the Center combination of skipper Liyanage and Gayan Weeraratne for some outstanding defensive work carried out to halt the Taipei backs – who looked threatening when in possession – while also punching holes in the opposition defense.  It was third time lucky for the Lankans, and with this win they qualified for the promotion play-off against the winners of the Singapore vs. Malaysia game (although it would not have been faulted had spectators thought this match was one between a British team & Fiji). Singapore clinched a hard fought 22 – 20 win to qualify for the grand finale, leaving Malaysia to slug it out with Chinese Taipei in the relegation play off.   Final verses Singapore.  After good dry conditions during the Semi Finals there was an unexpected shower in the evening before the promotion and relegation finals began. This no doubt suited the bigger made Singaporeans. The last time these two teams met in this competition was in its inaugural tournament in 2008 with the match ending in a 20 all draw. Sri Lanka was dealt another injury blow with Center Gayan Weeraratne being ruled out with a shoulder injury. Reinforcements were also hurriedly called up to cover for the injury plagued backline with Chanaka Chandimal and experienced Chamara Vithange being flown in after the Taipei game, included in the starting line up at fly half and center respectively. Once again when the teams lined up for the anthems the disparity in size between the teams was obvious with the Singaporeans - which included as many as 10 foreigners in the starting line up towering above the smaller made Lankans.It was heartening to see a fair number of Sri Lankan expats coming to cheer the team on for this big game.Both teams started off cautiously, playing for territory in the first half. The Lankans looked the more threatening of both teams and came close to touching down on more then a couple of occasions but lacked the finish to turn these opportunities into points. At lemons the score stood at 6 all with the highlight of the half being the superbly executed drop goal off the base of the scrum by half back Weeraratne.The second half saw both teams playing with more confidence and building phases in attack rather then kicking the ball away. Both teams collected a goal and a penalty each in this half and at 16 all it looked as if extra time was looming. However on the stroke of full time Sri Lanka received a scrum inside the opposition half. Fly half Chandimal on spotting the rushed defense employed by the Singaporean backs executed a neat chip kick that sat up perfectly for the chasing Vithanage to collect, sidestep the cover defense beautifully and fall over to score the match winning try. Fullback Saliya Kumara converted for the final score to read as 23 - 16 and with that the referee blew full time to signal a memorable win for the Sri Lankan rugby team. It has to be said that it was the Lankans defensive effort that won them this game. Their ability to put in some big hits and constantly push the opposition on the back foot had a telling impact on the confidence of the Singaporeans.Malaysia beat Chinese Taipei 35 – 08 in the relegation tie with the 9 Fijian ‘imports’ doing most of the damage. This defeat will mean that the Taipei team will be relegated to Division two in next year’s tournament. Looking ahead With this magnificent victory Sri Lanka’s ranking in Asia will improve from its current 8th place ranking to no. 5, and will join the elite competition with teams such as Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Kazakhstan next year. Having watched the team perform in this tournament it is obvious that we have wasted 2 years in Division 1. It is imperative that plans are put in place to ensure that the National team is prepared for this tournament next year. It’s an unfortunate trend that has emerged over the last few years, where National Rugby teams have been assembled at short notice with minimal preparation time and sent for International competition to represent the country. This not only impacts the team performing to its optimal level to achieve the desired result but also lessens the value that should be placed on National representation. Sri Lanka cannot afford to send an under prepared team for the competition against the big boys of Asian Rugby. Doing so would result in demotion to Division 1 again. In the top division, the format of the tournament changes with each team having the opportunity to host 2 games while playing 2 matches away. Therefore if a proper program is put in place realistic hopes of attaining the number 2 ranking (behind Japan) is a real possibility. The players have the potential to do it. Sri Lanka Rugby is ready to take off. The question is, are our administrators ready to do their part?</blockquote>

Verification: Haya warak paha keeyada? (haya wadi kireema paha)

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