Kandy waltz past CR

The local matches worked off on Saturday ran true to form. The matches were pretty one sided and once again there was a score in excess of 50 points.

The Kandy try scoring spree continued once again unabated and the CR was at the receiving end. CR was lucky not to lose by 50 points once again.

CR looks well on the way to be relegated to the plate and the once mighty club is obviously in shambles, both in rugby terms and otherwise. Kandy obviously kept their title hopes alive with such a clinical performance. They have gone about their business quietly and with a minimum of fanfare and pageantry. However, their mettle will be tested against Havies and Navy in the coming weeks.

Army once again produced a fine performance and this time round without any controversies to stifle them they ran out comfortable winners against a hapless CH outfit. Army will be serious contenders for the fourth slot and if the rub of the green had gone their way in earlier matches they would have comfortably be there.

The upcountry Lions notched up a half century of points against the Air Force who appear to be struggling to get off the ground. I am told that the mood in the Air Force camp as of now is now not very supportive of the game and until such time as that changes, the airmen will remain grounded with no ability for aerial bombardment – quite a shift in the line of thinking, from the earlier regime.

Overseas the Super Rugby took on a greater sense of urgency with the knock out stages being worked off. At the start of the matches, there were many rugby enthusiasts who questioned the appointment of SA referees to control the games. Whilst a referee by virtue of his role is supposed to be neutral and impartial we have come to observe otherwise and the need for neutral officials is the need of the hour.

In the first of the play offs the Crusaders outplayed the Bulls. The Crusaders boasts of a number of All Black players and their performance was clinical. Skipper Richie McCaw led from the front and their ability to control the game at crucial periods was fantastic to watch. The Bulls were never in the game right from the start and appeared to be overawed by the occasion. The Crusaders will now meet the Chiefs in the first of the semi-finals the next week.

The second game saw the defending champions the Queensland Reds succumb to the heavier and more physical Sharks. The Reds were with a handicap as their playmaker Quade Cooper was serving a one match ban for an alleged high tackle in the previous game. The substitute Ben Lucas was a fine replacement but things went horribly wrong after he suffered an ankle injury. This prompted Will Genia, arguably one of best Scrum Halves in the country, to switch to the number 10 slot. The game started to slip away at this stage, but the Reds made a gallant bid to score via Liam Gill after an initial assault by the mercurial Digby Ioane. The try was disallowed by the SA referee Jonathan Kaplan after consultation with the TMO.

However, rather than asking the standard, “try, yes or no?” or “is there any reason why I cannot award the try?” Kaplan asked “I would like to know if on the first grounding the try was scored?” As Kaplan’s question referred only to the previous effort of winger Digby Ioane’s effort, rather than Gill’s the television match official correctly ruled out any score. This found the wrath of the majority in the commentary panel and the need for neutral referees was sparked once more. In the previous week too, the TMO recommended the awarding of a try even though the winger had clearly lost control of the ball in the process of grounding. (The author can be reached at [email protected])