Navy Maul CR

The weekend had a packed rugby calendar, with four games on locally and another seven games of Super rugby of which six were on Saturday. At home, the domestic season saw the matches go according to form. Whilst we all are aware that CR possesses a relatively young side, the margin of defeat at the hands of the rampaging sailors would definitely be a cause for concern.

As of now it does not appear as if CR can even retain the fourth slot, and if they do not do so, it will be a rare occasion when they will not compete in the main competition in the knock out rounds. The mass exodus of players has obviously had an impact, whilst the overseas player’s have failed to make an impact. Rumour has it that the club is pretty low on finances and an urgent restructuring appears to be the need of the hour if they are to stop the current bleeding and the faces of the red shirts getting even redder. The resurgence of Havies is a good example – I guess backing the right horse also pays dividends in the long run. Navy are going from strength to strength and now lead the table having played an extra game. Thus next weekend’s encounter with Havies is bound to be a block buster and in all probability will decide the table leaders for the rest of the season. However let us not discount Kandy.

Kandy hit top gear against a lowly placed Air Force and ran in eight tries and comfortably crossed the half century mark. It is indeed demoralising to be thumped in this fashion as was the case with CR and unless these teams reorganize themselves with the recruitment of quality players, they will just continue to be in the category of ‘also ran’.

According to reports, and as expected the game between Army and the UCL was close and a single penalty was the ultimate difference. It’s a shame that such games are played in Nawalapitya, as it is not reasonable to expect the general rugby fan to trek all the way to witness such a game. As it is there is a dearth of crowd support, at club games as opposed to school fixtures, and now in addition to Kandy and Welisara, expecting supporters to trek it to Nawalapitya is wishful thinking.

Moving overseas, the format of the Super Rugby was such that after eighteen weeks if intense rugby, the six teams that would eventually compete for the final play offs could only be determined after the completion of the last game late on Saturday night.

With many places up for grabs and the fact that the Aussie squad was to be picked on Monday for the forthcoming test series, the competition was fierce for more reasons that one. It was heartening to see to see a number of youngsters coming off well in their first season of Super Rugby, whilst others celebrated the 100th cap of Super rugby along the way. It was an emotional day for the Wallaby and Force lock Nathan Sharpe as he completed his 162nd and final game as he will hang his boots after the August test series.

The August test series is the revamped Tri Nations, and this time round it includes Argentina and the series undergoes a name change from Tri Nations to Rugby Championship 2012. These matches will commence on 18 August and conclude on 6 October 2012. Thus we are bound to have some exciting rugby in the months to come.

In an important game over the weekend between the Crusaders and Western Force, the first two tries scored by the Crusaders were quite controversial. These were referred to the TMO for a final verdict and despite the ball not being grounded and the player not having control of the ball when scoring a try, the same was awarded. This mistake was taken on the chin by everybody and I would shudder to think of the controversy that it would have created if something similar had taken place locally.

Although Nathan Sharpe referred to it briefly at the post match news conference, he did not dwell on it further although his view was crisp and clear.