Battle for the top spot continues between Havies and Kandy 

 CR out to gain top three finish in the league

Inter Club Rugby 2019

By Shamseer Jaleel

With the Inter Club Rugby league 2018/2019 heating up with only three more games remaining in round 2 defending champions, Kandy SC, second place Havies and third placed CH & FC all are on the hunt for their respective positions.

Meanwhile, the battle between CR & FC and Army too is heating up CR leading by 8 points at present. Once the two rounds are completed the top 4 will place for the Cup (1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3) while the bottom half will play for the Plate segment before the commencement of the Clifford Cup Knock Out Rugby which will be staged in Kandy and Colombo in March.

 

CR hold the edge

CR & FC bouncing back with a good half a century plus points win over the gutsy soldiers outfit are holding the edge in the game against the sailors at home. Red Shirts ended Army outfits winning streak against Kandy SC and Navy SC.

With the return of their playmaker CR & FC played well with Tharinda Ratwatte playing a vital part for the Longdon Place club. Omalka Gunaratne led the outfit well with the absence of their regular skipper Kavindu Perera, who was out with an injury. Omalka being outstanding in attack improved in his fitness level as well. Reza Rafaideen with his lightning speed and wing three quarter position was a headache for other clubs with his powerful run down the wing.

Meanwhile sailors lacked leadership and decision making in more than one game. They were thumped by Kandy with a huge 31/63 defeat to Kandy SC up at Nittawela. Thilina Weerasinghe, Buddhima Piyaratne and Mohamed Abzal played vital part in the Hills are expected to do well against the Red Shirts. Thilina kick at goal too will be the difference between the two sides if Navy to attack on territory.

 

Army to bounce back

Army Sports Club after their two magnificent performances against Kandy SC and Navy met their off-day with a defeat at the hands of CR will be all out to bounce back when they lock horns with the last-placed Air Force.

For Army Medagedera, Ashoka Jayalal, Mohamed Rizvi and Gayan Salinda are top of their game. They showed top fitness level which grounded many teams in the league including the defending champions, Kandy SC with an unexpected defeat. 

Air Force on the other hand lacks lasting the 80 minutes with ball handling being the major worry for them. Iddamalgoda, Seelaratne and Prince Charles were on top of things this season and will need to fire all cylinders in order to get the ranking better. On form the soldiers should pull this off with a bonus point win to keep their Head Coach, Viper (Jnr) Gunaratne. 

 

Kandy to be tested in Colombo

Kandy Sports Club will need to travel down to Colombo on three consecutive weekends when they start week one with a game against third placed CH & FC.  

CH & FC is expected to be at full strength with the return of their regular skipper Yoshitha Rajapaksa, after his jaw injury is likely to return to the side in the later half. Soooriyarachchi, Hirantha and Heenakankanmge are stars for them. One player who stood out this season was none other than Anuradha Herath. The former Peterite being outstanding in attack kept one wing tightly locked. Their place kicker Samuel Maduwantha too in fine form could play a vital role in this encounter. Muthuthanthri who received two Yellow cards in their last game against the Cops is likely to appeal successfully, giving him the opportunity to play against Kandy.

Kandy SC will be without their pack leader, Buwanaka Udangamuwa, and Dhanushka Ranjan, who will both sit out, nursing injuries. Roshan Weeraratne, Richard Dharmapala, Nigel Ratwatte and Thilina Wijesinghe playing at their peak will be expected to adjust to Colombo conditions fast as the last three league games will be vital for them. 

Kandy are guaranteed the Super 4 position and a worst it could be number 2 for them which could be costly as they will be needing to play their final Super 4 game in Colombo. They will always prefer to play back in the hills with the packed Kandy crowd.

 

Havies to continue winning ways

Havelock Sports Club should have things their own way and they are one of the sides which performed very consistently this season. They were beaten only by Kandy in the hills, that too they stood up well under pressure. They are coached by Sanath Martis, arguably the best coach in the country, who lacked opportunity at the top end. Havies having done well so far will be able to get on top of the Cops who find it tough to last the 80 minutes of the game.

Dinuk Amarasinghe, Chamara Dabare, Riza Mubarak and Mithun Hapugoda all played their hearts out this season for the Park Club with their gentlle giant Sharo Fernando working very hard to get the league back to the Park from the hills.

Police on the other hand will need to play to their potential with Sachich Silva and Vageesha playing at their best.