EZY Wolves dominate Mobitel Eagles 26-12 to win cup

• Play exhibition rugby at Race Course Grounds Colombo

 Sri Lanka Super 7’s, the premier franchise based rugby tournament in Sri Lanka which attracted top-ranked foreign players playing alongside the local rugby stars concluded in grand fashion at the Race Course Grounds, when EZY Wolves unleashed a ferocious brand of rugby to completely outplay the Mobitel Eagles 26-12 and win the Cup Championship in Leg 2 of the tournament. 

The EZY Wolves who had an ordinary outing in the 1st Leg in Kandy the previous week, unveiled an entertaining brand of rugby right from the first whistle on their first pool game against the Walkers Vipers, to defeat them by 31 points to 12. 

Thereafter EZY went onto dominate the days play by winning comprehensively against the Cargills Gladiators to fight the Mobitel Eagles 21 Points to 24, thereby taking the lead on the Group A table.  From there on the EZY Wolves simply dominated their opponents when they went on to comfortably beat the Softlogic Warriors 24-12 in the Quarter Finals and Cargills Gladiators 17-10 to enter the final against the Mobitel Eagles who had won the 1st Leg in Kandy a week before. 

More known for their prowess in motor racing, EZY Wolves who are owned by the same owner, Founding CEO of EZY Racing, Shafraz Hamzadeen, displayed some of the inspiration they got from their sister brand four wheeled sport, when they outran their competition through speedsters Dinusha Chathuranga, Sudam Sooriyaarachchi and Kenyan National star Nelson Oyoo, who scored a bulk of the tries to provide EZY Wolves a clear advantage over the other teams. 

“We did a few tweaks that helped the team immensely in the 2nd leg,” said Hamzadeen. “We knew we had the best team on paper. We worked on encouraging the team to enjoy each other’s company. Unlike many other teams, we actually spent less time practicing and more time on developing player chemistry. I also think EZY Racing and its achievements inspired the team immensely to win this Championship in Colombo”. 

The Wolves who were previously beaten on two occasions by the Mobitel Eagles, once by 2 points and another time by 3 points were the clear underdogs in the Final. However, Sudarshana Muthuthantri lead the team of EZY Wolves as they played with vengeance and clearly demonstrated their passion and grit through superiority in defense, attack and decision making to come out victorious. 

Speaking after the game, Muthuthantri stated that they made a master move in starting Kenyan Captain Andrew Amonde off the bench and moving speedster Dinusha Chathuranga into the forwards that provided them speed at each end. This clearly played off when playmaker Chanaka Chandimal changed the direction to provide a long pass to Chathuranga who ran over 60 meters to score under the post in a crucial moment in the first half. 

“We had a leadership team comprising of a few locals and foreigners. We came up with the game plan for the final where we decided to put two Kenyans in the back line to add strength to our defence. We also moved Chanaka (Chandimal) to Center from his usual Fly Half position to allow better ball movement. This paid off.”

Muthuthantri who demonstrated passion and exemplary leadership skills was later awarded the player of the tournament. 

The tournament, which takes into count, the points accumulated in both Legs to award the overall winner, found EZY Wolves finishing Runner-up to Mobitel Eagles in the overall standings. However, the EZY Wolves clearly left a lasting impression in the minds of thousands of spectators with their passionate brand of rugby.