Sri Lanka to face stiff challenge against Malaysia

Saturday, 20 May 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Sri Lankan XV-a-side rugby outfit under RoshanWeeraratne will face stiff challenge in order to become champions at the Asian Rugby Championship Division I in Malaysia when they confront hosts who are the defending champions of this tournament. This encounter will take place at Ioph Padang Stadium in Malaysia.

Sri Lanka did well to beat Philippines (24/13) and UAE (33/17) while the hosts too won both their matches by convincing margin. On form the Malaysian looks a yard faster than Sri Lankans who are one point behind in the table.

Sri Lanka will expecting much from their three quarter line; DhanushkaRanjan looks a doubtful starter after his shoulder injury in the UAE encounter. FazilMarija will be playing his last game for the country and the rest of the players will want to give a grand farewell for his contribution for the country over a decade.

Richard Dharmapala too was in peak form in his debut tournament in the longer version of the game. Full backThilina Wijesinghe had a remarkable tournament having a sound defence plus adding the much-needed points through try conversion and penalty kick at goal. He gained the much-needed territorial advantage for the Lankans. He contributed 27 points so far in two games, being the highestpoints scorer in the tournament so far. Omalka Gunaratne too was in peak form at number 8 with his ghosting breaks and defence being top class.

Malaysians having many Fiji born players in their starting line-up too are at their peak and will be all out for a win to earn a promotion to top 3 in 2018. If Ranjan is declared unfit then his position is likely to be taken over by Joel Perera. This move will make Jason Dissayanake take the wing. Former Trinity winger Shashan Mohamed also could come into the team with his outstanding performance at club rugby this year. (SJ)

Today’s matches (20 May)

Philippines vs UAE

Sri Lanka vs Malaysia

Referee: TakuOtsuki (Japan)

Assistant Referees: Charlie Brown (Singapore), and Mohamed Noor Jefri Bin Mustafa (Malaysia)

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