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Caltex rugby league
Watch out! Here comes the big one |
| By Harry Jayachandra |
Any and all aspirations Colombo has of bringing the Caltex Division One trophy to Colombo after a number of years hinges on what the end result will be at Longden Place today. The only two unbeaten teams in the league namely CR and FC and defending champions Kandy go head to head in arguably the match of the first stage.
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| Can CR win at home today ? |
This match is of more importance to the hosts than the visitors simply because the second leg will be played in Kandy and the champions have turned their home ground in to a fortress. Incidentally Kandy have not lost a league match at home in over ten years.
And ominously for CR and FC, Kandy showed that playing in Colombo was not a problem by scoring 73 points in their last outing against Havelocks at Havelock Park.
If one is to go by how both the teams have played this year, it may well be a case of CR and FC’s forwards against Kandy’s Sri Lankan national team back division. But the key to unlock and nullify Kandy’s offence is how well if at all CR and FC can mark stand off Farzil Marijah. Marijah is at the peak of his career and is without doubt the best stand off in Sri Lanka. CR and FC will also hope that their own stand off Dev Anand does not get big match fever like he did in his last outing against his former club. While Anand has proved a revelation this season with drop goals and kicks to touch, his line breaking ability needs more fine tuning. But today his job will be to ensure that Marijah is starved of possession.
The head to head battles in this game are so numerous it would take too much space to document all of them. However, two in particular could prove decisive. Veteran scrum half Zulker Hamid has to get the better of his counter part Saliya Kumara if CR and FC are to have any chance of keeping Kandy’s back division at bay. Meanwhile former Isipatanian Sajith Saranga, who is playing at Number 8, will have his hands full with Dushanth Lewke. Lewke and Ishan Noor have been outstanding for CR and FC at line outs and one would expect them to dominate that area of the game. It is at rucks and mauls that CR and FC have failed to recycle the ball quickly and get their backs in to the game. If CR and FC can limit their unforced errors to a minimum and ensure that Kandy’s back division is well marked, then perhaps the hosts can come out victorious and make the league something more than a one horse race even before the second round starts.
CR and FC playing 15; Terrence Henry, Anuja Perera, Danushka Boteju, Ashean Karthelis (Captain), Ishan Noor, Pavithra Fernando, Dhanushka Perera, Dushanth Lewke, Zulker Hameed, Dev Anand, Mohamed Jabbar, Niroshan Karunanayake, Chamara Vithanage, Nuwan Chamara and Reza Mubarak.
Substitutes: Arjuna Bopitiya, Mohamed Rizwan, Shamil Mohamed, Dhiran Warnakulasuriya, Srinath Sooriyabandara, Ashan De Costa and Dinesh Kumara.
Kandy playing 15; Kishor Jehan, Aravinda Udangamuwa, Eranga Swarnatilleke, Senaka Bandara, Zafeer Jahan, Sean Wijesinghe, Sajith Saranga, Dilip Selvam, Saliya Kumara, Fazil Marijah, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, Gayan Weeraratne, Pradeep Liyanage (Captain), Sameera Silva and Radika Hettiarchchi.
Substitutes; Pudima Dissanayake, Kasun Yasaisuru, Buddhika Thalagampola, Prasad Chathuranga, Shashika Jayawardena, Danushka Pushpakumara and Krishantha Rajapakse.
Kick off is at 4.30pm. Two minutes silence will be observed before the kick off in memory of Sri Lankan rugby legend Hadji Omar who died of a sudden heart attack on Tuesday.
Referee; Nizam Jamaldeen. |
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