Asian 5 Nations: SL in action

This week is important to a number of people for various reasons. It’s Holy Week and the religious rituals will take pride of place culminating in the dawn of Easter Sunday on 31 March. For those who have remained sober for the last 40+ days, it’s a time to celebrate the joys of the risen Lord with added enthusiasm, vigour and ale.

Whilst it is customary to have a traditional Easter lunch, there will be a group of people who will have to give that all a miss. The Asian Nations kicks off at the refurbished Havelocks Sports Club grounds. Possibly for tactical reasons, the first match will kick off at 2 p.m. whilst the Sri Lankan games will be at 4 p.m.

In the current sweltering heat, a 2 p.m. kick-off reminds me of the song ‘Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun’. Once again, Sri Lanka has home advantage and that must be put to good use. The last time that Sri Lanka had a similar advantage, they squandered it big time. The games come at the awkward time as the club season was concluded many moons ago and the next club season is due to kick off in the last quarter of the year.  The school season is just two weeks old, hence these games have been slotted in the middle of nowhere as far as Sri Lanka is concerned. However, this must coincide with the larger picture whereby the winners move into the next phase.

The team has been hard at practice under the watchful eyes and guidance of Ravin du Plessis, as Head Coach and Ben Gollinger as Assistant Coach. One of the suggestions was to have played these games under floodlights, but that I believe was shelved in the interest of home advantage and the resultant hot and humid conditions. It would be ironic if this ploy was to backfire on the Lankans. All in all these games should be an interesting encounter and for any disadvantage that we may have in terms of weight, it will be more than well made up in terms of speed and agility.

During this period, Richie McCaw is in Sri Lanka to coincide with the launch of a new club side that will debut in the sevens circuit and subsequently in the ‘A’ division. Without doubt, Richie McCaw is one of the greats of the modern game having led the All Blacks to Rugby World Cup glory in 2011 and claimed the International Rugby Board’s Player of the Year award on a record three occasions. He has carved out for himself a formidable reputation as arguably one of the best if not the greatest openside flankers in the world.

McCaw was edged out by team-mate Jerome Kaino for New Zealand’s Player of the Year honour but claimed the Halberg Award for New Zealand’s Sportsman of the Year. However, he generated more headlines by turning down the offer of a knighthood.  MCCaw is generally considered a referees nightmare on the field of play as he often walks the thin line that divides what is considered as acceptable and fair play and what is not. It is not unusual to see him see him retreat in defence very much alive to the attackers and runs a line that just about borders on unfair play. In that lies the greatness of the payer as he uses the rules to the maximum advantage for himself and the team in general.

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