Can Kandy retain their winning streak?

The stakes are high in the second round. Kandy successfully kept out a determined Navy side last week although it was a last gasp effort. Thus they were able to put the previous week’s loss to Navy at Welisara into perspective and to a certain degree avenge the previous defeat. The incidents thereafter off the field have left much to be desired. It is not an isolated incident and even last year the same form of hooliganism was on display. I am confident that the authorities concerned will make sure that appropriate action is taken against the perpetrators of such violence, if not, we will see a further dip in the crowd attendance at club matches.

This weekend will see Kandy play Havies in Colombo and the might of the Kandy cheering squad will be in attendance as well. Havies narrowly lost the first round game in Kandy and will be keen to make emends this time round.  Havies are not without blemish and as I had indicated in a previous article, their win against the UCL the week before, was anything but fluent. Against a side like Kandy, one needs to have their ‘A’ game on display as any small mistake will be punished by the opposition. HSC have looked dangerous when they spin the ball wide as they posses some nippy three quarters. Winning, they say is a habit, and Kandy has been quite used to this habit for a decade. They are very unlikely to give up this habit easily and have a lot of pride at stake as well. The Kandy side this year is not as dominant as they were in the past years and have shown signs of vulnerability, either due to a lack of quality of new players or increased competition from the other sides. The weather gods should be kind to us as then we will be able to see some fast, open and scintillating rugby. Going by the local Met department forecasts will be foolhardy as it was only a few days ago, that we were told that there would not be any rain till the first week of September.

Meanwhile CR will take on a vastly improved Army side, and given the controversy in the first round game, this should be a bruising affair. Last week’s losers UCL will take on Navy, and they will be able to pile on the points with ease once again. As indicated before, there is a gap of twenty three points between the table leaders and the fourth slot UCL, and seventeen points between the third slot team indicating the gulf in the quality of the top three sides and UCL.

In other games this weekend, on the international front, the Wallabies take on the All Blacks. Going by the Super Rugby games, the NZ teams were definitely ahead of those in the Aussie conference. Thus I cannot see the Wallabies running away with this game. Interestingly playmaker Quade Cooper has been left out and does not even make it to the bench with Barnes being given the nod to pair off with Will Genia. An interesting battle will be watching the two flankers, Pocock vs McCaw. Both are brilliant in open play and pretty good scavengers at breakdown point. It’s difficult to choose between them.

South Africa will take on Argentina in the expanded Tri Nation’s series, which in now renamed as the Rugby Championship. The Boks should have it relatively easy against Argentina despite the injury to Pierre Spies.

With the Olympics finally dusted and done with, local sports enthusiasts will have loads of sports to witness, be it the SLPL, the Club rugby, International Rugby or the current SA vs England third test with the number one slot up for grabs.

[email protected]