Navy aim to end on a high

Friday, 21 February 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Navy have dominated the local club rugby in emphatic style this year. Their unbeaten record and consistent performance speaks volumes of their quality and cohesiveness as a team. They have been without their inspirational skipper but that loss has been used by them to show that they are not reliant on an individual. Their style of play has been fascinating in that they have looked to score at every opportunity and have taken the attack to the opposition. Against tougher teams like Kandy and Havies they have come up with quality game plans and have won with relative ease. Navy has one more game this week against the Havies and I cannot see any upset in this game despite the fact that Navy will be without home advantage and their boisterous and doting fans.

Havies have played rather indifferent rugby this year and last week’s game was a case in point. On most occasions they have resorted to using their forwards as a battering ram. Whilst this may appear to be an acceptable game plan they must retain the ball and be able to recycle quick ball. Alas they have failed in this respect as after three phases they tend to lose the ball to sides that are superior at counter rucking. The bulk of their wins have come from some individual magic by their two wingers who have scored a vast majority of the tries. If they are to make an impression against Navy they need to bring their ‘A’ game to the forefront, if not they will be blown away. The other noteworthy game this week will be the CR/Lions game as they both are battling for a common spot. CR has on occasions played some good rugby and at times some pathetic stuff. Their second round games against Navy and Kandy come to mind where they played well for three quarters of the game and then once they conceded a single try the flood gates opened and thereafter it was ‘one way traffic’ by the opposition. Their youngsters have shown plenty of promise and if they stick together long enough the dividends will be great. Some of the key games over the last few weeks have been referred by expatriate referees. Obviously, this then indicates that there is a dearth of quality local referees to officiate at key games. Whilst in the short run, this may resolve the issue, the Union must think long term and there must be a well thought out program in place to nurture young talent and make them of international standard. In cricket Sri Lanka has made some headway with our local umpires and match referees doing our country proud. Surely this winning formula can easily be replicated. For any program to be a success there must not be any undue influence or interference and that appears to be the main issue in Lankan sports. Unless and until we get our act together we will continue to languish at the bottom in this regard with little hope of success. The standoff between the SLRFU and the SLSRFA has been well documented. In another related incident the IRB is set to fine the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) a sum of £ 10,000 for the delay in submitting the report on the two schoolboy doping cases last year. Given the internal strife, there is speculation as who will pick up the tab for this. On the international front we will see the resumption of the six nations’ championships with France being in action once again. Ireland and France are unbeaten so far and they will meet ironically in the last game in the middle of March. The super rugby will also continue this weekend with some quality games due to be worked off. (The writer can be reached via [email protected].)

Navy aim to end on a high

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