Sri Lanka no match for newcomers UAE

Japanese women's team receives the Championship Cup at Dialog Asia Rugby Sevens

By Ranil Prematilake in Dubai

Sri Lanka men’s team succumbed to hosts United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a second time in two days yesterday under lights at the Dubai Sports City Rugby Stadium. The final scoreline of 29-10 does not show the complete dominance of UAE on their way to a maiden silverware in the top division of Asian Sevens Series rugby. 

The physically superior UAE ran in five tries to that of the two by Sri Lanka. Sachith Silva and Nishon Perera got on the score sheet for the tuskers. As a whole, not many would disagree that the absence of the star players from Kandy SC was dearly felt as Sri Lanka slumped to the 6th position in the Asian circuit, having been a regular top four nation. 

For purposes of the record, Kanchana Ramanayake and Samuel Ogbebor did not take the field yesterday due to concussions suffered on Friday.

Asian powerhouse Japan suffered a shock 21-14 defeat at the hands of South Korea in the men’s Cup semi-final that resulted in South Korea and Hong Kong qualifying from the Asian region to participate at next year’s Sevens World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa. In a one-sided Cup final, Hong Kong outplayed South Korea 33-07. 

Japanese women overcame their Chinese counterparts in a closely contested Cup final by 14 points to 12. Hong Kong took third place defeating Kazakhstan. 

In a one-sided Plate Segment final Sri Lanka women were drubbed 45-00 by Thailand. Sri Lanka women were no match for the Thai women who had in their ranks two players of Fijian origin. Sri Lanka looked tired, out of sorts from the kickoff and repeatedly fumbled possession and was guilty of failing to take on the first tackle.

Earlier on sanity prevailed when a gentlemanly Benjamin Gollings clarified the final result of the Sri Lanka-Philippines men’s Plate semi-final encounter with the Philippines management which according to the tournament organisers had been won by Philippines 26-24. The Philippines management very professionally accepted that the version of Gollings was in fact correct. The corrected result of 28-26 in favour of Sri Lanka confirmed their place in the Plate final.

A hat-trick of converted tries by Ravindu Anjula in the first half almost sealed the game for Sri Lanka, only to see the Philippines creeping into the game late in the first half with an unconverted try. Sri Lanka led 21-05 at halftime. All three tries were converted by scrum-half Ishan Maduranga. A two-try blitz by Philippines early in the second half brought them within a couple of points of Sri Lanka. Looking a little rattled and pegged back into their half, Sri Lanka took the opposition by surprise counter-attacking and setting Nishon Perera free for an 80-metre run that resulted in an under the posts try. Nuwan Perera obliged with the conversion. Philippines scored a last-ditch try and the successful conversion brought about a misconception of a Sri Lankan defeat. 

Meanwhile, the individual brilliance of Sri Lankan skipper Dulani Pallikkondage carried the women’s team into the final of the Plate Segment last evening. The game looked all but lost with barely a couple of minutes remaining (Philippines leading 15-12) and the Philippines perched deep in Sri Lankan territory. Then came the act of rescue when Pallikkondage first ran across the 10-metre line at pace and straightened accelerating further by the left flank to cover nearly 90 metres to score under the posts. In effect, she out-sprinted the entire Philippines side. The ensuing successful conversion gave Sri Lanka a 19-15 win. 

It was Sri Lanka who scored first, Dulani Pallikkondage doing the scoring honours. A strong response followed with the Philippines spreading the ball wide to draw level. Thereafter Sri Lanka scored from its own half. Anusha Attanayake hit a gap to touch down for a converted try. Two unconverted tries in succession by the Philippines after the turnaround had them in the lead before Pallikkondage stole the show. Anusha Attanayake and Anushika Samaraweera obliged with the conversions. 

Yesterday’s results

Men’s

Plate semi-finals: Sri Lanka beat Philippines 28-26, UAE beat Malaysia 31-14 

Cup semi-finals: Hong Kong beat China 24-00, South Korea beat Japan 21-14 

7th/8th playoff: Malaysia beat Philippines 28-19 

Plate final: UAE beat Sri Lanka 29-10 

3rd/4th playoff: Japan beat China 26-19 

Cup final: South Korea beat Hong Kong 

Women’s

Plate semi-finals: Thailand beat Malaysia 22-00, Sri Lanka beat Philippines 19-15

Cup semi-finals: Japan beat Hong Kong 29-00, China beat Kazakhstan 24-19 

7th/8th playoff: Malaysia beat Philippines 12-10 

Plate final: Thailand beat Sri Lanka 45-00 

3rd /4th playoff: Hong Kong beat Kazakhstan 12-10 

Cup final: Japan beat China 14-12.

Hong Kong men's team emerge champions at Dialog Asia Rugby Sevens

Dulani Pallikondage runs through for a try against Philippines

Nishon Perera breaks free against Philippines