Kandy win club Sevens

By Shamseer Jaleel

Defending League and Clifford Cup champions Kandy, under national Fifteens and Sevens skipper Fazil Marija, stamped their class when they got the better of defending Sevens champions Havelocks 17-10, in a tense final at the Race Course Rugby grounds yesterday.

At the breather Havies led 10-7. Kandy drew first blood through a Nigel Ratwatte try. Marija added the extra two points. But Havies hit back through their skipper Sandun Herath, who found a gaping hole in the Kandy defence. Minutes later Havies took the lead through a try from burly second-rower Shenal Dias. Both went unconverted by Dulaj Perera. After the turnaround, tries were scored by Richard Dharmapala and Nigel Ratwatte to take a 17-10 lead. During the last two minutes it was Havies’ Dhanushka Ranjan who was on the attack and covered nearly 70 meters before a match-saving tackle by Dharmapala kept him from not only scoring but also gave an opportunity for Kandy to win the Club Sevens, the first trophy on offer for the year.  

Kandy beat Army SC B, scoring the highest score of the tournament, winning 70-0 in the quarterfinals. Moving into the semifinals after being held 7-7, they fought back with two back-to-back tries by Vishwamithra Jayasinghe and skipper Marija to move towards the Cup final. The Havies too had an easy quarterfinal win over Navy A 26-12 with Ranjan playing excellent running rugby along with skipper Herath, both of whom looked unstoppable. In the semifinal they overcame Police SC 33-0.   

CR&FC, after going down to Kandy, went on to win the Plate finals when they outclassed Police 33-0. The Red Shirts are coached by former Sri Lanka Sevens player and Head Coach Imthisam Marrikar.

Pool matches

Havelocks A beat Navy A 26/12, Police beat Navy B 22/10, Kandy SC beat Army B 70/0, CR & FC beat Army A 45/0, Havelocks SC B beat Petersons SC 32/0, Police B beat Air Force A 24/14, Police SC beat Havelocks B 19/17

Bowl Final

Navy A beat Army A 29/7

Plate Final

CR & FC beat Police 33/0

Cup Semifinal

Havelocks SC A beat Police A 33/0

Kandy SC beat CR & FC 19/7

Cup Final

Kandy SC beat Havelocks A 17/10