SL youth players face stiff challenge against HK

Wednesday, 24 September 2014 00:14 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shamseer Jaleel Sri Lanka’s youth rugby team, led Fly Half Tharinda Ratwatte, will face a stern test against Hong Kong in the second game of the Asian Region Junior World Rugby Tournament which will kick off at 4.30 p.m. today at the Race Course Grounds. This is a must-win game for the hosts if they hope to secure a berth at the Youth Rugby World Cup, which will take place in Lisbon, Portugal next year.

Both South Korea and Taipei will start off today’s proceedings when they lock horns with each other at 2.30 p.m. In the opening game Sri Lanka were edged out by South Koreans with Tharinda Ratwatte leading from the front by contributing 13 points for the Sri Lankan outfit. Also playing their hearts out were pack leader Omalka Gunaratne with some daring moves splitting the opponent’s defense on a number of occasions. In defense too he was rock solid. Sanchana Sheik, Tariq Salih and Kevin Dixon were the other players who had an outstanding game. Tharinda and his boys must be mindful of their defense which looked in pieces at times. The three-quarter moves were good against South Korea. The Hong Kong outfit, which has been together at training for more than one month, looked a solid side after their run away 44-5 win over the Taipei team in the opening game. Hong Kong team comprises John Markley, Thomas Gibb, Sjors Laurijsen, Charles Field, Calvin Hunter, Alessandro Nardoni, Raef Morrison, Richard Lewis, Matthew Worley, Liam Owens, Danial Davidson, Jordan Cooper, Hugo Chui , Eric Kwok, Hugo Stiles, Michael Early, Ken Encarnacion, Callum Smith, Maxwell Woolf, Aiden Bradley, Dominic Lam, Yun Shun Luk and Kevin Field. The Sri Lankan side is made up of Anuradha Karunathilake, Nisal Desatha, Ganuka Dissayanke, Dilprasanth Peiris, Isuru Rangala, Taariq Salih, Senal Silva, Omalka Gunarathne , Sudam Sureyaaarachchi , Tharinda Ratwatte , Asela Wijeysinghe, Sanchana Shiek , Kevin Dixon , Prince Chamara, Nimshan Jayawardana, Supun Warunakulasuriya, Stephan Greogory, Direndra Ratwatte, Prasad Silva, Lochana Giriyagama and Banuka Mahesh. The game will be refereed by Tim Baker.