Sri Lanka beats Chinese Taipei 39/8 in A5N

Sri Lanka spurred themselves with an inspiring performance as a unit as they thumped Chinese Taipei by 39-8 at the Asian 5 Nation Division I rugby match played at Havelock Park yesterday. The spirited Tuskers after initiating a cautious game plan roughed up to put up an entertaining and more clinical second half, where they added 33 points during that session.

The winners led the halftime by 6-3 after fullback Reeza Mubarak successfully put over two penalties before Chinese Taipei shot a penalty minutes prior to the short whistle. After resumption Sri Lanka added five tries as Mubarak converted three of them and scrum half Roshan Weeraratne put over one.

After a slender 6-3 lead they gained in the first half, Sri Lanka came into the game with a positive approach as winger Chamara Dabare sidestepped a couple of opponents in the 43rd minute to score a spectacular try which went unconverted.

Hooker Namal Rajapaksa playing on advantage on Chinese Taipei’s 10-metre line attempted to penetrate the try line but skipper and flanker Yoshitha Rajapaksa made a sudden breakthrough from the ruck to score in the 51st minute.

Six minutes later deputy skipper and fly half Fazil Marija made an intercepting collection from the 40-metre line to canter all the way to score under-the-post. After his initial spectacular breakthrough, Marija made his second stunning breach from the fringes of the try line to steal the ball from Chinese Taipei defenders in the 62nd minute.

Five minutes later when Sri Lanka was totally in control over their opponent’s 22, scrum half Weeraratne offloaded the ball to replacement lock Sumedha Malawana who ran a short distance to touch down.

Chinese Taipei applied heavy pressure to score their solitary try which went unconverted moments before the final whistle. Coach Ravin du Plessis speaking to reporters after the game said Sri Lanka will have to do a bit of touching up before their next outing which comes in three days. “I can say I’m happy but not overwhelmed. We played well in patches. It’s good for a start, it was a good contest. During the first 20 minutes we did not play with a structure. We have to go back and see what really happened, and make sure we play with a structure. Winning the next game against Thailand is our priority. We will not take them lightly. Thailand surprised Colombo by beating Kazakhstan earlier today. We will definitely target a win,” du Plessis said.

Sri Lanka will play Thailand on Wednesday at the same venue after Kazakhstan take on Chinese Taipei.