Sri Lanka edged out by Hong Kong

The Sri Lankan Sevens out fit finished runners-up after the first leg in Hong Kong

Hong Kong stamped their class at the Asian Rugby Sevens 2016 first leg at the Hong Kong Rugby Football Club grounds in Happy Valley when they edged out Sri Lanka 22-17 in the Cup finals which was marred by a poor refereeing decision when the home team secured a knock-on try during the last few minutes of the game. 

Sri Lanka, fielding a youthful team for this series after several of their leading Sevens stars missed out on playing due to injuries, performed remarkably well to end the first leg in second position. This is the first time Sri Lanka has secured a place in the Cup final since the inception of the series in 2011. Japan are the defending champions of the Asian Sevens Series.

Although many thought that the game would be a one-sided affair with the relatively inexperienced Sri Lankan side going up against a seasoned Hong Kong team, it was not to be as the game was tight and the ideal finale between the two top teams in Asia. 

Sri Lanka scored first through skipper Dhanushka Ranjan who powered his way through Hong Kong’s defence. Dulaj Perera added the extra two points but the lead was short-lived as Hong Kong hit back soon through an unconverted try. Minutes later Hong Kong took the lead with another try when Tharinda Ratwatte opted to kick and lost possession, with Hong Kong collecting the ball and scoring to enter halftime leading the Lankans 12-7.

After the turnaround two quick tries from Jason Dissanayake and skipper Dhanushka Ranjan put Sri Lanka ahead 17-12 with two minutes of play left. To everyone’s  surprise Sri Lanka received a penalty and Omalka Gunaratne opted to kick that too, sending the ball into the hands of a Hong Kong player through this move. Then came the controversial try for Hong Kong which clearly saw a knocked on infringement occur before the player crossed the line.

The referee, consulting with the in-goal referee, decided to award the try, giving the home team a 19-17 lead. Hong Kong, who were in a confident mood, kept on attacking and were awarded a penalty which was taken accurately to seal a 22-17 first leg win.

Hong Kong will collect 12 points while Sri Lanka (10), South Korea (8) and China (7) will look to do better in the second leg in Seoul, South Korea in three weeks’ time.

Sri Lanka played a much improved and revamped Chinese outfit in the semifinals earlier in the morning. China scored first but the lead was short-lived as Kevin Dixon, who had an outstanding tournament, broke free and covered nearly 50 meters to touch down for a try. Dulaj Perera added the extra two points. But China hit back with a try on the stroke of halftime to take a 10-7 lead.

After the turnaround Dhanushka Ranjan scored a solo try, covering nearly 40 meters and eluding a few Chinese defenders, to take the lead to 14-10. 

Midway through the second half China took the lead with a converted try to have the score reading 17-14 in their favour. Sri Lanka won the ball in the second phase and moved the ball from Dulaj to Ranjan and in the end Hirantha Perera covered nearly 30 meters to score the winning try and take Sri Lanka to 19-17, giving it its first Asian Sevens Series finals appearance in its six years playing at this tournament.

 Speaking to Daily FT the Head Coach of the Sri Lankan outfit Matt Turner said: “We played well with a fresher full side. A few wrong decisions cost us the game. We kicked away possession and through our mistakes they scored.” 

Skipper Ranjan said: “We came here with a young outfit and all of them played well and gave their best. I thought for a moment that we had the game in the bag but due to our mistakes we lost the final. We will bounce back in the second leg and we want to beat Hong Kong which is not impossible as we showed everyone here today. They are more experienced but they cracked under pressure. A few decisions went against us; after all it is part of the game and we will move forward,” he said.

Sri Lanka women’s outfit beat Guam and lost to Singapore in the Plate finals to secure sixth position overall in the first leg. The women’s team will get a second chance in the Colombo leg in mid-October. The women were sponsored by South Asian Gateway Terminals (SAGT).

Men

Final

Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 22-17

3rd place play off

South Korea beat China 33-14

Semi Finals

Cup

Hong Kong beat South Korea 28-14, Sri Lanka beat China 19-17

Plate

Japan beat Taipei 10-5, Singapore beat Malaysia 14-12

Plate final

Japan beat Singapore 7-0

7th place play-off

Taipei beat Malaysia 22-7

Women

Cup

Final

Japan beat China 14-7

3rd place play-off

Hong Kong beat Thailand 36-7

Semifinals

Japan beat Thailand 43-0, China beat Hong Kong 19-7

Plate final

Singapore beat Sri Lanka 10-7

Plate semifinal

Singapore beat Uzbekistan 27-0, Sri Lanka beat Guam 26-0

7th place play-off

Guam beat Uzbekistan 46-0