Lanka clears initial hurdle towards Cup final

HSBC Asian Rugby Series 4^th and final leg

Lanka clears initial hurdle towards Cup final

The Sri Lanka men’s rugby team cleared their initial hurdle in their attempt towards reaching the Cup Championship final by recording two good victories on the opening day of the HSBC Asian Rugby Series fourth and final leg which commenced in Singapore yesterday.

The Tuskers started their campaign in a spectacular manner by recording a rousing 43 points to nil victory over Indonesia and then followed up with an exciting 17-15 triumph over the Philippines to secure the top position in group ‘C’.

Their success against the Philippines had a great amount of significance as they were trailing 12-15 going into the last few seconds of the game after Srinath Sooriyabandara had done the early scoring with two superb tries in the first half to increase his overall aggregate to a staggering 86 points in the series.

However it was skipper Fazil Marija who really turned the game in Sri Lanka’s favour by producing a dazzling performance where he blew off the Philippine hopes of an upset victory by producing an 80 metre dash to score under the post.          

Earlier Sri Lanka went on a scoring spree in their opening fixture of the tournament while completely outplaying Indonesia who was making their debut in this year's HSBC Asian Sevens Rugby Series.

The Sri Lankans scored four early tries in the first half to build up a commanding 26 nil lead at half time and went on to add three more tries to their tally in the second half and to complete a morale boosting victory.   

Jason Dissanayake and Sandun Herath scored two tries each while Saliya Kumara, newcomer Lavanga Perera and Sudarshana Muthuthanthri scored a try each for the winners. (C.D)

The Cup Championship quarterfinal line up: Hong Kong v Philippines, Korea v Chinese Taipei, Japan v Malaysia, Sri Lanka v China

The Singapore Sevens Standings

Group A                    P          W        L          PF       PA       PTS

Hong Kong               2          2          0          46       0          8

China                                     2          1          1          24       24       4         

Singapore                 2          0          2          14       60       0

Group B                    P          W        L          PF       PA       PTS

South Korea             2          2          0          59       0          8

Malaysia                   2          1          1          43       21       4

UAE                            2          0          2          0          81       0

Group C                    P          W        L          PF       PA       PTS

Sri Lanka                   2          2          0          60       15       8

Philippines               2          1          1          54       17       4

Indonesia                 2          0          2          0          82       0

Group D                    P          W        L          PF       PA       PTS

Japan                                     2          2          0          85       0          8

Chinese Taipei         2          1          1          14       38       4

Thailand                    2          0          2          7          68       0

Note: Tabulated under played, won, lost, points for, points against and total points.