Magical moments of magnificent Madagascar rugby

Magical moments of magnificent Madagascar rugby

Chris Dhambarage

The magnificent Madagascar rugby team put up a stunning performance to turn tables on the hosts Sri Lanka and Poland to lift the inaugural IRB Sanctioned Dialog Serendib Cup International Triangular tournament which concluded at the Race Course ground in Reid Avenue on Friday.

The African Nation dished out some champagne rugby to oust the more fancied Poland team by 25 points to 21 points in their second encounter after having earlier edged out Sri Lanka by 17 points to 12 points in the opening match of the tournament.

Their success had a great amount of significance considering the fact that they were the last ranked team (44) out of the three competing countries with Poland very much ahead in the 28th position while Sri Lanka started the tournament boasting with the IRB Ranking of 39th position.      

In addition Madagascar boast a brief history of competitive rugby having figured in their maiden international fixture against Italy in 1970 while going down 9-17 and had the credit of recording their first ever triumph over Kenya in 1987.  

However the Madagascar team was able to completely change the form book upside down with back-to-back victories inside four days which further justified their growing popularity as one of the top contenders to join the race for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.

In fact Madagascar started their campaign for the Dialog Serendib Cup Triangular tournament in a good frame of mind after they defeated Uganda 48-32 to retain their place in the top division of the Confederation Africaine de Rugby (CAR) Africa Cup in Antananarivo.

A jubilant coach of the Madagascar rugby team Canitrot Philippe believed that their success in the IRB Dialog Serendib Cup Triangular tournament further underlined their ever-increasing depth of African Rugby on a global stage.

Even then for Madagascar their success came in as a surprise considering the fact that both Sri Lanka and Poland were the favourites to win the event after their outstanding performances in the recent past. 

“I am a little bit surprised at this performance but anyway the boys really put their one hundred percent in both games and full credit should be given to the players for defeating two top teams,” said a proud Madagascar coach Canitrot Philippe.

The Madagascar coach also stated that the team worked hard in the last two weeks during practices to iron out some of their weaknesses and were able to produce a vastly improved performance at the end.    

“I think the key to our success was our excellent defence because we concentrated and worked a lot on this specific area during the last two weeks which ultimately paved the way for us to win the tournament.”

“I had no doubt about our attacking options because they had played some good rugby back at home in the recent African Cup Championship but it was on the defence that I had some concern prior to the start of this event.”

Philippe also believed that overcoming Sri Lanka on their home turf was a great achievement for his team which will be another real morale booster in their attempt towards qualifying for the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. 

“I had not seen much about the Sri Lankan players but they are very good ball carriers and my biggest worry was how to contain their powerful back division which had done a lot of damage at the recent HSBC Asian Sevens Series.”

The Madagascar coach further noted that the hot climate in Colombo did not have a great bearing on his players but certainly enjoyed playing in front of a rugby passionate crowd similar to their fans at home.   

“The conditions and the hot climate are very much similar to our environment and the players really enjoyed themselves playing at the picturesque Race Course ground in Colombo.”

 

Philippe also stressed the importance of conducting regular tournaments of this nature and complimented the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) for putting up a tremendous task to further enhance the game in the region.       

“I think tournaments of this nature will provide an invaluable platform to step up in the performances and IRB Rankings as well as the opportunity for the emerging nations to play international matches outside of their own region,” added the Madagascar coach.

In fact the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union has a cohesive three-year plan in place to take this tournament to an event that will host over 18 teams while making it the second tier World Cup of rugby as envisioned by the IRB allowing for a much larger involvement from the developing nations in the game.                

The Dialog Serendib Cup Triangular tournament also served as a pan-regional competition in Asia that will further enhance the profile of Asian Rugby and International Rugby in Sri Lanka as the region is set to host the Rugby World Cup for the first time in 2019 in Japan.

The Madagascar team statistics: Games played: 36, Games won: 19, Games lost: 15, Games drawn: 2, Most wins in a row: 4, Most losses in a row: 3, Teams played: 13, Teams beaten: 12, Teams lost to: 5, Largest points for: 59 (59 - 18), Largest points against: 116 (116 - 0), Largest winning margin: 41 (59 - 18), Largest losing margin: 116 (116 - 0), Total points for: 819, Total points against: 1,059, Average points for: 24.82, Average points against: 32.09, Average points difference: -7.27