Sports

Rugby show went on despite turmoil and leg pulling

Published

2 years ago

2023/11/15

Despite the turmoil in rugby SLR was able to field a team at the rugby sevens event of the Asian Games, hosted by China a few months ago

By A Special Sports Correspondent

The 2023-24 domestic rugby season is set to commence in December (2023) and the good news that supersedes all rugby news is that World Rugby (WR) has lifted the ban placed on Sri Lanka Rugby.

Sri Lanka’s rugby community or fraternity was forced to endure much tension and uncertainty during the current year due to the political interference in rugby. As a result of the ban the national team was not allowed to contest some of the major overseas tournaments. WR imposed a ban on SLR on May 17, 2023. Just a few days ago WR announced the reinstating of SLR’s membership with the world rugby controlling body; subject to three conditions. As reported in media outlets one of the conditions is that any official of SLR who has been suspended by WR or Asian Rugby cannot serve the Sri Lanka rugby controlling body. Officials serving the SLR have been allowed to function till March 2024.

Still with all these issues SLR was able to field a team at the rugby sevens event of the Asian Games, hosted by China a few months ago. Sri Lanka had to field a team under the ‘Olympic Council of Asia’ flag due to the ban it was serving. Sri Lanka faired disastrously at this rugby sevens event and finished tenth out of 13 teams that were in the fray. It was heartening to see a player like Tharinda Ratwatte of Kandy SC coming forward to take the responsibility as captain and lead the side from the front. There was little time for preparations. But living up to the sporty dictum that ‘participation is key whether a team wins or loses’ the team comprising the cream of the island’s players gave rugby fans at home something to cheer about by taking the fight up to their opponents at the tournament held in China.

The outside world is often surprised when they hear of the passion for the game played with the oval shaped ball in this little island. In Sri Lanka rugby is second only to cricket; in terms of popularity. What really shocks outsiders is that despite the rich traditions and long history in the game Sri Lanka rugby remains little recognized and lacking in achievements in the international scene. This is largely because the clubs own the players and not SLR and players grabbed by clubs for fat pay cheque contracts to perform in domestic competitions often make themselves unavailable for national duty because assignments such as overseas tournaments expose players to injury. We’ve also heard of players selected for overseas tournaments not living up to the standards shown at home; hence such players being ignored by the selection committee when it’s time to compile a team for international tournaments.

Other than for that issue the rugby scene at this island is live and kicking. This year saw Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club (CR&FC) continue with their celebrations for their ‘Centenary Year’ which officially began in September, 2022. The highlight of that celebration was the hosting of a sevens tournament which featured eight major clubs. The organizers also had competitions for schools and ladies teams. Kandy SC marked their presence at the event by winning the Cup competition and also underscored that they have the players to win and much to offer when there is a seven-a-side competition in the domestic scene.

Reflecting on the previous domestic rugby season that concluded Kandy SC prevailed over the other teams during the league tournament. Fazil Marija coached the side which was led by Damith Dissanayake. They won their 23rd league title and entertained their fans with some scintillating performances in the 15-a-side version of the game.

Unfortunately they made themselves unavailable in the knockout tournament, which was won by CR & FC.

CR & FC did well last season to finish second in the league. The Red Shirts were coached last season by Dushanth Lewke and led by Kavindu de Costa. Though losing the league CR & FC won the Clifford Cup knockout tournament by beating Navy Sports Club 24-18 in the final.

The other two teams which fared well in the season that concluded were Police and Army; rugby analysts predicting a bright future for the ‘soldiers’ in the upcoming season given the way they performed last season. Havelocks Sports Club hung in there while CH & FC proved a disappointment; finishing last in the league tournament that featured eight teams.

Last season there were quite a few rugby activities held by SLR despite the turmoil in the domestic scene; the analysis of World Rugby underscoring that all that was due to political interference which amounted to breach of a Word Rugby by-law. But when it came to the ban on SLR another reason was also highlighted by World Rugby; such as concerns over governance by SLR.

Some of the activities which caught the attention of rugby fans were the Mercantile Sevens and Plantation Sevens. All in all SLR had the ‘rugby show’ going despite the leg pulling activities by individuals who walk on the corridors of power.

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Rinku, Narine win Kolkata Knight Riders error-strewn Super Over game

Published

5 hours ago

2026/04/27

Priyan

Rinku Singh sealed the win in the Super Over [Cricinfo]

In a battle between the bottom-placed teams, momentum shifted hands multiple times before Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Super Over, with Rinku Singh playing a pivotal role throughout the game.

Before the Super Over (effectively four balls across both innings), the 20th over of each innings in regulation time had the biggest say in an error-strewn game. After 19 overs, KKR were 129 for 7. Rinku smashed Digvesh Rathi for four successive sixes in a 26-run over to take them to 155 for 7. Rinku finished on 83 not out off 51 balls, his highest score in T20s

In the chase, LSG needed 17 from six balls with Himmat Singh and Mohammed Shami at the crease. Kartik Tyagi conceded successive no-balls off beamers before dismissing Himmat, but served up a half-volley with seven needed from one ball, and Shami launched it over long-off to tie the game.

The Super Over was an anti-climax. Sunil Narine bowled Nicholas Pooran first ball and had Aiden Markram caught off the third, with Rishabh Pant managing a single in between. Here, too, Rinku had a hand to play. When Markram launched Narine towards long-on, Rovman Powell sprinted round to his left, caught the ball at the boundary, and flicked the ball towards long-off, where Rinku completed the catch. This was in addition to his four catches earlier in the match.

Then, taking strike in KKR’s Super Over, he drove Prince Yadav’s first ball through cover point for four to seal the win.

Before all that, Mohsin Khan’s maiden five-for in T20 cricket had KKR reeling. In the second over of the innings, he had Tim Seifert caught at extra cover with a 142.4kph delivery. It was the second successive duck for Seifert, and a third wicket-maiden for Mohsin in this IPL.

In his next over, Mohsin slipped in a slower ball at 124.6kph. Ajinkya Rahane charged down the pitch but ended up miscuing the ball to Aiden Markram, who back-pedalled from mid-off to take the catch.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi pushed the last ball of the fifth over towards mid-on and set off for a single. Cameron Green sent him back while Shami went for a direct hit at the striker’s end. Raghuvanshi made a big U-turn and ended up taking the throw on his body as he dived to make ground. The LSG players appealed for obstructing the field, and the TV umpire gave it out, saying the batter “clearly changed his direction”.

Raghuvanshi wasn’t happy. He first argued with the on-field umpires, and then flung his helmet in anger as he neared the boundary line.

Mohsin returned to bowl the seventh over of the innings and straightaway had Rovman Powell gloving a pull to Pant. Cameron Green tried to counterattack. He hit two sixes off George Linde and one off Mohsin, but when he attempted another pull off Mohsin, he ended up skying it behind the stumps. Pant ran towards the boundary and completed the catch. Anukul Roy chipped the very next ball to short midwicket, giving Mohsin his five-for. Immediately after that, Mohsin was replaced by Impact Player Himmat, meaning he was not available to bowl the Super Over later.

KKR were 73 for 6 after 11 overs, and it became 93 for 7 when Ramandeep Singh fell. Manish Pandey was padded up in the dugout, ready to come in as Impact Player. But he was not required as Rinku kept fighting. He reached 43 off 40 balls by the end of the 18th over and then opened up. He started the 19th by hitting Shami for 6, 4, 4 before taking Digvesh Rathi apart in the 20th. It also meant KKR could use Varun Chakravarthy as their Impact Player.

LSG reunited their tried-and-tested opening pair of Mitchell Marsh and Markram, but their union lasted only seven balls; Vaibhav Arora had Marsh caught at mid-on for 2. Arora bowled three overs in the powerplay and gave away only 13 runs. LSG finished the powerplay at 37 for 1, and by the end of the eighth over, the required rate had touched nine.

Both Markram and Pant perished in trying to keep up with the asking rate. Pooran’s poor run continued; Varun had him caught at short third for 9 off 12 balls. Mukul Choudhary had burst onto the scene with a whirlwind half-century in a similar chase against KKR earlier in the season but on Sunday, he lasted just two balls.

At 93 for 5, needing another 63 from 28 balls, LSG seemed to be down and out. But Himmat and Linde took them closer, and Shami levelled the scores with his last-ball six. But KKR made no mistake in the Super Over.

Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 155 for 7 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 10, Cameron Green 34, Rinku Singh 83*; Mohsin Khan 5-23, George Linde 1-18) beat Lucknow Super Giants 155 for 8 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 31, Rishabh Pant 42, Ayush Badoni 24, Himmat Singh 19, Mohammed Shami 11*; Anukul Roy 1-19, Vaibhav Arora 2-24,Cameron Green 1-12, Sunil Narine 1-23, Varun Chakravarthy 2-33, Kartik Tyhagi 1-41) via Super Over

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Rabada and Sudharsan crush Chennai Super Kings

Published

5 hours ago

2026/04/27

Priyan

Kagiso Rabada picked up two wickets in the fourth over [Cricinfo]

A powerplay burst from the best new-ball attack in the IPL broke Chennai Super Kings [CSK]. Kagiso Rabada picked up 3 for 25 to spearhead an eight-wicket win for Gujarat Titans and push them up to fifth place on the points table. CSK had held that position and now drop to sixth.

There seemed to be a misconception about the pitch. At the toss, Rutraj Gaikwad spoke about it being dry and not minding defending a total, the implication being spin might come into play later. What happened was the exact opposite. GT bowled Rabada and Mohammed Siraj right through the powerplay and CSK were unable to cope with the pace and bounce on offer. CSK even brought in Sarfaraz Khan as the Impact Player at the four-over mark but it didn’t work out as he fell for a golden duck.

They were 28 for 3, the third-lowest six-over score this season. Rabada was magnificent, as he usually is when someone ticks him off. Two boundaries by Sanju Samson in his first over made him mad. Two wickets in his second over, including Samson’s, made him happy. Siraj and Jason Holder went at less than run a ball. Rabada picked up 3 for 25 from four overs. GT’s spinners though leaked 43 runs in four overs. Rashid Khan bowled only six balls and gave away 21 runs.

This was an under-strength GT attack too with Prasidh Krishna not playing. Still, they denied CSK a boundary for 31 balls between overs 3.5 and 9.1. They made them wait 11.6 overs to bring up fifty, making it their second-slowest in the IPL. Gaikwad was out there for all of it. He got off the mark with two boundaries. But with all the help the quicks were getting and wickets falling at the other end, he set his stall out to play the full 20 overs. Gaikead scored 74 of CSK’s 158. He played out 30 dot balls, the joint-second highest in an IPL innings.

A crowd of 31,506 came to Chepauk. They roared for the fifty coming up even though it took 72 balls. They go gaga for Dewald Brevis’ entry, when he takes the knee just as he enters the field. He’s made 64 runs in 53 balls this season. He’s flattering to deceive. MS Dhoni isn’t attending a single match day but his disembodied voice keeps ringing out over the loud speakers saying “start the whistles”. And they do start. There is belief in Chennai but it started to fade around the 14th over of the chase when people started heading for the exit.

Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 162 for 2 in 16.4 overs (Sai Sudharsan 87, Shubman Gill 32, Jos Buttler 39*; Akeal Hosein 1-46, Noor Ahmed 1-29) beat Chennai Super Kings 158 for 7 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 11, Rutraj Gaikwad 74*, Shivam Dube 22, Kartik Sharma 15, Jamie Overton 18; Mohammed Siraj 1-23, Kagiso Rabada 3-25, Manav Suthar 1-22, Arshad Khan 2-43) by 8 wickets

[Cricinfo]

Sports

New Zealand edge Tuskers in Racecourse arm-wrestle

Published

14 hours ago

2026/04/27

Sahan Weerasooriya

A spirited performance by Sri Lanka’s Tuskers saw them putting up a tough contest against New Zealand Under-85kg at Racecourse on Saturday.

Sri Lanka’s Tuskers showed bite but not quite enough teeth as New Zealand’s Under-85kg side edged a bruising 27-16 win in the opening leg of their two-match series at Racecourse on Saturday.

Under lights for the second straight year, the visitors rode pressure, precision and a late sucker punch to take first blood in a contest that swung on momentum and discipline.

New Zealand struck early at the breakdown, forcing a turnover penalty with Sri Lanka pinged for holding on. Taine Cordell-Hull made no mistake from the tee to open the scoring.

The hosts hit back with purpose. A knock-on gifted them a scrum platform and the pack went to work, grinding through tight phases. Scrum-half Harsha Maduranga pulled the strings before releasing Mursheed Zubair, whose inside ball sent centre Akash Madushanka on a hard, direct line to crash over for the opening try.

But just as Sri Lanka found their rhythm, New Zealand pounced. Maduranga’s clearance was charged down by Josh Gellart and the ricochet sat up kindly for Simon Sia to dot down, restoring the visitors’ lead.

The Tuskers’ forwards continued to carry with intent, their rolling maul chewing up metres before the ball was shifted wide for winger Janindu Dilshan to finish in the corner. Any momentum, however, was short-lived, Dilshan was sin-binned moments later for foul play, leaving the hosts a man down.

New Zealand wasted little time exploiting the overlap. Kicking deep and setting up camp, they drove a clinical maul, with number eight Pasia Asiata peeling off the back to power over and swing the contest again.

It remained a tight arm-wrestle. Cordell-Hull added another penalty on the stroke of halftime after Sri Lanka strayed inside their own 22, while a potential home try was chalked off for offside. Thenuka Nanayakkara slotted a penalty from advantage to keep Sri Lanka within touching distance, the visitors taking a slender 16-13 lead into the break.

New Zealand resumed with the same clinical edge, winning an early breakdown penalty that Cordell-Hull converted to stretch the margin. Sri Lanka refused to fold, upping the tempo and earning a lifeline when Asiata was shown yellow for a high tackle on Madushanka. Nanayakkara kept the scoreboard ticking, trimming the deficit once more.

But the visitors held their nerve. After soaking up sustained pressure, they forced penalties of their own and Jarred Percival stepped up to bisect the uprights, giving New Zealand breathing space heading into the final quarter.

The killer blow came late. With Sri Lanka chasing the game, a loose clearance towards touch was snapped up quickly by Ben Kelt, catching the defence napping. The move opened up broken field, Pieter Swarts slicing through before sending Matt Treeby over in the corner to seal it in the 77th minute.

New Zealand finished with three tries and four penalties to Sri Lanka’s two tries and two penalties, a late flourish settling a contest that had been on a knife edge for long periods.

The Tuskers will take heart from a far sharper display, but it is New Zealand who carry the upper hand into the second leg in Kandy next week.

by Carlos Van de Berg