Havelocks have the edge over Air Force

Ranjeeva Seneviratne

RUGBY: Havelocks Sports Club which is in a buoyant mood after notching up two successive wins over Old Zahirians (48-0) and Army (20-10) should make it three in a row by overcoming Sri Lanka Air Force in their Caltex ‘A’ Division League rugby match at Havelock Park today. The kick off is scheduled for 4.45 p.m.

The Park Club which suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Police (12-16) in their very first match have improved tremendously since then and should emerge victorious today against the Airmen who suffered a morale-shattering 3-82 defeat at the hands of Kandy SC five days ago.

Havelocks will field the same outfit which did duty for them against Army last week while the Airmen have made three changes. Two players who played a key role in the success of the Airmen in segment two of the ‘A’ Division league last year - Pathum Ediriweera and Lasantha Bandara will make a welcome return to the side today.

Bandara will come into the second row displacing Kodagoda while Ediriweera has been brought in as a flanker with Sirej Niranga moving to the wing. The other change is in the back division with Rohan Fernando who missed the last game returning to the side to man the last line of defence.

Up front a terrific tussle for supremacy can be expected with the powerful Havelocks forwards especially Hassen, Rajiv Perera, Jayasena, Dissanayake, Jayasuriya and Harrison being confronted by equally good forwards in Ranasinghe, Vithanage, Saumya Silva, Soysa, Ediriweera and skipper Kurukulasuriya of Air Force.

The set scrums should be shared between Havelocks Rajiv Perera and Air Force’s Vithanage while in the line outs the Havelocks trio of Jayasena, Dissanayake and Jayasuriya have the edge over the Air Force duo of Soysa and Kurukulasuriya.

The Park Club boasts of a superior back division. If their new halves combination of de Zoysa and Hasaranga clicks, then they should be able to make the maximum use of the possession which comes their way as they have two hard running centres in Nuwan Samith and Ruwan Suranga, while on the wing they will have the services of that elusive runner Zakir Badurdeen with full back Dilip Methruwan joining the line to form the overlap. The Airmen have been let down by their three-quarters.

They have either spilled passes at crucial moments or were tackled in possession time and again by trying to go ‘solo’. They will have to give a much better performance today if they hope to give the park club a run for their money.

Havelocks - Shafi Hassen, Rajiv Perera, Kasun Yasaisuru, Kavinda Jayasena, S. B. Dissanayake, Ravi Jayasuriya, T. D. Seneviratne, Tyronne Harrison, Dilan de Zoysa and Arushka Hasaranga, Zakir Badurdeen, Nuwan Samith, Ruwan Suranga, Chanaka Fonseka, Dilip Methruwan.

Air Force - Kosala Ranasinghe, Duminda Vithanage, Saumya Silva, Prasanna Soysa, Lasantha Bandara, Pathum Ediriweera, Pradeep Kurukulasuriya (Captain) Dinesh Weeraratne, Radeesha Seneviratne and Nalin Sirisena, Sirej Niranga, Rushika Fernando, Charith Seneviratne, Roshan Ratnayake, Rohan Fernando.

CH-Army tomorrow

The Sri Lanka Army which went down fighting to Havelocks by 10 points to 20 last week face a daunting task when they confront the formidable CH and FC at Havelock Park tomorrow.

CH and FC who rested three key players last week - Jayantha Ranaweera, Niroshan Ekanayake and Nilan Ekanayake will be at full strength tomorrow with the return of Jayantha Ranaweera and Niroshan Ekanayake.

The solders have made three changes for tomorrow’s match. The experienced K. S. P. Kumara has been brought in as fly half while Sri Lanka Sevens player Asanga Perera returns to the side to play alongside Suranga Pilimatalawa as centre. The other change is in the pack where Jayalal replaces Perera as hooker.

The forte of the Maitland Crescent Club has been their pack which is laden with national players. The ‘eight’ has been further strengthened with the inclusion of former Navy and Sri Lanka lock forward Manjula Runwantilleke.

Tomorrow CH’s power-packed forwards Malewana, Wijesekera, Sanjeewa, Ruwanthillake, Achala Perera and Ranaweera should come up with another sterling display to maintain their supremacy.

They should also get a large share of possession with Achala Perera likely to get the better of his vis-a-vis Jayalal in the set scrums while in the lines-out the CH trio of Ruwantilleke, Sanjeewa and Malewana should hold sway.

But the biggest threat to the soldiers will be posed by the sturdily built Fijian centre Jimmy Bolakoro who will test their defence to the hilt along with co-centre Dinuk de S. Wijeratne and winger Lakala Perera who has made some daring runs.

The soldiers will strive to contain CH with some rib-bruising tackling as they have some solid tacklers in Asanga Perera, Pilimatalawa and Vajira Jayatilleke.

Army - Nushal Meepage (Captain), Jayalal, Palihena, Sarath Kumara, Ajith Susantha, Kobbekaduwa, Pushpakumara, Manoj Silva, Sandun Dharshana or Alwis and K. S. P. Kumara, Vajira Jayathilleke, Asanga Perera, Suranga Pilimatalawa, Duminda Wickremaratne, Kapila Knowlton.

CH and FC - Jayantha Ranaweera, Achala Perera, Damith Perera, Dinesh Sanjeewa, Manjula Ruwantilleke, Sumedha Malewana, Dilanka Wijesekera (Captain), Rajiv Ganapathy, Roy Nishantha and Sajith Bandara, Lakala Perera, Jimmy Bolakoro, Dinuk de S. Wijeyaratne, Niroshan Ekanayake, Matheesha de Silva.