CR produce champagne rugby to blitz CH 27-19 | Daily News

CR produce champagne rugby to blitz CH 27-19

 Action from the match between Kandy SC and Navy SC.  (Pix by Sudath Nishantha)
Action from the match between Kandy SC and Navy SC. (Pix by Sudath Nishantha)

CR and FC produced the great qualities of a champion side for the first time this season as they brought down the arch-rivals CH and FC 27-19 in their SLR Nippon Paint Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament first-round encounter played at the Racecourse Grounds in Colombo.


Action from the match between Police SC and Air Force SC

This was probably the best performance by the team from Longden Place as they dished out some champagne rugby to record their third and the second successive victory of the tournament.

CR and FC, who celebrated their Centenary Year in 2022, are now very much top contenders to regain the coveted league title after a lapse of more than two decades having started the tournament as underdogs. Following a disappointing previous season and after just four games this year, CR and FC have transformed their talented side into a formidable unit and are looking ahead towards achieving more glory.

CR and FC’s plan to stick with some of the promising youth players this season have certainly brought them the desired results with Gemunu Chethiya and Marsheed Doray adding a lot of firepower to their back division.

In fact, dashing wing three quarter Chethiya had an outstanding game while scoring a try during each half while full back Doray planted their first try early on to set up a comprehensive victory.


Action from the match between CR and FC and CH and FC

The only concern for the CR and FC will be the high number of yellow cards where five of their players were sent to the sin-bin with four yellow cards coming in the second half.

The most encouraging performance for the CH and FC came from their new place-kicker Nethmina Hirusha, who booted five neat penalties to underline his talent and potential.

Police SC v Air Force SC

Meanwhile, Police SC produced the ingredients of success for the first time this season as they defeated Air Force SC 21-15 in another Nippon Paint Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament fixture played at Ratmalana.

This was no doubt a huge turnaround for Police SC, who had been at the receiving end having suffered three back-to-back defeats at the hands of Navy SC (7-15), Army SC (23-25) and CR and FC (19-36) respectively.

Air Force SC, of course, came into this game with a lot of confidence and with a better track record after having produced a tremendous performance in the previous outing against the defending champions Kandy SC at the Nittawela Stadium.

However, Police SC came out with a different game plan and surprised their more fancied opponents while running down three superb tries through Mohamed Faumy, Nisal Samadhi and Hashan Fernando.

Kandy SC v Navy SC

Kandy SC lived to fight another day as they edged out Navy SC 21-18 in another SLR Nippon Paint Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament match played at the Nittawela Stadium.

The defending champions, not for the first time this season, came under tremendous pressure after Navy SC scored their second try in the 65th-minute to reduce the margin to just three points.

But Kandy SC, as they have performed successfully in the previous games, were able to absorb the pressure and held their nerve during the latter stages to deprive Navy SC from pulling off an upset win.


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