27 January 2023 12:30 am Views - 251
By Harsha Amarasinghe & Sandun Kodithuwakku
| Ishara Madushan - Air Force |
| Stephan Gregory - Navy |
Navy Sports Club will look to return to the top four of inter club league rugby tournament when they face Air Force Sports Club at Welisara today.
The Sailors are currently placed fifth in the points table with 14 points but a victory over Airmen will put them back in the top four.
Lock Dhananjaya Seneviratne is set to miss out with Radeesha Seneviratne Nirosh Perera in second row while the rest of the pack remains unchanged from their close defeat to CR and FC last week.
The Sailors are also expected to make one change to their backline with wing three quarter Gayan Anuruddha replacing Thanuja Malinbada.
Air Force who are currently sitting on fourth place however, refused to provide their team amid numerous attempts from Daily Mirror.
Their so-called Team Manager Nalaka Kulasekara though promised to provide the team by the evening when Daily Mirror contacted him several times in the morning and afternoon, opted not to answer his mobile phone trying to gain an unfair advantage.
Daily Mirror understands the importance of the game for both the teams as they have set sights on that all important fourth place. However, being able to read the Navy team this morning, the Air Force gain an unfair advantage which is a real shame and certainly not the right spirit with which the sports personalities should go about their business.
In all fairness, Air Force has been the worst club in the top division for the last few decades, so obviously a chance to sneak into top four would look like an opportunity of a life time for them, but the manner which they have gone about it shows that small clubs make small-minded decisions.
Navy XV:
Charith Silva, Pulasthi Dissanayake, Deshan Vimukthy, Radeesha Seneviratne, Nirosh Perera, Adeesha Weeratunga, Gihan Perera, Janith Laksara, Harsha Maduranga and Dinesh de Silva, Thilina Weerasinghe, Mushin Faleel, Lahiru Herath, Gayan Anuruddha, Samuel Maduwantha