CR eyes third win

By Harsha Amarasinghe

CR and FC will be eager to secure their third victory of the season as they go head-to-head against Police Sports Club in their Dialog Inter-Club League Rugby Tournament match at Police Park tomorrow (24).

Both the teams were forced to make late changes to their starting line-ups after being informed yesterday afternoon that no foreign player would be eligible to take part in the competition due to a court order.

As a result, CR head coach Nilfer Ibrahim has recalled Shemal Weerasekara who would line-up with Joel Perera and Omalka Gunaratne in the third row while Mithila Perera has been rested for this game paving room for second row Panduka Angammana to make his first start of the season.

Likewise, scrum-half Rahul de Silva and wing three quarter Nalin Kumar have been given a breather with former Ispathana duo Harith Bandara and Chamod Fernando taking their places.

Kokila Sammandapperuma has returned to the first XV in place of Charana Chamikara while Hafeez Noor and Dulanjana Wijesinghe are expected to make their third start in a row for CR this season.

The Red Shirts kicking sensation Tarinda Ratwatte who struck seven penalties in the previous match will start at fly-half while captain Kavindu Perera and Rehan Silva would continue to form a mid-field partnership with Janidu Dilshan still being unavailable due to Sri Lanka Under-20 duties.

Police Sports Club was to field the same starting line-up from their gutsy display up in Kandy last week, but the court order meant that Uthpala Edirisinghe had to replace Emosi Vunivosa

POLICE XV: Lahiru Pavithra, Rasith Silva, Dhanushka Edirisooriya, Udara Sooriyapperuma, Nisal Samadhi, Vageesha Weerasinghe, Udaya Sanjula, Shanaka Harshichandra, Pramesh Dhanuka and Uthpala Edirisinghe , Amitha Prabash, Gihan Silva, , Iroshan Silva, J.Chanaka Sachith Silva.

CR and FC XV: Hafeez Noor, Dulanjana Wijesinghe, Kokila Sammandapperuma, Shehan Dias, Panduka Angammana, Joel Perera, Shemal Weerasekara, Omalka Gunarathne , Harith Bandara and Tarinda Ratwatte, Reeza Raffaideen, Rehan Silva, Kavindu Perera (captain), Chamod Fernando, Kevin Dixon.