Dreadful Sri Lanka hit by desert storm

By Ranil Prematilake in Dubai

In what turned out to be the 24th and last game (under lights) at the Dubai Sports City Rugby Stadium yesterday, Sri Lanka men’s rugby team suffered a humiliating 37-00 defeat to China, their third successive battering for the day. 

China crossed the line on six occasions. Sri Lanka conceded 16 tries in the three games having touched down only thrice all day long. The result left Sri Lanka lurching in the Plate Segment with a semi-final clash against Philippines at 5.58 p.m on Saturday (SL time).

Hong Kong women completely outplayed Sri Lanka under lights condemning Sri Lanka to the Plate Segment of the competition. A dominant Hong Kong outfit added four more tries to the two scored in the first half and Sri Lanka could only score a solitary try through skipper Dulani Pallikkondage in the 38-05 result. Sri Lanka is slotted to lock horns with Philippines today in the second semi-final of the women’s segment at 4.52 p.m. (SL Time). Going by the performances on Friday, Sri Lankan women stand a good chance of progressing to the Plate Segment final. 

However, Sri Lanka women held on for a close 12-10 win over Malaysia in their opening game of the Asian Sevens Series 2021. A blistering 60-metre run by Skipper Pallikkondage gave Sri Lanka the lead through an unconverted try. However the Malaysian girls drew level by half time. Sri Lanka shot back into the lead when Nimesha Wijeyawardana hit a gap following a ruck to touch down and the try was converted by Anushika Samaraweera, which turned out to be the winning effort. A late try by Malaysia once again unconverted condemned them to defeat.

The second game for the Sri Lankan women against China was a mismatch to state the least. Barring the first couple of minutes where Sri Lanka enjoyed decent possession, the rest of the game was a chasing act with China exhibiting a seven try avalanche. Chinese women were in a different league speed and physicality wise in recording the emphatic 47-00 win. 

Earlier in the day, Sri Lankan men could not get their campaign underway in similar fashion to that of the women and were struck down early, well and truly, by the Japanese who ran in three unanswered tries in the first half to lead 19-00. The latter half belonged to Sri Lanka, so to state. A couple of converted tries, one of which was the last move of the game, could not make any material impact on the result of the game. Tries for Sri Lanka were scored by Sachith Silva and Nishon Perera with the conversions coming off the boot of Nuwan Perera. The final score line read 31-14 in favour of Japan.

Host nation and newcomers to the top division of Asian men’s 7’s rugby the United Arab Emirates (UAE) inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Sri Lanka. In a display of total dominance, the UAE ran in five tries to which Sri Lanka could only respond with a solitary try by Janidu Dilshan. The result was a second straight defeat that effectively knocked Sri Lanka out of Cup Competition contention. 

Results: 
Women’s:
Japan beat Kazakhstan 21-07, Thailand beat Philippines 31-05, China beat Hong Kong 22-05, Sri Lanka beat Malaysia 12-10, Japan beat Thailand 17-05, Kazakhstan beat Philippines 48-00, China beat Sri Lanka 47-00, Hong Kong beat Malaysia 54-05, Japan beat Philippines 61-00, Kazakhstan drew with Thailand 5-5, China beat Malaysia 45-10 and Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 38-05. 
Men’s: 
Hong Kong beat South Korea 14-07, Philippines beat Malaysia 19-12, Japan beat Sri Lanka 31-14, China beat UAE 29-17, South Korea beat Philippines 46-00, Hong Kong beat Malaysia 40-00, Japan beat China 26-00, UAE beat Sri Lanka 29-07, South Korea beat Malaysia 40-07, Hong Kong beat Philippines 29-00, Japan beat UAE 27-19, China beat Sri Lanka 37-00.