Navy should have it easy against CR

by Ranjan ANANDAPPA

RUGBY: Navy Sports Club who are lying second in the points table should register another win when they confront an injury hit CR&FC outfit at Welisara today.

The Sailors who are in a buoyant mood after their crushing 35-19 win over Havelocks last week, should chalk up another win over the 'Red Shirts' who have suffered back to back defeats at the hands of Kandy SC 15-22, Havelocks 24-25 and again to Kandy 8-36 in their return encounter in the hill capital and will have a gigantic task of overcoming Navy today.

The forte of the Sailors are their powerful set of forwards spearheaded by their skipper and flanker Yositha Rajapakse effectively supported by hooker Namal Rajapakse, Sathya Ranatunga, Kalana Amarasinghe, Danushka Perera and Bilal Hassan. Navy's play maker and drop kick specialist Dev Anand who left the field during their match against Havelocks due to injury should return to the side today. Dev Anand has been a big inspiration to the sailors as he provides the cutting edge to the team with his unerring kicking.

On the other hand, the Longden Place Club has been badly hit by injuries and to add to their woes they lack a reliable place kicker. CR&FC too, comprises a sturdy set of forwards which includes their skipper and number 'eight' Dushan Lewke, Henry Terrence, Anuja Perera, Chilanka Samaraweera, Dunstan de Silva and Ishan Noor. Nigel Ratwatte the CR&FC fly-half will make his appearance for the first time in the season after nursing an injury. His presence should add more stability to the side.

The Sailors are placed second in the points table with 36 points and a win exceeding four tries should enable them to move to the top slot if Kandy loses to Havelocks by a margin of 7 points.

Teams

CR&FC (from): Shehan Dimithri, Anuja Perera, Tharindu Hasaranga, Hasthika Bandaranayake, Andrew Jegan, Ishan Noor, Chilanka Samaraweera, Dushan Lewke (Captain). Radeesha Seneviratne, Nigel Ratwatte or Niroshan Fernando, Lasintha de Costa, Mushin Faleel, Nuwan Chamara, Heshan Gunaratne, Reza Mubarak.

Navy SC: Sathya Ranatunga, Bilal Hassan, Piyumal Manchanayake, Kalana Amarasinghe, Sumedha Malawana, Yositha Rajapaka (Captain), Danushka Perera, Namal Rajapaksa, Suranga Pushpakumara, Dev Anand or Mohammed Afzal, Chula Susantha, Kosala Tissera, Dilip Mithruwan, Niranjan Wickremaratne, Eranda Weerakkody.