Kandy-Army rugby game today should produce good fare

By Hafiz Marikar

The second Army Sports Club home game of the inter-club League rugby championship will witness the clash against Kandy Sports Club, today (Sunday) at RaceCourse, Grounds, kickoff is at 4 pm.

Last week in their ‘curtain-raiser’, Kandy Sports Club had things to their own liking against Air Force Sports Club and Army Sports Club were beaten by CR and FC.

The Army-Kandy game should produce good rugby and Kandy Sports Club’s new style of play should take them far, thanks to Coach Johan Taylor. The match today at RaceCourse should produce good fare.

Kandy side is good, and the brand of rugby that they play has gone to another level.

The players are blessed with great counter attacking ability, a powerful hand off and an eye for spotting the gap, a quality that sets the team apart from other contenders.

Kandy Sports Club coach has named a squad that is a mixture of youth and experience for this game, and the Army Sports Club will field their best possible side and their players are blessed with great counter attacking ability.

In last Sunday’s game, Army Sports Club, with their new look team, were quite unlucky to lose to CR and FC, but in today’s game, the Army are sure to give a good run to Kandy.

The Army are fit enough, and they just have to get their mental game right, with proper planning.

In today’s game, (the Army-Kandy) it is going to be a hard game and they are the kind of games that any player lives for. So, today’s play is going to be with so much emotion, pressure and excitement involved.

So, Kandy Sports Club who got off to a flying start in the opener this season against Air Force Sports Club, will be on show for the second time out of Kandy.

Army Sports Club, who this year appear to have a workable team could compare equally with any team. They should plan out their play and present a good performance in front of their home crowd.

An interesting battle-royal is in store for Colombo’s rugby fans most of whom will certainly look forward to see Kandy Sports-Club maintain their good work. Today’s battle up front between the two respective sets of forwards should in particular be an unrelenting one with the two outfits being hell bent on winning that extra bit of possession in order to provide even the slightest edge for their respective back divisions which have in their ranks full of running knowledge.

For the Army to gain maximum possession will be of primary importance and if they are to hold the Nittawela Club who are packed with number of national caps, but Kandy Sports Club ruggerites are reputed for their fire brand play and are no pushovers.

On the whole, rugby fans could be assured of good, fast open game of rugby and if both teams are led by their respective captains Sean Wijesinghe (Kandy) and Rohitha Rajapaksa (Army), the game should turn out fast open rugby to the standards they are capable of producing.