Lankans dump the Volcanoes to win Asian5Nations

Sri Lanka recorded runaway 2714 victory against the Philippines in the final of the Asian5Nations Division I rugby tournament match played at the Philippines National Stadium in Manila yesterday.

With this Sri Lanka wins the ARFU Asian5Nations Division I championship, earning a shot in the Top Division if they beat the third placed team from the top tier in a relegation match. Despite conceding mistakes Sri Lanka held the first half with a lead of 21-11. Sri Lanka scored from three unconverted tries and four penalties and allowed Philippines to score off an unconverted try and three penalties.

Fazil Marija’s men took control of the game from the first whistle but too much commitment in a crucial game by the Tuskers gifted the Volcanoes a penalty as the home team drew first blood. But in a matter of minutes Sri Lanka’s star centre Danushka Ranjan put the Tuskers in the lead with an unconverted try. Then it was the beginning of another busy day for ace place kicker Riza Mubarak, who put Sri Lanka further by 8-3 with a penalty kick.

Skipper Marija scored a breakaway try taking Sri Lanka farther with an unconverted try but the Volcanoes responded swiftly with a penalty and an unconverted try. But they were never left to take back the lead by the Tuskers who added more points from a Mubarak penalty and an unconverted try off centre Kanchana Ramanayake before the halftime.

The turnaround was too harsh than the first half as the Volcanoes, in similar style opened scoring with a penalty to cut down the deficit 21-14 soon after the restart. But Sri Lanka’s defence was too solid, despite not being able to cross over for any tries. They added six more points to the total as Mubarak finished off with a tally of 12 points from the game.

On Wednesday Sri Lanka defea- ted Kazakhstan 35-14 and set themselves in the final to meet Philippines. Philippines and Sri Lanka were both part of the Asian5Nations Top Five last season while the other two teams -- Kazakhstan and Singapore also boast Top Five credentials in recent seasons, making this year’s Division I tournament one of the most competitive groupings assembled since the inception of it in 2008.

At the last year tournament, the Volcanoes piped Sri Lanka 27-26 – benefiting from successfully being able to re-take a conversion of a last-gasp try after Sri Lanka had prematurely charged a failed first attempt – to finish fourth behind Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea.

In the third place playoff played prior to the final, Kazakhstan beat Singapore 32-12 after leading 10-5 at halftime. Kazakhstan scored from five tries, a conversion and a penalty while Singapore scored from two tries and a conversion.