It was Kandy SC’s powerful forwards who did their best to give their side the momentum and quick ball.Both teams dominated possession with the winners slightly ahead in forward play after the first half ended at 14-all.CR & FC played good rugby and after the first 20 minutes it looked like they would cause an upset as they racked up the points. But the hosts came roaring back in the second half and blew CR & FC away, with some outstanding performances. There was some spectacular attacking from both teams and some breathtaking tries, as well as some familiar defensive problems and indiscipline in ball handling, especially from CR & FC.
Kandy SC’s attacking master-class helped them to score six tries, four of them in the second half as they weathered a strong beginning by CR by handling the ball well. They began to feast on CR & FC’s errors and to find holes in a porous defense.CR & FC, who have been playing really well in the first three games, looked pretty in the first half. Kandy SC began the game full of purpose, rushing up on the CR & FC in defense, applying pressure by holding the ball through phases in their territory. But they quickly began to come unstuck; their lineout was a constant bugbear and their defense showed an inability to regroup against quickly-assembled Kandy SC counter-attacks.
CR & FC simply made few errors in handling and in defense and they barely missed their chance to capitalize. The result left the CR & FC searching for answers as their three-match winning streak came to a shuddering halt. But make no mistake; CR & FC will be genuine contenders when the tournament rolls around the second round.The scorers for Kandy SC were Shehan Pathirana, Buwanake Udangamuwa, Yakoob Ali, Dhanushka Ranjan, Sashika Jayawardene. Thilan Wijesinghe did the goalling part.For CR & FC Chamod Fernando, Joel Perera and Reeza Rafaideen scored the tries and Tarinda Ratwatte did the kicking.
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