ASIA RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP: Division 1, Final Day

09.05.2015

Philippines v Sri Lanka in Manila (ARC Division 1, Final)

Referee:

Preview
Sri Lanka and the Philippines were the two teams that were demoted to Division 1 following the revamping of the Asia Rugby Championship. So it is no real surprise that they square off to find the winner of Division 1. My understanding is that the winner has the right to challenge, or not, the last placed team in the ARC Top 3. As from 2016, as I understand it, that challenge will be compulsory.

When these two teams met last year Philippines won by one point, a controversial second conversion attempt of a last minute try.

Historically Philippines has the better record and with the home advantage I expect them to win.

Previous Encounters
17.05.2014 Philippines 26-25 in Colombo (WCQ Asia; Asia 5 Nations)
21.04.2012 Philippines 28-18 in Manila (WCQ Asia; Asia Nations Div.1)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Asia Table: Philippines 4th, Sri Lanka 7th

World Rugby Ranking Points
Sri Lanka 46.95, Philippines 45.57

Prediction: Philippines by 13 points. Score 33-20

TEAMS

Philippines Team list not available

Sri Lanka Squad

Randika Alwis (Army Sports Club)
Suhiru Anthony (Navy Sports Club)
Dinusha Chathuranga (Navy Sports Club)
Kavindu de Costa (Havelock Sports Club)
Shehan Dimithri (Kandy Sports Club)
Ganuka Disanayaka (Havelock Sports Club)
Sharo Fernando (Navy Sports Club)
Sandun Herath (Havelock Sports Club)
Kishore Jahan (Kandy Sports Club)
Shahsika Jayawardane
Fazil Marija, Capt. (Kandy Sports Club)
Jason Melder (Havelock Sports Club)
Riza Mubarak (Navy Sports Club)
Achala Perera (Navy Sports Club)
Dulaj Perera (Havelock Sports Club)
Lavanga Perera (Kandy Sports Club)
Dushmantha Priyadarshana (Havelock Sports Club)
Kanchana Ramanayaka (Colombo Rugby & Cricket Club)
Danushka Ranjan (Havelock Sports Club)
Nigel Ratwatte (Kandy Sports Club)
Henry Terence (Navy Sports Club)
Buwanaka Udangamuwa (Kandy Sports Club)
Roshan Weeraratne (Kandy Sports Club)
Dulanjala Wijesinghe (Army Sports Club)
Sean Wijesinghe

Kazakhstan v Singapore (Playoff 3rd-4th)

Referee:

Preview
The stakes are high as the losing team will be relegated to ARC Division 2. It will be a case of the strength of the Kazakh forward pack verses the fleet footed Singapore backs. It’ll be close.

Previous Encounters
09.05.2009 Kazakhstan 22-19 in Singapore (Asia 5 Nations)
08.06.2006 Kazakhstan 29-0 in Singapore (Asia Tournament, Tier 3)
22.11.2002 Singapore 30-14 in Bangkok (Asia Champ., Div.2, Playoff 3rd-4th)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Asia Table: Singapore 5th, Kazakhstan 8th

World Rugby Ranking Points
Kazakhstan 48.91, Singapore 44.54

Prediction: Singapore by 4 points. Score 26-22

TEAMS

Singapore Squad

1 Alvin, Ho Yao Wei (Wanderers RFC) 2 tests
2 Robertson, James (Singapore Cricket Club) 4
3 Leong Rong Xian, Reiner (Oldham RFC) 4
4 Muhammad Hasif Bin Azman (Wanderers RFC) 5
5 Tan Soon Heng, Gaspar (Bedok Kings RFC) 20
6 Lee Chang You (Oldham RFC) Debut
7 Lee Yew Loong, Gabriel (Singapore Cricket Club) 12
8 Julian Albert (XV Gaulois) 4
9 Roberts, Matthew (Wanderers RFC) 5
10 Nick Rose (Wanderers RFC) Debut
11 Mohamed Ashraf Nasser (Saint Andrews RFC) 7
12 Alexander Richard (Bucks RFC) Debut
13 Etheredge, Simon (Singapore Cricket Club) 3
14 Mc Feely, Peter (Singapore Cricket Club) 9
15 Mohammad Suhaimi Bin Amran (Singapore Cricket Club) 11
16 Kay Teck Yuan, Jonathan (Singapore Cricket Club) 1
17 Marah Muhammad Fahmy (Oldham RFC) 2
18 Mohammad Saifuludin Khalid (Wanderers RFC) 1
19 Edward Carne (Dorking RFC, England) 1
20 Graham Stewart (Wanderers RFC) Debut
21 Thomas Child (Wanderers RFC) Debut
22 Groen, Nicholas (Bedok Kings RFC) 10
23 Samuel, Lau Biyong (Bedok Kings) 3
24 Tiah Nan Hong (Wanderers RFC) Debut
25 Mickael Benkimoun (XV Gaulois) Debut
Adapted from http://www.singaporerugby.com/2015/05/s ... u2015.html

Kazakhstan squad not available

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kazakhstan v Singapore in Manila (ARC Div.1, Playoff 3^rd-4^th)

ASIA RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP: Division 1, Day 1 Results

06.05.2015
Sri Lanka 35, Kazakhstan 14 in Manilla (ARC Div.1, Semi-final 1)
Philippines 20, Singapore17 in Manilla (ARC Div.1, Semi-final 2)-After extra time

Review. Copied directly.

The Philippines and Sri Lanka booked their spots in the Asia Rugby Championship Division I final after opening wins over Singapore and Kazakhstan respectively today at the new Philippine Sports Stadium outside of Manila.


The Philippines and Sri Lanka booked their spots in the Asia Rugby Championship Division I final after opening wins over Singapore and Kazakhstan respectively today at the new Philippine Sports Stadium outside of Manila.

Sri Lanka were made to work hard for their 35-14 win over Kazakhstan, despite having a man advantage for most of the match after Kazakhstan hooker Rustam Kurbanov was shown a red card for stamping after 20 minutes.

Sri Lanka had opened the scoring with two quick tries. Wing Lavanga Perera scored in the 7th minute followed by centre Danushka Ranjan two minutes later. Fullback Riza Mubarak converted the first to push the second seeds to a 12-0 lead after ten minutes.

Kazakhstan rallied for a massive effort despite being reduced to 14 men – and later 13 – when flanker Daulet Akymbekov was sin-binned moments after Kurbanov was ejected.

Sri Lanka could only manage one more try in the first half with Ranjan crossing over to complete an early brace. Mubarak added the conversion to bring the score at the break to 22-7 after Kazakhstan captain Serik Zhanseitov pulled his side back from the brink with a try from in close in the 30th minute. Fullback Ivan Olkhovskiy added the extras for his side.

Kazakhstan struck first in the second half with prop Ruslan Galiyev again scoring off of set piece play where the bulky Kazakh forwards gave them a natural advantage over the fleet Sri Lankans. Olkhovskiy’s conversion closed the deficit further to 22-14.

But the experienced Sri Lankans maintained their composure better in the second half, making Kazakhstan pay for any indiscipline. Sri Lanka slotted two penalties late in the half through Kanchana Ramanayaka and Dulaj Perera to push ahead to 28-14. Perera crossed over for a final try in the last minute. Ramanayaka’s conversion brought the final score to 35-14 and sent Sri Lanka on to the final.

Sri Lanka coach Johan Taylor commented on the result saying, “It wasn’t perfect but the main goal was to win and we achieved that, so we will look at the positives and erase the negatives from this afternoon.

“I thought our handling was pretty good and we did reasonably well in our scrums and lineouts against a bigger Kazakhstan pack. We did well in those three areas and I’m fairly happy with our performance,” Taylor added.

The second semi final was a thrilling encounter with fourth seeds Singapore pushing the hosts and top seed Philippines through two ten-minute periods of sudden death extra time before the result was finally confirmed.

Singapore enjoyed the early run of play, posting a 10-0 lead at halftime after tries from flanker Alexander Cook and winger Tom Child. The hosts meanwhile left several scoring opportunities begging as their handling deserted them for large stretches in the first stanza.

The Volcanoes first try didn’t come until early in the second half when flanker Terry Carroll capitalized on a man advantage after Singapore centre Graham Harkness was sent to the sin bin. Captain Oliver Saunders added the conversion to close the gap to 7-10.

But the Volcanoes then conceded their brief advantage as no 8 Ashley Heward was binned for failing to wrap in the tackle. Harkness returned from his spell in the bin to help spark Singapore’s first try of the second half, figuring in a nice flowing move that eventually put prop James Robertson over for the try. Scrumhalf Suhaimi Amran added the extras to push Singapore out to 17-7 with 20 minutes remaining.

The game came into its own in the last quarter with both sides pushing desperately for the win. Reserve wing Alex Aronson entered the match in the 60th minute for the home side and would prove to be the difference maker.

Aronson coolly slotted his first penalty in the 32nd minute to close the gap to 17-10 and was again on the spot in the 40th minute to cap some good work in close by the Volcanoes with a nice jinking run that brought the hosts to within two points of Singapore. Aronson converted his own try to level the scores as regulation time expired, sending the game into extra time.

Singapore attacked furiously in the first ten minutes of extra time but the Philippines defence held fast, leaving the score still drawn through 90 minutes and pushing the match into a second ten-minute golden point period.

Inspired by a large and vocal audience, the Volcanoes finally found some space against a brave Singapore defence with a series of sustained attacks that forced Singapore to concede a penalty. Aronson converted the penalty from just outside the Singapore 22 metre line to give his side a memorable win and send them through to the final against Sri Lanka on Saturday (18.00 Philippines time).

Although Singapore staked its claim today and were in contention to the last the final will be a fitting affair as the Philippines and Sri Lanka were both part of the former Asian Five Nations Top Five format last year.

In 2014, the Volcanoes pipped Sri Lanka 27-26 – benefiting from successfully being able to re-take a conversion of another last-gasp try after Sri Lanka had prematurely charged a failed first attempt to eke out an away win in Colombo and finish fourth behind Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea.

In 2015 both Sri Lanka and the Philippines were relegated due to the revamped format where the premier Division is now reserved for the top three sides - Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea, playing on a home-and-away format.

Fittingly the two sides will again face off to see who can claim boasting rights as the top Asian team outside of the premier competition.

http://www.arfu.com/news/2015/05/top-5- ... division-i

Saturday’s Fixtures
Sri Lanka v Philippines (Final)
Kazakhstan v Singapore (Playoff 3rd-4th)

ASIA RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP: Division 1

6 –9 May

Image thanks to https://www.facebook.com/PhilippineRugby

Philippine Sports Stadium.
Image thanks to https://www.facebook.com/PhilippineRugby

The Asia Rugby Championship Division 1 is being played in Manila.It has come as a surprise that this is the only ARC tournament that is not round robin.

Sri Lanka and the hosts The Philippines are the favoured teams. Singapore are always strong. Kazakhstan were strong a few years back but their standard has slipped.

Day two on Saturday will see the winners playoff for the Division 1 title whilst the two losing teams will fight it out to avoid relegation.

Games Day One
Sri Lanka v Kazakhstan

Referee:

Last Five Encounters
06.04.2013 Sri Lanka 49-18 in Colombo (WCQ Asia; Asia Nations Div.1)
15.05.2011 Kazakhstan 34-18 in Almaty (Asia 5 Nations)
10.11.2007 Kazakhstan 24-17 in Colombo (Asiad Cup)
08.05.2007 Kazakhstan 71-6 in Almaty (Asia Nations Div.2)
12.11.2005 Sri Lanka 24-12 in Almaty (WCQ Asia D3 playoff, 2nd leg)

The rivalry between these two nations goes back to 2002.

GWC Rugby Rankings
Asia Table: Sri Lanka 7th, Kazakhstan 8th

World Rugby Ranking Points
Kazakhstan 48.91, Sri Lanka 46.95

Prediction: Sri Lanka by 15 points. Score 41-26

TEAMS

The Sri Lanka 15s squad:
Randika Alwis (Army Sports Club)
Suhiru Anthony (Navy Sports Club)
Dinusha Chathuranga (Navy Sports Club)
Kavindu de Costa (Havelock Sports Club)
Shehan Dimithri (Kandy Sports Club)
Ganuka Disanayaka (Havelock Sports Club)
Sharo Fernando (Navy Sports Club)
Sandun Herath (Havelock Sports Club)
Kishore Jahan (Kandy Sports Club)
Shahsika Jayawardane
Fazil Marija, Capt. (Kandy Sports Club)
Jason Melder (Havelock Sports Club)
Riza Mubarak (Navy Sports Club)
Achala Perera (Navy Sports Club)
Dulaj Perera (Havelock Sports Club)
Lavanga Perera (Kandy Sports Club)
Dushmantha Priyadarshana (Havelock Sports Club)
Kanchana Ramanayaka (Colombo Rugby & Cricket Club)
Danushka Ranjan (Havelock Sports Club)
Nigel Ratwatte (Kandy Sports Club)
Henry Terence (Navy Sports Club)
Buwanaka Udangamuwa (Kandy Sports Club)
Roshan Weeraratne (Kandy Sports Club)
Dulanjala Wijesinghe (Army Sports Club)
Sean Wijesinghe
Stand by
Ashoka Jayalal (Army Sports Club)
Hirantha Perera
Rohan Theagarajah (Havelock Sports Club)
Reserves
Rahul de Silva (Colombo Rugby & Cricket Club)
Anuradha Herath (Colombo Rugby & Cricket Club)
Ganidu Lakshan

Kazakhstan Squad not available

Philippines v Singapore

Referee:

Preview
Singapore spent a week in Perth preparing for this game. They played Western Force ‘A’.

Previous Encounter
15.04.2012 Philippines 37-20 in Manilla (WCQ Asia; Asia Nations Div.1)

GWC Rugby Rankings
Asia Table: Philippines 4th, Singapore 5th

World Rugby Ranking Points
Philippines 45.57, Singapore 44.54

Prediction: Philippines by 12 points. Score 30-18

TEAMS

Philippines

15. Gareth Holegate (Alabang Eagles) 27, 3
14. Jeff Gregson (Broadstreet RFC, England) 26, 3
13. Timothy Bweheni (Alabang Eagles) 28, 2
12. Justin Coveney (West Red Sparks, Japan) 29, 16
11. Harry Morris (Alabang Eagles) 30, 10
10. Oliver Saunders, (Capt.) (Easts RFC, Sydney, NSW) 28, 15
9. Jake Letts (Alabang Eagles) 27, 23
8. Steven Howorth (Cornish All Blacks RFC, England) 24, 10
7. Benjamin Mudie (Alabang Eagles ) 24, Debut
6. Terry Carroll (Northern Outlaws, Noosa, Queensland) 23, 6
5. Ashley Heward (Burgess Hill RFC, England) 21, 4
4. David Feeney (Manila Nomads) 30, 7
3. Matthew Bellenie (Brighton RFC, England) 25, 7
2. Michael Duhig (Brothers OBRC, Queensland) 29, 17
1. Austin Dacanay (Tampa Krewe RFC, Florida, USA) 38, 22

Replacements
16. Masayuki Sekiguchi (Alabang Eagles) 33, 1
17. Philip Abraham (Abu Dhabi Harlequins RFC, UAE) 31, 10
18. David Robinson-Polkey (Maungarua RFC, New Zealand) 26, 7
19. Fred Morris (Pavours RFC, England) 28, 6
20. Christopher Anderson (Manila Nomads) 31, 4
21. Cleo Gomez (Gordon RFC, NSW) 26, 7
22. Daniel Matthews (Eastwood RFC, Sydney, NSW) 22, Debut
23. Alexander Aronson (CBRE Mavericks) 24, 8

Head Coach: Stu Woodhouse

Information thanks to Jake Letts, Philippines RFU
Team list from https://www.facebook.com/PhilippineRugby

Singapore Squad

1 Alvin, Ho Yao Wei (Wanderers RFC) 2 tests
2 Robertson, James (Singapore Cricket Club) 4
3 Leong Rong Xian, Reiner (Oldham RFC) 4
4 Muhammad Hasif Bin Azman (Wanderers RFC) 5
5 Tan Soon Heng, Gaspar (Bedok Kings RFC) 20
6 Lee Chang You (Oldham RFC) Debut
7 Lee Yew Loong, Gabriel (Singapore Cricket Club) 12
8 Julian Albert (XV Gaulois) 4
9 Roberts, Matthew (Wanderers RFC) 5
10 Nick Rose (Wanderers RFC) Debut
11 Mohamed Ashraf Nasser (Saint Andrews RFC) 7
12 Alexander Richard (Bucks RFC) Debut
13 Etheredge, Simon (Singapore Cricket Club) 3
14 Mc Feely, Peter (Singapore Cricket Club) 9
15 Mohammad Suhaimi Bin Amran (Singapore Cricket Club) 11
16 Kay Teck Yuan, Jonathan (Singapore Cricket Club) 1
17 Marah Muhammad Fahmy (Oldham RFC) 2
18 Mohammad Saifuludin Khalid (Wanderers RFC) 1
19 Edward Carne (Dorking RFC, England) 1
20 Graham Stewart (Wanderers RFC) Debut
21 Thomas Child (Wanderers RFC) Debut
22 Groen, Nicholas (Bedok Kings RFC) 10
23 Samuel, Lau Biyong (Bedok Kings) 3
24 Tiah Nan Hong (Wanderers RFC) Debut
25 Mickael Benkimoun (XV Gaulois) Debut

Management

Head Coach - Afeaki Inoke Unaanga
Assistant Coach - Forrester, James
Assistant Backs Coach - Mee, Casey Jonathan
Manager – Yazid Rosli
Head Physio - Walter, Joan Margaret
Physio – Sam Brennan

Adapted from http://www.singaporerugby.com/2015/05/s ... u2015.html

ASIA RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP (ARC) 2015

Top 3

18.04.2015: Japan v Korea in Seoul
24.04.2015: Korea v Hong Kong in Hong Kong
02.05.2015: Hong Kong v Japan in Tokyo
09.05.2015: Korea v Japan in Fukuoka
16.05.2015: Hong Kong v Korea in Seoul
23.05.2015: Japan v Hong Kong in Hong Kong

ARC Division 1
Teams: Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Kazakhstan
May 3-9 in Manila

ARC Division 2
Teams: Chinese Taipei, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Thailand
May 10-16 in Kuala Lumpur

ARC Division 3 South/Central
Teams: India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan
May 24-30 in Tashkent

ARC Division 3 West
Teams: Qatar, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan
May 15-18 in Lebanon
This is a non-World Rugby/World Cup Group.

ARC Division 3 East
Teams: Guam, Indonesia, China
June 7-13 in Jakarta

ARC Division 4
Teams: Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Macao, Nepal.
Date and venue TBD.

www.rugbyinternational.net