14 Wednesday 28th September, 2011 Read’s return adds to All Blacks selection battle

BY STEVE MCMORRAN contentiously, at previous World Cups, reg- ularly resting its top players, but it seems WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — likely to name something close to a full- Backrower Keiran Read has pre-empted strength side for the match against New Zealand’s selection for its last pool Canada. match against Canada by announcing his Smith, and Steve fitness, availability and his fervent hope Hansen may be tempted to give veteran of making his Rugby World Cup debut. fullback his 99th test cap, Read has missed the All Blacks’ Pool though the veteran seems to have been A matches against Tonga, Japan and usurped as the No. 1 in that role by Israel France with a serious ankle injury sus- Dagg who has a slight injury. tained in last month’s Tri-Nations All Blacks frontliners, including flyhalf decider against Australia in Brisbane. Daniel Carter and flanker The injury threatened to end his tourna- who have played in all the team’s pool ment before it began but he has been carefully matches so far, have said they have no desire to be brought back to full fitness and is now bursting to rested and hope to be named to face Canada. New Zealand All Blacks Israel Dagg dives across the take the field. Read, particularly, hopes to resume his backrow line to score a try during their Rugby World Cup game The return of Read, who is New Zealand’s first- partnership with Kaino and 100-test veteran Richie against France at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, choice No. 8, would bring the All Blacks up to full McCaw. Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011. (AP) strength just ahead of the knockout rounds. “The ankle’s great. I’m available for selection All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith on for this week so I’ll be training fully with the guys WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — All unusual manner in which he marked both Tuesday said he took Read’s declaration of fitness this week,” he said. “I can’t wait. It’s obviously been pretty tough watching and pretty exciting as Blacks fullback Israel Dagg has bamboozled touchdowns — a cryptic collection of hand put him firmly into the selection frame against well ... but I just want to get out there and add my many defenders with his clever footwork, and arm gestures — baffled many fans. Canada. bit.” his subtle changes of pace and angle. Asked to explain the meaning of the cel- New Zealand used rotational selection policies, But he had a substantial international ebration at a news conference on Monday, media contingent entirely mystified on Dagg left reporters more baffled than before. Tuesday when asked to explain the unusual In New Zealand slang, a dag is a humor- try-scoring celebrations he has performed at ous person and Dagg lived up to the name 7 dead in riot following football match the Rugby World Cup. with an explanation which would have RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Seven people were between residents originally from the area and Dagg scored two tries in New Zealand’s stumped the most acerbic sleuth or cryptol- killed in a riot following a football match in those that arrived from the north following the 37-17 win over France on Saturday and the ogist. Morocco’s disputed Western Sahara region, the Morocco’s 1975 annexation of the Western Sahara. state news agency reported Tuesday. There has been tension between the two communi- Three people died after being run over by four- ties. wheel drive vehicles and two of the others killed In February, northerners from the Wikala were policemen, the report stated, quoting local neighbourhood attacked people elsewhere in the officials. city. There were similar riots in 1999. The riot in the town of Dakhla began after Deadly riots also broke out in the Saharan town Under-19 Cricket Mohammedia club Chebab, from just north of of Laayoune, to the north, in November when Casablanca, beat the local Mouloudia club 3-0. Moroccan police moved against a protest camp. Rival fans began throwing stones at each other Morocco fought a Saharan independence move- Trinity in command and then “criminals” took advantage of the situa- ment known as the Polisario for 25 years until a tion to attack people with knives and clubs, a state- UN-brokered ceasefire took effect in 1991. Dinuk Wickramanayake with an unbeaten 67 runs Scores: ment from the Oued-Eddahab-Lagouira province The two sides are in talks over the future of the and Alwin Fernando with a five-wicket haul helped St. Aloysius’ 54 all out in 42.3 overs (P. Hashan said. territory but an eighth round of informal negotia- Trinity College take the command against St. 18; Akila Jayasundara 2/16, Janishka Premasinghe Initial reports put the toll from the incident at tions held over the summer in the United States Aloysius’ College, Galle as they posted 180 for seven 2/15, Alwin Fernando 5/15) two dead and 27 wounded. Eight vehicles and local failed to yield any progress. wickets at close, after restricting the visitors to a pal- Trinity 180 for 7 wkts in 52 overs (Arjuna businesses were also burned in the rioting. The Morocco has offered wide-ranging autonomy to try 54 runs, in their Under-19 two-day cricket match Jayasinghe 47, Dinuk Wickramanayake 67 n.o., Ron incident is under investigation. the mineral-rich Western Sahara while the which commenced at Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy yes- Dakhla, which is about 1,830 kilometers (1,140 Polisario Front wants a referendum with inde- Chandraguptha 21, Akila Jayasundara 15). (RF) terday. miles) southwest of the capital Rabat, is divided pendence as an option.

BY RAVI NAGAHAWATTE

t a time when Sri Lanka’s domestic rugby scene is Rugby review Aattempting to make a hurried climb to the next level in professional- 2011 Domestic ism, the time is rife to review the 2011 season, which ended with the Clifford Cup. season Three out of eight clubs in Division 1 fielded expatriates, but the times were aplenty when the locals outshone the expats from Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Havelocks fielded two Tongans and a Samoan (Angsta Sae), who was per- haps the most outstanding number eight we saw this season. He was fast from the base of the scrum and added that extra muscle to The Park Club, which did well this season to finish third overall in the league and also reach the semis in the knockout tour- nament. It’s a pity that the club encountered problems within, during the season, which might have con- tributed to jam the progress the play- ers made on the field. The Havies this season, if there was an award for the most improved team, would have bagged it without much opposition. Kandy SC once again showcased the depth in their bench and commit- ment of their coach and players on their way to winning the league and the knockout tournaments, once again. This season, the side was to be led by Budhdhika Thalagampola, but an injury to the former Isipatana College second row forward saw Senaka Bandara standing in beautiful- ly to marshal the rest. Players like Fazil Marija, Achala Perera, Sajith Saranga, the Weeraratne brothers and Mohammed Jabbar were outstanding, but then as the Rugby Chairman of Kandy SC Lasantha Wijesuriya point- ed out the other day, it would be unrea- sonable to leave out other names from a champion outfit when it comes to the time of showering praise. Johan Taylor was praised by all for Kandy SC produced the sparks this season and emerged overall champions ensuring the club emerged domestic rugby champs for the fifth year run- ning, under his wings as head coach. head coach Jivan Gunatilake, who (CH&FC/eighth). For the record, there According to Wijesuriya, Talylor had stepped into play the stop gap role, when was a lot of hue and cry about the worked hard to refresh the minds of the regular coach Grant Dwyer departed Gymkhana Club fielding expatriates, but players with new drills and a new during the middle of the season. the Fijian muscles the club borrowed Navy SC did well to finish second(Pix overall by Kamal in the Wanniarachchi) league and finished as approach to the game each season. Air Force Sports Club was quite were not a match to the one time Fijian runners-up in the Clifford Cup. It must be mentioned here that unlucky not to qualify for the Cup brigade, which represented the club. and the knockout’. Kandy SC not only had to deal with chal- Championship in the league tournament. Rugby fans who go down memory lane ened with more reinforcements this sea- CR&FC went skidding from their reg- lenges on the field, but did well to handle It had several outstanding players, will recall how the likes of Apisi Nagata, son with the likes of Sathya Ranatunga, ular second place in the points table to the pressure put on them by people who including last year’s youth national cap- Manasanga Quoro and several others, Dinusha Chathuranga and Dhanushka fourth place. Their downfall this season walk the corridors of power. tain Shenal Dias, but their efforts during the late 1980s and early 1990s put Perera, all from CR&FC. could be explained from a technical per- Navy Sports Club, led by Yoshitha weren’t enough to retain a spot among CH in the news with wins over Kandy Talking about the Navy SC players spective on another day, but from the Rajapakse, displaced Ceylonese Rugby the final four and make the second SC, Police and CR. This club hasn’t won who stood out, third row forward Bilal view point of rugby fans, the Red Shirts Football Club (CR&FC) from their posi- round. the league since 2000. Hassen proved to be a thorn in the flesh never measured up, despite there being tion as the second best club in the domes- Chanaka Chandimal, Charith The Tournament Committee headed of all opposition teams. It was a pity to big names on paper. tic rugby scene. This team stood out for Senewiratne, Milinda Jayasinghe, by Jehan Canagaretne should be com- see him hampered due to an injury in the Dushanth Lewke played his heart out the pace at which they played the game. Radeeka Hettiarachchi and Dilan Soysa mended for running the tournament Clifford Cup finals. this season and so did players like The second round of the league was had their moments this season, but their without bringing it to a crashing halt, Navy SC coach Ronnie Ibrahim had Sooriyabandara, Shehan Dimitri, quite memorable for them, because they contributions weren’t enough for Air because rugby was plagued this season enough of players to chose from. Ibrahim Dunstan De Silva and Heshan Guneratne finished their three matches in the Cup Force to be remembered. due to two court cases. has turned this team into a potential (who made the national sevens squad). Championship with an unbeaten record, The other teams which contested the The sponsor of both tournaments, champion outfit and come next season, it This was a season where the big guns which included a memorable 29-25 win SLRFU conducted tournaments were Caltex, got their mileage, because rugby wouldn’t be an exaggeration if someone failed to fire for the Longden Place club. against the champion Kandy SC outfit. Police (sixth place), Army SC (seventh) was always in the news for the good, bad says that ‘the Sailors will bag the league Wonder what’s going on in the mind of The ‘sea going force’ was strength- and Colombo Hockey and Football Club and the ugly!