Kandy Sports Club’s shock defeat at the hands of Navy Sports Club last week has been viewed by Sri Lanka’s rugby fraternity as a happening that will have a positive effect on the country’s domestic rugby.

The domestic rugby scene till last Saturday looked a one horse race with Kandy SC looking invincible in the inter-club rugby scene. This trend continued for the past seven years and rugby analysts believe it is inspiring that a forces team beat fancied teams like CR&FC and CH&FC to the task of ending the unbeaten run by Kandy SC.

Despite the defeat, Kandy SC retains the top slot in the points table at the end of the 10th week with 41 points followed by CR&FC (35.5 points) and Army SC (28 Points) in second and third places respectively. Navy SC is placed at fourth place with 26.5 points.

Domestic rugby’s main sponsor Caltex believes Navy’s sensational win and Kandy SC’s defeat will help crowds to take better notice of the game. Kishu Gomes Managing Director/CEO Chevron Lubricants Lanka PLC told The Island the win by Navy SC showed everybody that Kandy SC could be beaten provided their players have the right mindset. "I believe this win had a lot to do with the Navy players’ mindset and not about talent only. Success starts with the mind and I think the Navy players believed a lot in themselves. I am sure other clubs have players as talented as the ones Navy possesses. But what’s important is that these Navy players showed the world that they can make a difference in rugby," said Gomes. He added that the Navy SC players also have self-esteem due to that fact that the country’s President’s two sons are also playing for them.

Kandy SC’s main opponent for the last decade, CR&FC, is of the opinion that Navy’s defeat of Kandy SC has boosted the morale of all other teams.

"I think Navy SC defeating Kandy SC will have a positive influence on the game. Till Navy’s win on Saturday, the main battle in rugby was between CR and Kandy. Now there is a third team that has come up and this is good for all of us (teams). Navy SC’s win over Kandy SC has in some way given us access to the league championship again," said Rohan Chintaka Manager CR&FC rugby team.

Chintaka added that Navy’s win over CR&FC, two weeks ago, also contributed largely in helping the ‘sailors’ defeat Kandy SC.

CR’s rugby manager said it was good to see Navy SC focusing on rugby and reasoned that all this was possible due to the security forces winning the war against tiger rebels.

Manager of the Kandy SC team Lasantha Wijesuriya blamed the poor performance by his team for the defeat against Navy SC. "People can give all kinds of excuses but the bottom line is that we (Kandy SC) played badly. Now our focus is on the league championships because there is nothing left to cherish about the glory that an unbeaten tag brings. We need just one more win out of two remaining matches to win the league and we are confident of achieving this target," said Wijesuriya.

This week, Kandy SC travels down to Colombo to play against Army SC (August 1) while Navy SC hosts CH&FC at Welisara on July 31 (Friday). In the other match scheduled for this week, CR host Air Force at Longden Place on July 31 (Friday).