RPL Season 1: Dominant Kalinga Black Tigers defeat Mumbai Dreamers; Hyderabad Heroes beat Chennai Bulls (Ld)

Mumbai, June 24 (IANS) The Kaligna Black Tigers and the Hyderabad Heroes produced a couple of clinical performances during Season 1 of the Rugby Premier League at the Shahaji Raje Bhosale Sports Complex (Andheri Sports Complex) here on Tuesday evening.

Whilst the Tigers saw off the challenge of the Mumbai Dreamers, the Hyderabad Heroes defeated the Chennai Bulls. Interestingly, the Heroes and the Bulls had both secured qualification for the knockouts on Monday.

In the first game of the day, the Kalinga Black Tigers produced a clinical and dominant display against the Mumbai Dreamers, defeating them 33-5.

The Kalinga Black Tigers started well as they kept the Mumbai Dreamers at bay, and just before the end of the first quarter, Perry Baker scored a well-worked try, after which Maurice Longbottom converted easily. A little later, the Tigers doubled their lead when Baker scored yet another try, and Ethan Turner converted his kick with aplomb. At half-time, the Kalinga Black Tigers led 14-0.

After the break, the Tigers continued their dominant display as Ethan Turner now had a try to his name. At the other end, though, the Dreamers finally managed to get on the scoresheet as Elias Hancock went over the line.

Any hopes of a comeback for the Dreamers, though, were snuffed out by the Tigers as Lucas Lacamp scored a couple of quick tries and Longbottom polished off the conversions with ease.

In the second game of the day, the Hyderabad Heroes and the Chennai Bulls played out a fantastic game of rugby, with the Heroes prevailing on the night. The Heroes won 17-0, making this only the second occasion in the tournament when a team had failed to register a point.

The Hyderabad Heroes started the contest well with Kevin Wekesa and Terio Tamani scoring important tries in the first half. Tamani was also able to convert his kick, giving the Heroes a comfortable 12-point lead. Bhupinder Singh then put the seal on the win with his try in the final moments of the game.

--IANS

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