Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 25 : The Bengaluru Bravehearts became the third team to progress to the semi-final of Season 1 of the Rugby Premier League.
The Bravehearts achieved this after they defeated the Kalinga Black Tigers by a margin of 34-26. In the second game of the day, the Delhi Redz and the Mumbai Dreamers played out a thrilling draw at the Shahaji Raje Bhosale Sports Complex in Mumbai.
With qualification on the line for the Bengaluru Bravehearts, the Kalinga Black Tigers were looking to create hurdles. And on cue, the Tigers took the lead when Ethan Turner bagged a try and Maurice Longbottom converted with ease. The Tigers further extended their lead with Lucas Lacamp's try and Turner's conversion.
However, before the end of the first half, the Bravehearts started to mount a comeback with Philip Wokorach and Arpan Chhetri's tries. At the break, the Tigers led by 4 points. After that, the Bravehearts' Liam Poulton turned up the ante with a couple of tries to give his side the lead.
The game was well contested, and the Tigers responded well and almost immediately with Ethan Turner's try. And going into the last phase, the Bravehearts led by 1 point.
The Bravehearts put the foot on the pedal in the final quarter with Philip Wokorach adding a try and converting, along with Iowane Teba's try and conversion, which gave them some breathing space. The Tigers though were not giving up and Perry Baker added five more to the cause, whilst Maurice Longbottom also scored his conversion kick. But it was too little too late.
In the second game of the day, the Mumbai Dreamers came from behind to salvage a draw against the Delhi Redz. Both teams were locked at 19-19 at the final whistle.
James Turner put the Dreamers in the lead before Patrick Okongo and Alejandro Laforga combined to add 7 points for the Redz. From then on in, the Delhi Redz were dominant, with Laforga and Deepak Punia scoring tries, and the latter converting his kick too.
The Redz looked set for the win, however, the Dreamers fought back in the final quarter with James Turner scoring a try and converting his kick. Vuiviwa Naduvalo rounded off the evening with his game-changing try, which helped the Dreamers rescue a draw with the scores reading 19-19.
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