KUALA LUMPUR: The national team shut up the critics with a thumping 42-17 upset victory over heavily favoured Sri Lanka to top the Asian Rugby Championships Division One competition today.
The squad was quick to get off the mark at the Royal Selangor Club in Bukit Kiara with a Syarif Saiful Aazwan penalty in the second minute followed by a try by captain Syahir Asyraf Rosli in the sixth, which the former converted.
Sri Lanka were visibly shaken from the early onslaught and from then on were on the backfoot for the rest of the match.
Another brace of penalties from Syarif in the 39th and and the 55th as well as tries from Etonia Vaqa Saukuru (13th), Badrul Muktee (58th), Tengku Mohd Fariz Tengku Roslan (64th) and Aiman Jamaluddin (78th), three of which were converted, sealed a comfortable victory.
Sri Lanka got on the scoresheet through a Riza Mubarak penalty (10th) as well as tries from Kavindu Perera (35th) and Buwanaka Udangamuwa in the 36th, both of which Riza converted successfully.
National coach Lee Nyuk Fah said his players were determined to make up for losing 15-10 to Philippines in their opening game on Sunday.
The team were criticised for showing Philippines to much respect and making unnecessary errors.
"The boys' were just on fire today, they were really hungry for the win and fought very hard," said Nyuk Fah.
Sri Lanka at No 37, are ranked 23 places above Malaysia in the World Rankings and had been widely expected to win the tournament.
Singapore, who lost 33-17 to Sri Lanka in their opening game, downed Philippines 28-24 today which alongside Malaysia's win has blown the group wide open with all teams in with a chance of winning the tournament in the final round of matches on Saturday.
Malaysia earned one bonus point from the win as they scored more than four tries and now top the division with with six points, the same as Philippines, but with a superior score difference. Sri Lanka are third on five points while Singapore are last with four.
The final round on Saturday will see Malaysia facing Singapore while Sri Lanka will play Philippines.