Mumbai, June 16 (IANS) Chennai Bulls were in fine form on Day One of the Rugby Premier League (RPL), opening their campaign with a dominant 24-5 victory against Mumbai Dreamers, and their marquee player, Terry Kennedy, said they have to build on the good start.

Kennedy played a pivotal role and bagged the Player of the Match award for his clinical performance, helping his side secure a resounding win at the Shahaji Raje Bhosale Sports Complex (Andheri Sports Complex) on Sunday.

Reflecting on the Chennai Bulls’ first outing, Kennedy said, “It felt like a tough game out there. I think a couple of small things go either way and then it becomes a different game.”

He further elaborated on how the team has been working on building connections for the last couple of weeks.

“We’ve spoken a lot over the last couple of weeks about building a connection since it’s such a short window for us. So, it’s about the connection and then the effort we put in on the pitch. That will get us a long way over a couple of weeks, and I think we showed that in the first game, which was great to see, but it’s a long tournament. It’s a good start, but we want to build on it”, he added.

Kennedy, who was the World Rugby Sevens Men’s Player of the Year in 2022, shared his experience of playing in India for the first time.

“It’s amazing. Between the pitch, the atmosphere, the music, the lights, and everything, it’s really set up to allow us to entertain on the field and enjoy it. I think it helps rugby grow. Hopefully, we put on a good show over these couple of weeks, and as it grows over the years. I think it will be phenomenal to see where this will go,” he added.

Talking about the weather conditions and how that affects the foreign players, Kennedy added, “The pitch is spectacular, it’s in an amazing condition – as good as we could have hoped. But yeah, it’s humid, it’s a little bit wet. So, it means you probably see more dropped balls, or you have to look after the ball a little bit more. I think we did that quite well, so we were happy with that.”

Interestingly, the two teams will clash again in just over 24 hours on Monday, with Mumbai Dreamers getting an opportunity to avenge their defeat in the first encounter.

They will be meeting in the second match of the day with Mumbai Dreamers, aiming to open their account. After a one-sided contest in the first game between the two sides, the onus will be on Tim Walsh’s team to hit the ground running as they look to establish themselves in the tournament.

Meanwhile, after a hard-fought encounter against the Hyderabad Heroes, the Kalinga Black Tigers will be looking to bounce back with a win when they face the Delhi Redz in Monday’s first match of the day on Monday.

Led by captain Harry McNulty, Kalinga Black Tigers will be looking to register their first win when they face Matias Osadczuk’s side, who will be looking for their first win after their first match against Bengaluru Bravehearts ended in a stalemate.

–IANS

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