Mumbai, June 24 (IANS) With six wins from seven games, Hyderabad Heroes have become the first team to make the semifinals of the inaugural season of the Rugby Premier League (RPL), and head coach DJ Forbes said they have achieved their first goal.

The Hyderabad Heroes produced a scintillating display of rugby, as they went back to the top of the points table, after swatting aside the challenge of the Chennai Bulls by a scoreline of 28-7 at the Shahaji Raje Bhosale Sports Complex (Andheri Sports Complex), here on Monday.

“It’s exciting, that’s the first goal for any team to make the playoffs. It’s great that we’ve done it early in the league stage, and hopefully, people have seen that we have tried to manage some people and give all players the opportunity to prepare as best we can. For now, it’s great to be winning, but it’s all about preserving all the players as much as we can and then see what combinations are going to work for us in the semi-finals,” said DJ Forbes, head coach of Hyderabad Heroes, on the qualification.

In a crucial match to decide which team would first establish their spot in the semi-finals, the Manuel Moreno-led Hyderabad Heroes were looking to regroup after their previous match and show why they were previously on a five-match winning streak. They dominated the Chennai Bulls across quarters, never really allowing the Bulls to push forward and ultimately winning the tie 28-7.

Even though Chennai Bulls drew first blood, the Hyderabad Heroes almost looked untouchable with Javed Hussain and Motu Opetai scoring a try each, and Manuel Moreno converting on both occasions. Wolfram Hacker and Terio Tamani added a try each in the final quarter, and Tamani converted both his kicks as well, giving the Hyderabad Heroes a clinical win on the night. The win will see the Heroes move up to the top spot on the points table and prove why they are the team with the most points, 202 from the matches.

Hyderabad Heroes also became the team with the most tries after this match across the league with 32 tries (Joji Nasova and Javed Hussain led the charge) and topped the conversions table with 21 (Terio Temani has 13 conversions).

“The experience has been amazing playing alongside my teammates who are also Olympians. The environment in the dugout is really positive and very helpful; all the players are always ready to help each other on and off the field. The success we have had on the field is a direct result of that support. Very happy with the final score today and to get the win, and we look forward to continuing this momentum,” said Sambit Pradhan, forward, Hyderabad Heroes.

While they have secured their place in the semi-finals, the Hyderabad Heroes still have three more matches to play with the Chennai Bulls and Delhi Redz (twice) over the next four days to find out where the team finally finishes on the points table.

–IANS

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