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Rugby: India rout Guam 47-0

June 23, 2007 19:37 IST

Set-piece expert Emil Vartazarian was bang on target to notch 22 points and pilot India to a resounding 47-0 rout of Guam in their rugby international at the Bombay Gymkhana ground in Mumbai on Saturday.

Fly-half Vartazarian was on hand to convert five tries scored by the home team, besides being successful with three penalties and a drop-goal, as India ran away to a 24-0 first half lead before closing out the one-sided encounter in similar fashion in the second half.

The tries in the match played under heavy rains came through the efforts of winger Ganesh Sawant, captain and winger-cum-forward Nasser Hussain, centre Mufaddal Indorewalla, full back Francis Brown and winger Bikash Jena.

Guam, made up of several players from the national academy squad, were never in the picture barring brief spells in either half when they made deep inroads into the Indian territory without being able to gain any points.

The visitors are ranked six places higher, at 82, but it made little difference to the Indian team who rode roughshod over their rivals to emerge convincing victors.

Their last encounter in Guam had ended in an 8-all draw.

India, coached by David Higgins of England, next take on the Philippines at Manila on July 1 in the triangular series being organised for lower-ranked teams in the world to help them gain experience and improve their standings.

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