Box Office showdowns in Colombo

 Dialog Schools Rugby League 2024 – Week 5 peek preview

Week 4 has been skipped (postponed) and shall be played following Week 7, the final week of Round 1. However, this weekend consists of some blockbuster encounters, with possibly a few upsets on the cards. Unfortunately, three of them are packed into an all-exciting Saturday that would force Rugby fanatics to consolidate and align all the available digital displays within their respective households.

Wesley vs Royal at Havelock Park on 12 July:

If, and only if Wesley College has worked on its discipline in adhering to the laws of Rugby, and is able to control emotions to play pure tactical Rugby during the whole 70 minutes, then we may be looking at the biggest upset of this season. Being the most potential team to not only contain the skillsets and the sheer power of the Royal Pack, but are also capable of overpowering them, the double blues will be looking forward to dominate proceedings with their Forwards, and thereby force the Royal Tuskers to fall back to their backline. 

The initial strategy of both teams would be to target lineouts in the opposition’s front yard. Royal would simply opt to find touch and use their jumping skills to turnover possession, at least a couple of times. Wesley would be banking on Royal penalties instead, to be able to throw the Ball in, as it lacks the skills to turn over possession in this particular set piece. They would also hope not to throw strays, as opposed to their last outing, as every single opportunity would be extremely precious to them, as Royal conceded only 3 penalties inside their grid in the last game. The ability to instantly form the best defending Mauls, and the ability to hold and diffuse the opposition’s Maul, would be critical and script the rest of the chronicles. If Royal succeeds in its Maul offensives and scores corner Tries, its place kickers are well trained to slot corner conversions accurately, and would enjoy a clear advantage over their opponents, who have consistently struggled to achieve this. Therefore, Wesley must score more Maul Tries than its opponent in the Forwards game. 

The double blues’ solid and consistent support play would be the perfect fit against the best Jacklers of the tournament. The support play was so forthcoming in their last outing that they gate crashed the Rucks, and thereby conceded 5 penalties for falling over the Ball, which they would be trying to avoid completely in this game. The visitors’ Backs would be something that the hosts would be able to deal with in confidence, in contrast to Peter’s game. Therefore, the patrons would be able to witness some highly competitive dogfights on green terrain.

S’Thomas’ vs D.S. Senanayake at STC Big Club Ground on 13 July:

The Donz will be facing their next hurdle on their road to the Super Round, but at a rather inconvenient and breezy venue by the Sea. The last time these two teams met, they were in each other’s way to get to the next round, thus the match was virtually played inside of a gigantic pressure cooker, in which DS turned out to be the ones to control their nerves better. This time the onus will be on them, as they have much to lose than the Thomians, who have already gone down to Trinity and are yet to face the Green Machine. Therefore, this would be the hottest contest played on Saturday as per the writer’s opinion.

Both teams are more or less evenly balanced, with DS having the edge on better tackling, and consequently better defence against the Thomian backline. The might of the two packs is yet to be measured in a live, mouth-watering, front-on clash. It is the view of the writer that DS would hold the higher stakes in the forwards department, based on the capabilities depicted by both fractions previously. Nevertheless, both teams may initially look to attack with their forwards, as they perceive it to be their strength. Therefore, the team that commits the higher number of fouls would be more vulnerable in this game, as they are most likely to face the opposition’s Maul in all its splendour and glamour, heading towards their goal line. 

However, DS would be better off sticking to the Backline for its onslaughts, as the Thomians have demonstrated their weakness in tackling effectively, time and time again. Hence, any penalty awarded within the hosts’ 30 should be a scrum call for DS, with the aim to bag all 7 points. In addition, progressing in phases and finishing off close to the Posts with pick ‘n drive assaults would help the visitors convert successfully under unfamiliar windy conditions, rather than trying to convert corner Maul Tries. Although the Donz have not displayed dazzling infiltrative plays by their Backline as yet, the patrons are eagerly waiting for this to be unleashed, as they believe that head coach Asela is saving this skillset as another trump card.

Isipathana vs Trinity at Havelock Park on 13 July:

Although this is a long-awaited encounter and seemingly eye catchy, regrettably it would turn out to be an easy walk in the park for Isipathana. With Trinity’s recent form, it would be heart-breaking for the Rugby enthusiasts, to not witness a tight contest between these two teams.

 Zahira vs Vidyartha at Zahira Ground on 13 July:

This is the other encounter whose result has the potential to turn on its head despite most odds being in favour of Vidyartha. The underdogs Zahira College will be hoping to repeat the same feat as they did in their last outing, in keeping the game closed and depriving the hungry and energetic streak from even pawing the Ball. The ploy would be to keep play away from the super-motivated and highly enthusiastic backline of the visitors, long enough for the positivity and energy to decline, while scoring a few Tries. The Tigers are known to spring back with vengeance, each time they are bruised, hence keeping the play closed, and the ball glued to their Chests would be in Zahira’s best interest.

Although Zahira’s backs game has improved somewhat during the past weeks, it would be no match to the pace and twists of the Tigers’ sprints. Hence, the Zahira Backs may feel the toll while attacking and defending, during most parts of the game. In addition, Zahira’s consistent indiscipline that has averaged 14 penalties per match this season, would grant the visitors endless opportunities to attack; not that they actually require penalties to advance, as they are aptly talented of doing that simply with ball-in-hand, which would also be facilitated by the hosts, if they didn’t make an attempt to correct the 10 unforced errors that they committed in their last game.

 St. Peter’s vs St. Joseph’s at St. Peter’s Grounds on 13 July:

While Joes would be trying their level best to get their heads above the water to play some consistently entertaining Rugby, their hosts would be expecting to jump-start their failed three quarters, and outrun their brotherly rivals in the most popular and customary encounter scheduled for Saturday. The popularity is due to the traditional oval Ball Joe-Pete encounter, and not due to any potential ripples that could be affected in the League scene. 

While Joes would be rather jolly in using their forwards to drive through the Peterite defence, the latter would be ready for it, much readier than last year, to effectively contain pick ‘n drives. However, when it comes to Mauls, Joes may have a slight edge in strength, and it would be up to the Pete’s Maul defence to execute their usual tricks that have worked well for them so far. Hence, the Rugby fans would be curious to see if the Joes pack has what it takes to breach a tighter brigade of 8, which would narrow the deficit by which the visitors would go down. Joes’ kicking is much improved than SPC, hence the additional points would also help narrow the deficit.

The backs game clearly belongs to the hosts, and the visitors can only attempt to minimise casualties by displaying their best tackling skills, as if there’s no tomorrow. The three-quarter brigades shall strive to reconnect, in order to portray pristine perfection in ball handling, in an attempt to thump their rivals down by at least 40 points, if not 50.

(The writer can be reached at: [email protected])