Duel amongst the four Alphas

 The Colosseums are all set for the final faceoffs of the Super Round, and the SL rugby enthusiasts finally have their chances to savour the heated contests between the Top Dogs of the ‘Segment A’ Rugby League. All encounters of the Super Round are guaranteed to provide supreme entertainment, as all 4 finalists are teams that would look to dominate proceedings, despite the differences and levels of their respective skillsets. 

Isipathana vs Royal at Havelock Park on 10 Aug:

The unbeaten and pumped-up Green Machine awaits the Royal Tuskers at their home ground for a scintillating game of Rugby to be played, in order to be ahead in the race for the League Title. The once-bitten Tuskers will look to turn things around to the positive, by winning the next two games in an attempt to defend their runners-up honour. Isipathana College enters this game as the favourites due to two reasons. First is that they are a well-balanced, and multi-skilled team in comparison to last year. Second is that Royal has not been “Royal” all season, playing some mediocre Rugby, and there is still no evidence that they have peaked in playing either skilled or tactical Rugby to date. Thus, they come into this game quite fragile in the writer’s opinion, and playing away only makes it worse.

 It would be an uphill task for the Tuskers to take on the Pathans at home, especially in a field and rotundas of Greenery. Following the self-induced setback that may have pushed their mindset a step back, along with the lessons learnt from that debacle, the Royal camp would be now wiser to play to their strengths and not to their opponent’s. However, they would still face further obstacles in their quest, although they might have finally learnt of the Book, ‘The Art of War’ during the past fortnight.

 The #1 rule of “don’t give away possession” still stands strong when playing against Isipathana as well. Thus, kicking the Ball away should only be to find touch, and if attempted, should be promptly followed with a team prayer, to ensure that the Ball doesn’t land on top of a green defender. The Thomians kicked the Ball away just 3 times last weekend during the first half, and then they rarely got a chance to even smell its material thereafter. So a closed game, is it? Not really; the Tuskers could run the Ball by all means, and they are also reasonably capable of defending / tackling when the Greens do so as well. However, defending and tackling might be the only thing that they would end up doing, once Pathana gets the Ball, and one doesn’t get tangible brownie points for that feat. Of course, Royal possesses superior Ruck contesting skills and can definitely turn over a handful against Pathana. However, that shouldn’t be a reason to give away Ball possession, but should be used either as a fallback tactic, or to win back possession following a touch kick. Kicking to touch and pinning the opposition inside their danger zone puts pressure on them, leading them to commit errors or infringe, especially at the breakdowns and during Ruck contentions. 

Royal’s weapon of mass destruction was, and has been its Rolling Mauls. Dushanth Lewke branded Rolling Mauls have been so deadly prior to the Pandemic, that most teams had no answer, but to succumb quickly to it. Lately, the potent of the Rolling Maul has been, more or less neutralised by many teams, and shall be done in this game as well, as Royal has not shown lineout contesting capabilities consistently this season against stronger teams, whereas Isipathana has and succeeded, and therefore it is more likely that the Greens would manage to spoil Royal’s Maul Parties in this encounter.

 No kicking; no mauling; so where would the points come from? As boring as it is to watch for most Rugby enthusiasts of Sri Lanka, pick ‘n drive should be the order of the day, coupled with some burst running Rugby by the Backs. With just 2 unforced errors and 10 penalties conceded against SPC, Royal Rugby has got the refined skills to do both in alternations, and with perfect precision. One cannot choose to have the Cake and also eat it. Hence, Royal may have to sacrifice a flamboyant game of Rugby, for a win.

 Isipathana has got it all covered except one. Defend penetrative backline attacks; check. Lineout turnovers; check. Stop Maul formation; check. Sustain Ball possession; check. Touch finders during open play; check. But the one thing they would find challenging is to defend Royal’s pick ‘n drive offensives. Royal possesses enough ‘boypower’ to do it all 70 minutes, but the Pathans have got only 8 burly Forwards. How and when they would use these 8 would play a pivotal role in this game. 

St. Peter’s vs Trinity at SPC Ground on 10 Aug

Although Trinity College went down twice this season, they have peaked in time for the Super Round, and are bound to show off their colours against the brisky Brigade. While in co-ordinated motion, their three quarters’ flair keeps the spectators breathless momentarily. Their Forwards have faced acid tests in the last two games against reasonably good counterparts, for their mauling and driving skills. Although their defences came off as a wee bit too weak, their offensives appeared quite strong; but are they strong and infiltrative enough for the Brigades, is the question to be answered on Saturday.

 SPC would be looking forward to getting past this hurdle as quickly and painlessly as possible, but it wouldn’t be as easy as last year, and it also wouldn’t be impossible either. In order to make it near-impossible for SPC, Trinity College defences have to be wide awake, and react like the DC character Flash, during all of the 4200 seconds of the game. Then, and only then, we may witness a close contest between these two teams, and if not, it’s only going to be a fascinating game of rugby.

 While both teams are eagerly expected to thrill the audience by opting to play fast open Rugby, Trinity would also try a few tactics with their Muscle power. Trying is not a crime, although SPC has successfully demolished most attempts by the formidable Royal Pack. Sometimes, mere Muscle weight doesn’t actually equate to power, but one could compensate or overstate power using Muscle strength. We would be able to ascertain Trinity’s actual Pack power in this game, before they meet their long-time rivals in the subsequent weekend.

 Trinity is also guaranteed to enjoy exorbitant territory gains with the able Boots of Shaan Althaf not only during open play, but also owing to the 15 plus penalties that the Brigade doesn’t mind giving away. How well Trinity uses these opportunities, once inside the opposition’s grid would be key. Clear choices would have to be made, as to when to go for the three points, and when to go for the whole nine yards. Although the latter should be the preferred choice, it would be insatiably tempting to secure the 3 x 8 = 24 points that should be readily available for the taking inside the Peterite’s kickable zone. In addition, taking into account SPC’s defending capabilities, the easy 3 points seem extremely rational. However, the decision should be taken as per the situation and the mood of the opposition at the time, as you could effectively strike only when the Iron is red hot.

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