President’s Trophy unveils softly with two QF games

Due to the pulling out of some Schools in the top ten of the League Points Table, St. Peter’s College and Isipathana College get free entries into the Semi Finals. Consequently, only two quarter Final games were played on the opening weekend of the 2024 edition of the Knockouts. Most teams disclosed severe rustiness following a month of absence from mainstream Rugby, hence the encounters had their up and down moments, but never failed to provide their share of excitement for the enthusiasts.

 D. S. Senanayake vs Wesley – 30 Aug:

It was way back in week 3 of the League, that both these teams fully showcased their muscle power for the first time, following which the title of the subsequent weekend’s review read “Donz Dazzle & Wesley Wrestle, flexing Maul Muscles”. From that weekend onwards, these two sides showed that they could not only take on, but also dominate any of the Big Guns going forward, with their Forwards. Thus, this was expected to be a shove-of-war between two of the best Forwards outfits in this season, and was poised evenly prior to the kick-off.

 Wesley College commenced the game extra spirited than their counterparts, which aided them to keep attacking and score constantly and therefore dominate proceedings in the first half, amassing 27 points. Although they could have scored above 40 points, a weak link in their three quarters attack, persistently snapped and forfeited a few definite Try scoring opportunities. After conceding a Try due to 2 successive penalties at the beginning, the double blues settled down, held their nerves, and played a cool headed & controlled game of attacking Rugby, that shook up the Donz to the core. Their Ball handling and discipline were exemplary in the former half, where they committed a solitary unforced error, and just 3 fouls that primarily spearheaded their unending onslaughts.

 It was predictable that both teams would use their Forwards foremost for their offensives, as it has been their distinct advantage. However, how and when to use them was key in this outing. It was clear as daylight that the Wesley coaching Camp hadn’t taken a vacation since the conclusion of the first Round of the League, as they have added some new skills, done a lot of homework, and came to this encounter well prepared, tactically as well. The fact that the present Wesley outfit was able to keep its infringements down to 3 in one half is an extraordinary achievement on its own, as this is their best effort in ‘23 and ‘24.

 Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about DS. They seemed comparatively less enthusiastic than their rivals from the outset; their usual admirable skills looked rather rusty, and their tactical game play was rather blunt. To begin with, their usual sluggish form in tackling the opposition Backs remained constant, but was expected. Their Mauls binding suddenly looked average, where they demonstrated precise textbook material stuff in their previous League encounters, quite consistently. The clearance kicks under pressure from within their 10m were so novice, that it always reliably assisted Wesley’s Maul raids, by presenting them an endless array of opportunities to throw the Ball in, from within the DS 22. They had a premeditated game plan to attack with their Forwards, no matter when or where, and when these plans didn’t pan out, there wasn’t any backup plan or improvised tactics coming from the Donz.

 Although DS scored its first Try off a Maul, Wesley came back with a series of solid defensive skills in the form of 3 Maul turnovers and 2 lineout turnovers, that unsettled and disrupted the DS Maul menace. Having lost one mode of attack, the Donz resorted to a sequence of ‘pick and drive’ onslaughts that proved to be very slow in catching up to the 17-points deficit remaining from the first half. Instead of alternating between the Forwards and the Backs, DS opted to ‘pick and go’ from the opposition’s 40, advancing only a few inches with every phase, making it mathematically impractical to catch up to the Scoreboard leaders with the time remaining in the second half. In addition to this blunder that wasted a lot of time (and energy, that they should have opted to conserve for the subsequent games), they settled for 3 points off a Drop Goal, when they had a penalty advantage on the 5m mark, and right in front of their opponent’s front Porch. This could, and would have been an ideal point to commence their ‘pick and drive’ from, instead of going all the way back to the 40m again, having settled for just 3 measly points.

 After a substantial lead of 17 points at the breather, the young Wesley Clan returned to the game that they are so used to playing, by shelving their newly achieved standards and steadfastness in a disastrous second half consisting of 12 infringements and average Ball handling. This means that they gave away possession to the opposition, along with territorial gain every 3 minutes, that obviously rendered them pointless in their diminishing half. The first half clearly depicts that the coaching crew of Wesley College has done its part exceptionally well in enforcing the adherence to the laws of the game. However, the flip in the mindset of the youngsters in the latter half, reveals that they clearly lack the mental strength, drive, commitment, and maturity to play a consistent game for the full 70 minutes, even when not under pressure, which is unfortunately is not a trait of a team that could win a Championship, despite possessing the required skill set of a champion team!

Result: Wesley beat DSS 27-20

S. Thomas’ vs Zahira – 31 Aug:

 What began as an enthralling encounter, progressively turned out to be a disappointingly deflated outing for both teams, due to substandard Ball handling. The combined unforced errors that approached 25, made the spectators wonder if this was in fact, the second ‘Segment B’ match of the day? If that was not enough to spoil a wonderful Saturday evening for the cheerful attendees, STC piled up at least 17 fouls to further diminish their otherwise colourful rugby, to the standards of a ‘Segment C’ team. This win for STC, is in fact a death trap in disguise, as they are destined to be massacred by at least half-a-ton at the Semis by the Green Machine, should they uphold the same form.

 Zahira College came into this game with a well thought out defensive approach, but lacked considerably in their attacking strategy. To begin with, STC’s Maul strength and related skills were acknowledged against Zahira’s own ability to defend it, and a strategy was adopted to avoid lineouts, as much as possible. Therefore, meticulous steps and continued focus were applied during the entire game to avoid giving away penalties, extremely successfully. In addition, the Zahirians opted to run the Ball from wherever they got possession, and avoided clearance kicks unless absolutely required. However, this strategy in combination with their Ball handling issues provoked constantly by the Thomians, held them imprisoned within their 40, during most part of the game.

 This also hurt Zahira’s offensives considerably, as they seldom kicked to gain territory during open play, even when the well-choreographed Thomian defences kept their purposeful Backline attacks at bay. Therefore, Zahira resorted to ‘pick and drive’ offensives, which were also defended quite well to slow them down. In other words, although being successful in their advances, their ‘pick and drives’ were slowed down noticeably, and averted occasionally by the opposition. Although Zahira purposefully restrained kicking when initiating their offensive way back from their 5m, they punted a few hard-earned chances away, while attacking inside the opposition’s 22, and especially when they were so close to finishing those attacking moves. Those were the handful of missed opportunities available to launch their ‘pick and drive’ phases from close proximity to the finish line, that disheartened the spirited Zahira supporters and neutrals alike.

 Though STC possessed the required momentum, intensity, drive and passion to display skilful Rugby of sheer domination, their complete incompetence in Ball handling, complemented the evening’s overcast gloom, while their disregard for the laws of the game that lead to an aggregated 17 penalties, portrayed poor respect for the game and their opponents, who religiously infringed only around 5 times in the entire game, which happens to be the record for this season. Well done Coach Shamlie and the young Zahira team for this glorious achievement in fostering one of the five core values of Rugby, discipline; take a bow Zahira.

 Result: STC beat Zahira 27-20

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