Vidyartha and Science steal limelight

 Vidyartha skipper Gayan Perera makes powerful run to score a try

Dialog Schools Rugby League 2024 – Week 1 Analysis

The opening weekend of the 2024 League consisted of 2 major upsets, 3 unbalanced affairs and a few pre-season practice games. The GCE O/L examination that was held just over a month ago is the main cause for the latter, as most teams never got the chance to sufficiently train as a complete unit. Hence it is expected to take at least 3 weeks into the season before these teams get their acts together.

The author would like to make an amendment to a statement in the Teaser article published last week (https://www.ft.lk/sports/Dialog-Schools-Rugby-League-2024-Locked-loaded-and-ready-to-fire/23-762988) with regard to the matter mentioned about the Science College Rugby Administration. It was learnt that the Committee that exited in November 2023, resumed office with a new leadership in January 2024, and has been supporting Science Rugby ever since. The author apologises for the inaccurate information that was published last week, and commends the new administration for bringing about a renewed spirit in Science Rugby.

St. Joseph’s hosting Vidyartha – 14 Jun:

The Tigers stamped their Paws on the Turf, and buried their Fangs on the soft, unwary Saints to cause an upset at the Curtain raiser of the Dialog schools Rugby league 2024. This is the second year in a row the Saints have fallen prey to the underdogs at a season opener, putting themselves under immense pressure for the rest of the League. The Boys from Darley Road didn’t quite look their best, and played the latter half like a practise game, complete with indecisions and infringements. This is the worst way any team could begin the season, especially if they have set their eyes on the prize.

Velocity plus viscosity becomes the trademark of Vidyartha this season! The Joes were completely vanquished by the sheer velocity of the Tigers that facilitated the latter to make many breaks and run the Ball deep into the opposition’s territory. The continuous rapid decisions followed by instant actions by the hunters didn’t give the hunted any time to think, let alone react. The viscosity of the Vidyarthians’ tackling, pinned the opposition down in their positions, regardless of whether they were sprinters or rammers. The lightning quick rush defence of the Tigers, aided by their near invisible Limbs left Joes trapped more often than not, and exhibiting the “Twist” dance moves, rather slowly, to the tunes of the Papare Band. The touch and place kicking of the visiting side was breathtakingly flawless, as they managed to convert two corner Tries under pressure. Their discipline was excellent considering this was their first game, and except for a few extra unforced handling errors, the Kandy Lads looked a ferocious outfit for 2024.

The Saints seemed to be under pressure from the first long whistle, and the Tigers’ rampant offensives made them flutter further, resulting in an endless assortment of infringements that plucked the game away from them. Although the home team frequently had sufficient opportunities to equalise and surpass the opposition’s tally during the last 10-15 minutes of the game, their untimely errors and their inability to follow the laws of the game, neutralised all chances of escaping the ambush of the insatiable striped Cats.

Captain Gayan Perera led the streak of Tigers with motivated actions, rather than mere voiced commands. He saved his team 7 points early on in the game, by averting a Try being scored under the Posts, after giving a spectacular 55-meter sprinted chase to catch up to his opposite number 13. This may well be the match winning save by the well-motivated skipper.

Result: Vidyartha beat Joes 27-22

 St. Anthony’s hosting Science – 15 Jun:

As sneak peeked in the Teaser article last week, the high-flying Eagle was brought down to the ground by the reinvigorated and redefined slaying unit from Mt. Lavinia, to cause the second but predicted upset of the season. The upset was made easier as the Eagles continued to stockpile penalties as they did last season, while their Ball handling has gotten worse. 16 penalties coupled with 10 unforced handling errors would have given even the yellow Canary Bird the ability to bring down the mighty Eagle. Moreover, the game was played by the hosts as if it was a pre-season practice match.

The visitors excelled in ball handling with only 2 knock-ons during the entire game, something that is extremely rare to be observed at any level of the game. It is noteworthy that Science lost their inaugural encounter last season against Vidyartha due to 2 untimely knock-ons within their danger zone, and it is uplifting to note that they have worked very hard to prevent this and more. As mentioned in the Teaser article last week, their colossal Pack proved quite powerful as well, as they were seen easily dominating almost all the Mauls. However, it was quite heartbreaking to see a slight descent in their discipline as they were handed out almost a handful of yellow cards. Hope the coaching staff of Science address this at their earliest, so that their external fan base could appreciate them for who they were all these years, “The humble Giant killers”.

Expect further epic, gruesome hunts by the “Dark Horses” of the 2024 league.

Result: Science beat St. Anthony’s 27-14

 Trinity hosting S. Thomas’ – 15 Jun:

Trinity College Kandy attempted to play a conservative game of Rugby, without arousing the attention of the attentive folks at Reid Avenue, spearheaded by an array of kicking, in an attempt to take advantage of the absence of the Thomian skipper Yehan Bulathsinhalage. However, the injured skipper’s younger brother Udan, who was just christened into the first XV did a splendid job with his defence kicking, that prevented substantial territory gains for the hosts, and kept them trailing 7-8 at lemons.

The home team then had to pull out and expose a few tricks from the bag that they were saving up for later. The first being an effortless but well-planned and positioned drop goal by star kicker Shan Althaf, that brought his team back into the lead, propelling them with the moral boost to prompt them to utilise the oval Ball at another level. As deep kicks didn’t offer fruitful results earlier, precise up-and-under kicks with timed running and catching, aided by some skilful Backs play to finish off the moves, caught the visitors by surprise repeatedly, causing them to succumb at the last line of defence.

Though defending well enough, the Thomians seemed to lack penetrative skills against a strong defensive side, which might prove to be a problem against similar defences in Round 1. Udan Bulathsinhalage seems to suffer from the same problem as his older brother when it comes to taking easy place kicks, which led to a total loss of 5 points.

Result: Trinity beat S. Thomas 31-8

D.S. Senanayake hosting Dharmaraja  – 15 Jun:

DSS proclaimed its intention to be a formidable force this season by stamping an overwhelming win over Dharmaraja College Kandy. They have elevated their game notably well since last season in all departments, except Ball handling. The highlight of the game was their excellence in the set pieces where they were able to turn over possession at will, accumulating 7 contested turnovers alone, which is a mammoth figure in terms of recent schools Rugby. They have learnt and followed the rules of Rugby exemplarily well, giving away just 6 penalties, to which special commendation should be bestowed upon the coaching staff for instilling one of the five values of Rugby. The 10 unforced handling errors were the only shortcoming from the Donz.

Despite being last season’s highest points scorer for DS, and expected to be this year’s potential candidate for same, Janidu Wijerathne displayed role model sportsmanship when he broke off with, almost a 50m run along the touchline, only to pass the Ball back inwards, just a few meters from the goal line, in order to secure the extra points; then he walked away humbly to his next task without any form of pride or celebration, that goes to show the noble character in this youth.

 “Fresh Coaches may come and go but old habits die hard”, as the Rajans continued their fashionable way to ruin their own game by amassing close to 15 infringements, including two yellow cards. This was the case for them last season as well, as their mistakes continued to disallow them to successfully execute their Rugby skills. Their lineouts proved sheer disaster as they failed to retain the Ball almost every time they threw it in. Their only strength was Ball handling where they committed only 4 errors. For one to actually see what they are really capable of, they should strive to bring the infringements down to 8 or lower, else they are certain to end up at the bottom of the Pile like last year.

Result: DSS beat Rajans 44-12

Zahira hosting Wesley – 15 Jun:

This was poised to be a balanced contest scheduled for Saturday, but turned out to be another practise match. At least Zahira has an excuse for playing with just two players who have played in the 1st XV last year, but Wesley thoroughly disappointed its supporters who were much more animated and vocal than the team itself. The chants of “Zam Zam Zakey” were later exponentially exceeded by cries of frustration and despair that led to some not-so-benign supporters slinging verbal abuse at the players. If the Wesley coaching staff are happy with this win and the performance, then they are looking at a repeat telecast of their last season.

 

Footnote:

As the purpose of this column is to constructively contribute towards levelling up the quality of Rugby from a reasonably high to an ultra-high altitude, reviewing encounters played at the pre-season quality doesn’t serve its purpose. In addition, the 2024 league has been infused with at least 4 schools that are too weak for the upper division, which will result in landslide wins of the stronger teams. There shall be no benefit for either school by reviewing these encounters either, and thus shall be skipped this week and throughout the league.