Petes lucky to win last week

Last week’s battle of the Saints at Bamba was quite an event starting with the increased ticket prices. I am not sure whether the general tendency of price increases in essential goods was a guiding factor but the price of a seat in the sun baked stands close to the VIP enclosure was at Rs. 500.

There also appears to be some confusion with the game scheduled to kick off at 4p.m. but eventually doing so anytime thereafter due to various reasons including the delay of the arrival of the Chief Guest.  

If the Peterites thought that the Joes were going to be pushovers, they were in for a rude shock. At the end of the first half, it was the Joes that held sway with the Peterite think-tank in a certain amount of disarray.

I had my first sight of the Joes forwards and some of them are at least six feet tall. Someone in the crowd remarked that these guys had hands like legs and legs like logs. Whilst the Joes used their superior weight and height to good advantage, a lot of hard work is required in moulding them into first class rugby players. Their obvious advantage must be put to good use, both in attack as well as in defence. In attack, I felt that these burly forwards ran very upright. In defence, their ability to turn around was likened to the grace and speed of the Queen Mary. Their scrummaging technique was poor, with the front row popping up like the proverbial question mark. I am sure that the coaching staff would soon be able to iron out these deficiencies.

The Peterites played some poor quality rugby till about the seventieth minute. They were trailing till then and the Josephian supporters smelt a rare victory. Whether the thirteenth win on the trot by the Peterites was jinxed, was being discussed at length. I felt that the Petes appear to be over reliant on individual brilliance to see them through. The fact that they have dominated the local rugby scene for a number of years has maybe led to a sense of complacency. The departure of their play maker mid way through the game resulted in many handling errors. There was also a fair bit of unwarranted and stupid play by the Peterites. The first spear tackle resulted in a yellow card whilst the second resulted in no action other than a verbal warning. The third blatant indiscretion was the attempted tripping of the opponent which resulted in another yellow card. There were infringements by both teams in the rucks which either went unnoticed or were noticed and no action was deemed required.

If I were to choose a player that stood out it would be the Josephian Fly Half, who had a super game, with his tactical kicking for territory, his incisive runs which invariably saw him go past the gain line and his fantastic kicking at goal.

On previous occasions, I have opined that the referee gets very little support from his two assistants, and unless we are able to invest in basic telecommunication equipment between the three of them we will see glaring and at time match altering incorrect decisions being made. Those in charge must look at sponsors for such basic equipment if we are to see a qualitative improvement in the standards of the man with the whistle. I trust that there is a review mechanism to provide constructive feedback to the referee so that improvements can be made including the consistent interpretation of the laws of the game.

Trinity had a good run last week coming back strongly in the second half. Thus this week’s encounter with the Peterites will be a fascinating battle. The Peterites will be hard pressed to maintain their unbeaten record, given their rather patchy performance last week. My money will be on Trinity, who are bound to roar loudly in their den at Pallakelle.

Science College has made a mark in the local rugby scene over the past few years and the boys from Mount Lavinia will lock horns with Royal. Whilst Royal occupies the second slot in the rugby table, they are equal on points with SPC. Science is at # 5, but after this week’s matches, the chances are that we will see a shift in these positions. For those who are not travelling to the hills, Mount Lavinia will be the place to be on Saturday.