Thoras humble Lions

Thomians rugby has been on the decline in the past few years and the inevitable demotion surprised nobody. At their expense Wesley were promoted and now occupy the No. 2 slot behind the Petes. There was a time in the not too distant past when the Thomians produced some good quality players who went on to play club and national level rugby.

Thus the game between the Thomians and Trinity evoked marginal interest for a rugby enthusiast unless you were an old boy of either of the schools or maybe from the current crop of players. The game is steeped in rich history as the Canon RS De Saram Trophy was up for grabs.

During the last three years, the Thoras had been soundly beaten by the Lions with high scores. I am sure that nobody other than some diehard fan would have given the Thoras a chance. They proved us all wrong. The emotion attached with the coveted trophy at stake made the Thoras play a different brand of rugby, which paid rich dividends.

Whilst possession, is the key to winning a game, possession alone does not win you the game. There is a small thing called patience which one needs to be exhibited and the final kill should be undertaken at the opportune moment. Assuming that, as soon as one gets possession a score is inevitable is foolhardy. Trinity succumbed to this mistaken belief.

As far as the Thoras were concerned they had nothing to lose, but everything to gain as they continued to frustrate the Lions, who eventually succumbed to the same. It is strange to see the style of play when a team is considered an underdog and nothing great is expected of you. In such instances, you only need to undertake the basics and everything else generally falls into place.

The same is true in an office environment as well. When one is put in charge of a unit that has been managed badly, you only need to get the basics and fundamentals in order. Thereafter the rest will fall into place.

On the contrary, you are asked to take over a unit that has been run well, it is difficult to demonstrate any change that adds value. Thus a number of managers when confronted with such a situation tend to effect changes for the sake of change and the result is chaos and general unhappiness all around.

The Thoras with this win under their belt will bring in a lot of self belief that they can compete with the best and win irrespective of the standing of the opposition. If I was a Royal supporter, I would look at a solid game plan again the Thoras lest the same fate that befell the Lions should befall them.

The Petes should be in a better frame of as they meet the Lions next. Although the lions may have had a bad game against the Thoras, anyone who writes off the lions does so at their own peril.

Sri Lanka Rugby was on a high after their unbeaten run in the Asian five Nations tournament a few weeks ago. A look at the performance of Japan last week should no doubt confirm to us all, the huge mountain that we need to climb, if we are to make a mark at the next level.

Whilst I do not want to sound pessimistic, let us all not underestimate the level of skill that is required to play at the next level. As of now with the current exposure and skill level I would think that SL rugby has peaked.



(The writer can be reached via [email protected])