Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Thursday Nov 14, 2024
Tuesday, 20 May 2014 00:07 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The Tuskers were in with a chance from the start of the game, the game was hard fought and there was a certain plan that the Tuskers were adhering to and that paid dividends. If one were to review the game a little critically, we must get our man the first time round and there is no place for such a plethora of missed first tackles, wild passes and losing the ball in contact. Against a heavier pack the need to get the ball out of the scrum and ruck situations quickly cannot be overemphasised as the longer we engage them in contact we were going to come off second best.
There are also basics that we did not get right and whilst such errors may go unpunished at club level, at international level the opposition will make you pay for such basic errors. When clearing from our own 22, we must get the ball into touch and there is no space for errors in this area. When you get this wrong you provide the opposition with a platform to counter attack. Thus the need to have designated runners to chase such kicks as well as the ‘Up and under’ is a necessity, if not the kick is merely gifting away hard won possession on a platter.
Unlike in the past where the bulk of the reliance was on the 15 players on the field the game has evolved into being that of 23 players. Thus the quality of the bench is definitely of paramount importance. The timing of the replacement and that they need to be impact players are part and parcel of the modern game. Thus we cannot be doling out favours by having buddies on the bench who come in the last quarter and then claim that they represented Sri Lanka.
The Tuskers’ lack of bench strength was very much in focus as there had to be positional changes when the bench was used. Marija being moved to the role of a centre was definitely a bad move and affected the entire performance of the three quarters thereafter. Marija’s grubber from within the ‘in goal’ area is one of the worst that I have seen in a long time and hopefully will not see something like that again.
What was heartening was that we were willing to grind the hard yards before going for glory. The fact that we were able to string several phases of unbroken play speaks volumes for the maturity of the forwards although when the going got tough we lost the ball in contact – a cardinal sin.
Bilal’s continuous break from the base of the scrum was a treat with him going past the gain line quite often. The slow and sluggish support let him down as he then resorted to holding on till support arrived and was duly penalised.
The last minute controversy will linger on the minds and hearts of all the Lankan fans. Having looked at the incident I can only conclude that it was a refereeing error that robbed the Tuskers of victory.
The post match interview with the Volcano’s skipper would lead us to believe that they consider themselves very lucky to have got out of jail in the dying seconds of the game. The victory celebrations and the crowd invasion before the final whistle was blown did not help the referee in any way to bring the game to a logical end. Even international referees get it wrong.
As opposed to the game of against Hong Kong, the commentary box was all localised. As indicated previously, the team must add value to the viewer and simply not continue to state the obvious. The quality of the images must also be improved with lots more camera angles available for analysis and general enjoyment. Some serious soul searching is required if we are to keep pace with what is available on international sports channels.
(The writer can be reached via [email protected])
