Nippon Paint Rugby League 2023/24 – Week 8 Preview

Cup Championship

Havelock SC vs CR & FC at Havelock Park on 2 Feb:

Just a few weeks ago, the men from Havelock Town came well prepared to take on the dominating and unbeaten Ceylonese Rugby and Football Club, and turned the chips in their favour to bamboozle the home team in the first half. Being the second team on that weekend that believed in the old saying “the best form of defence is attack”, they pounced on the Hosts from the word go, before the red Jerseys could ever think of settling down. 

What was phenomenal to observe during this onslaught was the ability of the visitors to advance gaining territory despite CR’s ruthless rush defence that has been immensely effective for them so far. There has been no team this season that has been able to convincingly and consistently gain yards, especially, with their Backs against CR’s formidable rush defence. The underdogs were seen to be super hyper, moving the Ball laterally in either direction, rapidly alternating the attacks between their Forwards and their Backs, and constantly testing for weaknesses in the Hosts’ full breadth of defence, with both muscle and pace. This type of unusual rapid shift in attacks between the two segments of the team, while moving the Ball to both extremes of the breadth of the Pitch in super quick successions, perplexed CR’s rush and drift defences, slowing them down considerably, that allowed the Havies to gain yards in contrast to the other teams. Although Havelock completely dominated the first half, CR’s reliable last line of defence deprived the visitors from reflecting their dominance on the scoreboard, as they led by a mere 7-3 at half time. 

Unfortunately, the Havies could not keep up their dominating game in the second half as they had used up most of their nitro in the first that allowed CR to take control of proceedings. The mounting infringements and the lack of focus and conviction of the Havies, portrayed the inability of the team to play Ball during the full 80 minutes, making them sitting ducks. One could only hope that the coaching staff would now focus more on sustaining stamina for the full duration of the game by spreading the tactics that require peak power, in accordance with their respective power banks for this game. Another realistic tactic to overcome CR is, not waste firepower breaching their solid defences from ground zero, but to use touch kicks to gain real estate, and then use that firepower to attack from close proximity to the finish line. 

CH & FC vs Kandy at Race Course on 3 Feb:

After overcoming CH who was rather underprepared in the first week of the season, Kandy SC will come down to Colombo this week-end to test CH once again. Having gone through a roller coaster of setbacks during the last few games, CH would definitely have to pull up their socks, and turn up to play in unison, if they wish to pose any real threat to the defending champs. The only thing that has been holding CH together is their defence, but they require much more than that to stand up against the top guns of the League. 

On the contrary, Kandy SC shall look forward to testing and practising various techniques and skills required to overcome the tough CR defence at the final showdown. It was apparent that their Backs were prepping to outrun CR’s rush defence in the game against Navy, a week prior to meeting CR earlier. The skills to win back possession at the lineouts was also seen being tested in this game, as Kandy managed a couple of turnovers. It shall be interesting to see what other ploys would be tested in this game, as whatever that was attempted previously was inadequate.  

Plate Championship 

Navy vs Police at Welisara on 2 Feb:

Sadly, Navy SC continues to suffer a poor season, mainly due to losing several players, and there seems little hope for their recovery, for them to be able to withstand any of the other three teams in the Plate Championship.

 Although Police SC commenced the season on a high note, and thereby raising expectations to challenge the top 3 teams, they gradually lost focus, and thus their way from their 3rd fixture onwards, ending up with a disastrous and embarrassing outing against CH a few weeks ago. However, they made some amendments to the team structure in the subsequent week that allowed them to convincingly beat an improved Air Force unit. Although yet not up to the mark, the coaching staff seems to have been working on making amends to empower Police to clinch the Plate. 

Army vs Air Force at Panagoda on 3 Feb:

The Air Force sustained its elevated course in the previous weekends where it dished out a tormenting episode to the ambitious CH Clan, forcing them to slog for their narrow win, while settling for merely two Tries. The Force that was unleashed once again, from the first long whistle at its base at Ratmalana on the subsequent weekend, continuously choked another considerably improved and confident Army outfit, squeezing out uncharacteristic mistake after mistake, and churning them out into valuable points during the majority of the first half. The mistakes weren’t the usual lineout slipups of the Soldiers, but this time they came in the form of repeated infringements and unforced knock-ons, due to the sheer pressure applied by the Force’s ferocious and forthcoming onslaughts. The Force is expected to be even stronger this weekend, despite playing away.

Army Sports Club suffered an uncharacteristic tally of 12 unforced handling errors in their last game against AF that made one wonder if sweaty palms could cause much more damage than an overly wet turf? One could say this was the worst Army outing since their season opener. However, Army came back strong against CH in the last week of round 1, almost winning the game, and with the two weeks window they had to prepare, one can bet they will be a force to reckon with in the Plate Championship, and possibly clinch the title.