Trinity joins triple Musketeers for final duels

St. Joseph's College vs Wesley College

Isipathana vs S. Thomas 

Sri Sumangala vs St. Anthony’s 

Science College vs D.S. Senanayake College

The Thomians could not get the better of the Greens on the decisive weekend, although they fought valiantly with refined skills, and not with effective tactics, thereby allowing Trinity College to enter the Super Round. It is indeed a welcome and deserving entry for Trinity after many years, as they are now well sophisticated enough to take on any top dog of the upper division. May the addition of D’Artagnan from the Hills bring refreshed splendour to the duels of the Super Round, along with Athos (Peter’s), Porthos (Pathana) and Aramis (Royal).

St. Joseph’s hosting Wesley – 3 Aug:

The double blues hit the deck with yet another clean stellar performance since the game against Royal College a few weeks ago, but this time minus the shortcomings that wallowed them in that outing. Readers are encouraged to revisit the preview dated 11 July 2024 (@ https://www.ft.lk/columns/Box-Office-showdowns-in-Colombo/4-764107) and the corresponding review dated 16 July 2024 (@ https://www.ft.lk/sports/Dialog-Schools-Rugby-League-2024-Week-5-Tactical-Analysis-Blockbuster-weekend-explodes-with-upsets-galore/23-764300) to refresh their memories. 

Wesley turned up with a rational game plan this time, backed by some well-executed support play that persisted throughout the game, and made up for the few extra unforced handling errors that they committed. The fact that zero ‘holding-on’ infringements were committed against an equally able counterpart, speaks volumes of the quality of their support play. Their vigour was back, accompanied by their most disciplined game this season, giving away 11 penalties, which a reassuring improvement from the Royal game is as well. At least 2 ‘jacklings’ that they mustered against another team sporting strong support play, is a definite improvement and an asset to their game. The key factor of the game was that Wesley was able to counter attack and score most of the time, when Joes made crucial blunders. In other words, the visitors managed to finish a majority of their attacks, while this is where the hosts failed. Although Wesley managed to halve its penalty count from its last game against Vidyartha, there was no change in the number of certificates received for the naughty behaviours; and in fact, they managed to add another vivacious colour to their assortment of certificates to make it complete with 2 Yellows and a Red! Joes’ worst nightmare came to haunt them on this inglorious Saturday evening, when they commenced dribbling the Ball again, as if they were in a Basketball Court, especially before planting Tries, where there were no defenders in front of the Ball carriers. All blunders were made at crucial points that resulted in them either conceding Tries, or forfeiting them. In addition, they never received the potential 20-odd penalties from the visitors that they may have been relying on, in case their Ball, and its handling took a nosedive. Joes defended ‘pick and drives’ exceptionally well in the first half, but could not carry on the momentum in the latter half. They preserved their infringement count to a mere 7, which is an exceptional job by their coaching crew as well. However, it is still bizarrely unclear as to why this crew is still unable to fix the severe Ball handling issues, even on the 8th week of the season?

The highlight of refereeing in this encounter was that Gihan Yatawara prioritised player safety and discipline, and issued the relevant colour cards to both teams as appropriate. It was noted that he followed the very same protocols for dangerous plays in the match between Joes vs Royal at the same venue a few weeks ago. In addition, this week he sent out two players simultaneously, one from each side, as they were constantly trying to pinch and check out each other’s Jersey materials, despite being warned. They were later seen exchanging brotherly emotions sitting side by side at the penitentiary, which also happened to extend into the field, as no further incidents took place thereafter. 

Both schools portrayed heart-warming gestures after the game when they formed a large mingled circle to kneel down in prayer. Next time, I hope we could relish this spirit of brotherhood during the entire duration, rather than just for a few minutes after the game.

 Result: Wesley beat Joes 34-12

Isipathana hosting S’Thomas – 4 Aug:

Approximately an hour before kick-off, all roadside parking along the full stretch of Isipathana Mawatha was already taken. Inside the park, the colours green, blue and black beautified the surroundings giving it a rather unusually vibrant, but fitting mix of colours. The much-awaited battle to remain unbeaten, or enter the Super Round, kicked off amidst a nearly packed Havelock Park that resembled something close to a League Final, and the two teams in the middle made certain that those who were assembled didn’t leave without getting their money’s worth. 

As previewed last week, Pathana defeated Thora’s ultimate weapon with ease, which was their Maul offensives, by turning over at a lineout early on, but at a non-critical point. Following this, the Thomians could not get their throws properly on most occasions, rendering their weapon of vantage almost unusable. Consequently, Pathana had to contest and turnover just twice in the entire game to unsettle the set piece for the Thomians, and the rest fell through on its own. On a few occasions in which the visitors managed to form and drive the Maul, the hosts were seen totally unable to cope, collapsing the Mauls twice, and thereby underlined their weakness that the Thomians failed to capitalise on. Isipathana excelled in touch kicking where it gained miles of territorial advantage, and reigned supreme in this respect, which presented far more added opportunities to keep attacking. Their exceptional touch kicking skills during open play got them across 35m on around 5 occasions, in addition to a 50-22.

The Thomians lost the plot from the word go by kicking away possession in the first half, thereby denying themselves the opportunity to attack. It has to be admitted that the Thomian defence formation and tackling were quite impeccable in the former half, as they mesmerised the Pathans and the Patrons alike, who were not expecting such courageous and well-orchestrated defence, coming continuously from the visitors. These defensive skills were put into action endlessly and needlessly in the first half, as they kicked away possession and spent most of their valuable time and energy in trying to stop the hosts from entering the visitors’ danger zone. In contrast, it was quite amusing indeed to see them attempting to possess the Ball inside their 5m in the dying minutes of the game, and conceding a try while doing so.

One may be perplexed as to what the ploy here was? Was STC expecting to play the kicking game and pressurise the Pathana Backs to kick to touch within their grid, so that the former could throw-in at the lineouts to launch their Maul offensives? Although this tactic may have worked well against other teams, the visitors should have realised that the Pathans wouldn’t want a Thomian lineout within their 40, hence would devise counter tactics to avoid it. Even if they hadn’t foreseen this prior to the game, it became crystal clear within the first five minutes of the game, but the Thomians kept repeating the same failed tactic. Simply 3 kicks into the hands of the opposition gave them maximum possession and attacking opportunities in the first half.

Or were the Thomians trying to get the Greens to run as much as possible in the first half, in order to get them tired for a delayed onslaught? Didn’t the coaching crew know that Pathana is usually at its best attacking mode in the second half, hence adequate points HAVE to be accumulated in the first? The 10-all deadlock at half time was never going to work in their favour as per the recent history of the two teams, where STC has been a first half team, and Pathana fires up in the second, and quite relentlessly as well. The visiting coaches may have failed to realise that the same kicking tactic was used by some other teams this season, but the Greens were always ready with reserve energy to hit back strong in the last 10 minutes, which was in total contrast to their energy management observed in the last season, where they were practically sitting ducks during the last 10 minutes of the game.

Both teams shined in Ball handling with just a solitary unforced knock-on from each side, which made this encounter a high-skilled stifle between two well-trained outfits, where the game flowed unceasingly, only to be interrupted by foul plays and injuries. In summary, two crucial factors influenced the dominance of the Greens in this game. First was the defeat of the Thomian Mauls by Pathana, by turning over at the lineouts, and second was the inability of the Thomians to find touch consistently to gain yards, and to be able to keep the opposition pinned to their front Porch.

 Result: Pathana beat STC 41-27

Wariyapola Sri Sumangala hosting St. Anthony’s – 4 Aug:

New entrants Sri Sumangala College Kandy had trained really hard to raise their standards of Rugby to put up a show worth paying to watch and also enjoy. The battle at Bogambara was to avoid being seeded last in the Group, thus both teams gave their ultimate performances to stay ahead. Both teams attacked well with their backlines, and their tackling was ferocious and on-target as well. 

Sri Sumangala exhibited far more superior ball handling skills than most seasoned upper division teams in this game with just 4 unforced handling errors. Their discipline was good overall, but they conceded 8 penalties in the first half that constantly held them back in the game. They were quite formidable in their goal line defence as they spoiled many Try attempts by SACK, by holding the Ball up. Their attitude and flair in this game was quite encouraging to watch, and hope to see them keep rising from here on.

SACK also played some fantastic running Rugby with their three quarters, but continued their usual form in infringing, committing nearly 20 fouls, which granted the opponents more chances to fight back, and get close to their points tally.

Result: SACK beat Sri Sumangala 25-17

Science hosting D.S. Senanayake – 4 Aug:

Maybe the prayers of the mass were answered somewhat, as Science College showed renewed energy and commitment to play some spectacular running Rugby against the well peaked Donz unit, to stand up strong and go neck-to-neck with them in the former half. Their Backs played some flamboyant Rugby, scoring a few corner Tries before Lemons. 

However, the smart Donz coaching crew changed tactics during the interval to play the latter half with their Forwards, who had earlier proven to be sufficiently strong enough to maul their counterparts. Therefore, Science rarely got a chance to work their Backline in the second half, but found themselves defending pick ‘n drives and Mauls endlessly. A few of their Maul ‘sacking’ were deemed illegal by the Referee, which didn’t give the Mount Lads many options to defend them, as they continuously conceded Maul Tries. It was not clear from the Camera angle as to whether the Ball was transferred to the back, before the ‘sacking’ took place. Nevertheless, this made things really hard for the Maroons as they panicked and started committing a ton of infringements in the latter part of the second half, further aiding Donz’s onslaughts, which led to a landslide victory for the visitors.

 Result: DSS beat Science 39-12

 (The writer can be reached at: [email protected])