Trinity back to winning ways

Last weekend served up some interesting schools rugby. As Royal got away with the margin of a single penalty, so did the Trinity lions against the gallant Pathana side. The Pathana game attracted a huge crowd and in the sweltering heat and humidity it was an effort for the spectators as well to keep abreast of the events on the field of play.  

Whilst the win by Trinity cannot be described as a workmanlike effort it could be considered crucial given the fact that they had lost to the Petes the previous week in their own den. The vociferous Pathana supporters drowned the cheers of the Lions. The game did not reach any dizzy heights but there was plenty of thrilling moments. The Pathana fullback is obviously hell bent on running with the ball irrespective of the fact that play is in his own backyard. Whilst it looks gutsy, thrilling and has the crowd on their feet when it comes off, one looks pretty stupid when caught with possession. On a number of occasions he was caught in his own half and the Pathana forwards would have loved him for this.

Both teams were guilty of poor ball handling skills both when running with the ball and while fielding the high ball. Thus the restarts proved to be a thorn in the flesh for both sides. On the occasion that the ball was taken clean at a restart, the players decide to gain extra territory by moving towards the advancing opposition and in the process are being isolated as they are running away from their own support. At the restart I would like to see the high ball well secured and then play set up for either the three quarters or the forwards to make headway. Trinity lost many a scoring opportunity when they fluffed the ball in the last phases of play.

Pathana are ferocious tacklers and this was quite evident on that day. Despite their relative smaller stature they were able to bring down the heavier opposition with their tenacious tackling skills. Both sides had players sin binned for overzealous play although one of the infringements in my opinion could have possibly resulted in a red card. Both teams were guilty of not capitalising on the fact that the opposition was a man short. On the contrary the team with a player short was the team that scored during that passage of play.

Crowd control at these games is important and at one point with Pathana leading there was a stone throwing incident which prompted the referee to halt play. The school authorities must ensure that the supporters are kept under control. The last thing that we would want is for teams to be playing to empty stands. The sale of liquor during a school game is fraught with risk. Certain old boys are unable to control their liquor and long before the game started they were in high spirits. The quality of the language that we were subjected to thereafter was abysmal.

Last weekend the Petes gave newcomers DSS a lesson or two in basic rugby when they touched down thirteen times. The win could be attributed more to the hapless defence as opposed to the brilliance of the Peterites and such games do nothing for the advancement of the game. Maybe DSS could be demoralised in the face of such a large defeat and getting the boys motivated for the next game could be difficult.

This weekend we are spoilt for choice with the Carlton sevens being worked off over the weekend in Kandy. The second leg of the competition will be held in the Colombo the following week. There are a number of international sevens stalwarts on display and it would be interesting to see how they adapt to the local conditions given the heat and the humidity. The overseas players who are billed to be on display include DJ Forbes, Tomasi Cama, Mat Turner, Zar Lawrence, Dan Norton, Frank Halai and Joe Webber to name a few.

A couple of school games are on this weekend and the Petes taking on Science would be the main attraction for more reasons than one. The former Peterite Rugby physical trainer Mothilal Jayatileka is the Coach of Science and will also be out there to prove a point or two. The Science three quarters are a class act and able to punch holes in the opposition three quarter line at will. If anyone needs any reminding, ask the Royal three quarters. The Petes/Royal/Trinity and Pathana occupy the top four slots in the league table and there is unlikely to be any change in these positions after this week’s games.

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