All gazes set on Pallekele

Dialog Schools Rugby League 2025 – Week 8 Tactical Forecast  

As the penultimate weekend of the Schools Rugby League is upon us, all Eyes and most Feet shall be set on the Hills, with the hope to witness a rare occurrence of, unsettling the balance of power that has now shifted its way to the Hills. The overall results from this weekend, shall determine how hot or cold the 9th and final weekend shall be at the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2025.

Trinity College

Wesley College

Trinity vs Wesley at Trinity Rugby Stadium on 2 Aug:

The highly anticipated encounter of the Second Round is upon us, when the mighty King Kong from the coasts of the Tropical Island, navigates its way up the Hills through the wavy Valleys, on its quest to hunt down the untameable King of the Jungle. The popular contrasting quotes of “size does matter” and “size doesn’t matter” shall be put to test in this epic brawl, that is all set to unfold deep inside the thick greenery of Pallekele. Can the feisty natives face their colossal opponents with Lion Hearts, or would they tremble the moment they stand Nose to Chest? Head over to Kandy to find out the outcome, in a rare clash of rugby brilliance that no rugby lover should miss in his or her lifetime.

 Let’s compare key skills and performance indicators in this forecast, based on the last three outings of both teams.

 The Mettle in Mauling

 The first two stats measure Maul offensive capabilities, as one has to retain possession at the lineouts in order to attack. The other three depict Maul defending abilities. Based on the above comparisons, there is nothing much to it on paper.

The Power of Pounding

  Immobilised Maul offensives usually transfer to other forms of attacks including pick and drives. Trinity prefers to finish off offensives using the Backline, hence a Ruck or Scrum turnover at certain vantage points would turn Wesley vulnerable in those positions.

Buff up the Boots

While the total offenses count is almost similar with 37 and 36 for Trinity and Wesley respectively, the following compares their kicking abilities.

 Static kicks happen mostly following a Try or penalty, and in the case of the latter, Wesley has conceded 60% of their penalties in their own half, against Trinity’s 40%, which exposes them and puts them at the mercy of Shan Althaf’s Boots. Though static kicking is comparable, Trinity shines in kicking during open play to gain massive territorial advantage, while kicking a few more fully out than Wesley, which could be a vulnerability for clearance kicks executed and missed from inside their 22.

 The Baffling Backline

No one needs stats to prove that Trinity’s Backline wins hands down in their infiltration capabilities coupled with their bamboozling moves that open spaces for even Rhinos to cruise through. Their tackling and defending aptitudes is another whole Chapter, but the question would be if Wesley’s parallel Chapter has fewer or more pages?

S. Thomas College

Royal College

S. Thomas’ vs Royal at Big Club Ground on 2 Aug:

The annual RoyTho of Rugby returns to College Avenue where it is hailed as the most prestigious Trophy to hold, next only to the D. S. Senanayake Memorial Shield offered for the Battle of the Blues Cricket encounter. It has a deep and heavy sentimental value to the Thomians, much more than a League or Knockout Title, that most rugby playing Schools cannot even begin to comprehend. As the D. S. Senanayake Memorial Shield is already secured in their Chest of Treasures, the Thomians shall be smacking their Lips looking to secure the Michael Gunaratne Trophy as well, after a lapse of 9 long years.

 Although Royal College has a more important Trophy to focus on, they shall be coming over to Mount to display a glimpse of the memorabilia to some of the younger Thomians who may have only heard of this coveted Trophy, so that they may have the chance to grace it, and be able to describe it to their Children and Grandchildren in the future. Nevertheless, no matter who wins it at the 70th minute, both fraternities celebrate the victory together. For instance, following Royal’s victory last year at the Complex, there were considerably more Thomian supporters than Royalists present during the Trophy presentation, applauding the winners. Conversely, when STC won the Battle of the Blues earlier this year, there were an equal number of Royalists, if not more, in attendance at the Awards Ceremony. For the interest of readers who are neither Thomians nor Royalists, follows a brief tactical forecast, though in fact, the two fraternities concerned are in it, more than for just a win; solidarity!

 The below comparisons are based on the last three games of both teams.

The net result comparison of these stats is similar when you consider the total switches in Ball possession, while it's crystal clear that the Thomians are twice more sensitive than the Royalists when carrying the Ball. Therefore, a mere tickle than a hard tackle would be adequate to trickle the Ball from their grasp.

 Neither team has scored Tries off Mauls directly, nor has turned over a Maul, hence it should be an even contest to enjoy without predictability. The hosts and visitors have scored 3 and 2 Tries respectively via pick and drives, but the hosts’ defence against the skill has been quite fragile conceding 3 Tries, while the visitors have succumbed only once. Moreover, the visitors’ infiltration capability using the skill has been enhanced to an undefendable quotient, that may suffocate the home team to their fall.

 The Backline skills of both sides are comparable, hence should offer an even contest. However, Royal’s ability to execute perfectly timed cross kicks to the other corner of the breadth of the Field, might pose a huge threat to the Thora defence. In addition, Royal’s abrupt kick and chase duo have fished a few Tries for them this season, by trapping isolated players without support, mostly inside their 22s. Nevertheless, Royal will face a strong team quite similar to Trinity’s style of attack, who happen to be quite a handful, thus this should be the perfect practice game for them before the Bradby.

St. Peters College

Isipathana College

St. Peter’s vs Isipathana at SPC Ground on 2 Aug:

Bruised and scathed, both sides would be eager to make a hard comeback to finish the season off with some consolation, hence this would make this match a hard fought one to the total delight of the Patrons, although its outcome would be immaterial to the League Title.

 Out of the two, the Brigade has managed to steeply increase their performance while shedding some of their painful deficiencies, while Isipathana has remained constant in their past few games. However, 10 unforced handling errors let Pathana down tremendously in their last game, which consisted of 7 that donated possession over to the opposition. However, by reputation and recent history, they are guaranteed to curtail these errors to just a few for this important encounter. Below comparisons are from the last four outings of both teams.

Nothing much of a difference when you consider the net handling errors, with only a slight variance in offenses with an average of 15 and 13 per game for the hosts and the visitors respectively.

 The Brigade boasts of a strong pack of Forwards, who most likely shall be held by Pathana, like they always manage to. Regardless of the weight or the power that the Packs could generate, the following stats compare achievements of respective skills.

Surprise factor is although the Greens have only finished with a solitary Maul Try in the last four games, that Try came off Wesley. This proves that the Green Panthers always find a way through the dense defence of heavier Packs. The first three performances are related to attacks, while the others determine the respective teams’ defence performance. As it can be noticed, SPC has zero Maul Tries under their Belt as they are poor in retaining their own lineout throws. However, their pick and drive technique combined with power has been quite strong to earn them a good number of Tries.

 The above performance stats show that Peter’s is susceptible to Maul attacks, as they are weakened by their inability to turnover at the lineouts, as depicted in the earlier Table. It’s all even-stevens when it comes down to the Backline attacks and defence, as this year, both sides have exhibited similar infiltration and tackling capabilities.

Ananda College

Zahira College new

Ananda vs Zahira at Ananda Ground on 2 Aug:

Though the Zahira Forwards and the Anada Backs are not shy of improvising and launching their own effective onslaughts, the Muscle power of the Ananda Pack, opposite the wits of the Zahira three quarters shall be the contest to watch out for in this encounter.

 Zahira’s Ball handling has been more satisfactory, averaging 5 unforced knock forwards in their last 4 games than their offenses that have been averaging 13. Out of those offenses, two thirds have been committed inside their half, making them quite vulnerable to attacks, and thereby leading to bleeding of points. Their hooking at the lineouts has been brilliant, straying only twice in the last 4 games, resulting in only 2 lineout losses owing to their own blemishes. The crème of their rugby is the ability to score Tries, either with their Forwards via Mauls or pick & drives, and also with their menacing Backline. Considering the Table below that consists of stats of their last 4 games, their Place Kicking has been on top form, while their touch kicking has been substandard.

 Ananda shall be looking to attack with their hefty Mauls using the plenty penalty offerings by the Zahirians, however though less strong, the visitors’ Maul defence has not been too bad. They have successfully turned over stronger Mauls of Joes and DS, while conceding only one Maul Try per game, with just a solitary ‘collapsing Maul’ offence in their last 3 games, that makes them reasonably good defenders of Mauls. Therefore, Ananda would highly benefit from pick and drive attacks, because the Zahirians are more susceptible to it, as Joes scored 3 Tries off the move last weekend. The Ananda Backs would have to be highly vigilant, be on their Toes, and pick up their pace, if they are to cover and contain the frenzy Zahira three quarters, who could be too swift and petite to get a grip on.

St. Joseph's College

D.S. Senanayake College

St. Joseph’s vs D. S. Senanayake at CR & FC on 3 Aug:

The race for the Plate intensifies, as the top two leaders of the Table faceoff in a crucial encounter for both teams. If Joes win this match, then they are most likely to secure the Plate, but if DS comes through, then they have to go through Kingswood as well, in the last week of the League.

 High number of offenses stamp free Visa for oppositions to enter one’s half. Successive offenses send VIP Invites to their private red zones that should be otherwise protected from all Trespassers. Folks holding VIP Invites usually don’t go back empty handed, but always return happily with a handful of points. Stats from the last three games are compared below.

 Offenses count averages at 15 and 12 per game for the hosts and visitors respectively. However, Joes have committed close to 20 offenses in each of their last two games, while DS has committed 15 each.  In addition, DS conceded 5 forced knock forwards at their game against Peter’s, which indicates that they spill the Beans when confronted with well-conditioned hard tacklers, which is exactly what Joes are.

 Joes jolt with their Forwards to inflict massive damage, and shall be a handful for their capable counterparts who are reasonably good in defending.

 Although Tries scored via Mauls is exactly the same, the phenomenal difference in Joes’ pick and drive accomplishment is mind blowing. Now it becomes critical to compare their defending abilities for the above skills as well.

 Their defending abilities seem exactly the same, which means that Joes might not be able to have their way with their strong pick and drives as usual in this encounter.

Footnote:

Though we love to, unfortunately we are unable to preview all 9 games to be played each weekend due to time limitations, and therefore are compelled to accommodate only around 4 forecasts each week.

 

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

 Pix courtesy: thepapare.com