Duple drub in Colombo shifts Rugby Monarchy to Kandy

Dialog Schools Rugby League 2025 – Week 6 Tactical Analysis

The fall of two more undefeated Superpowers from the Capital, shifts the Kingdom of Schools Rugby to the Hills, at least momentarily. On a frantic Saturday, when the Rugby Fanatics of Sri Lanka wished that they could multiply themselves to be at several Venues at the same time, so that they don’t miss the occasional or rare experience of catching the spectacular action, live with its associated ambience, 9 Venues in Colomo and Kandy were in full dazzle and razzle mode, kicking off the first week in the Second Round of the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2025.

Trinity vs S. Thomas

S. Thomas’ hosting Trinity – 19 July:

The Lions came roaring down from the Hills to savour and relish the culinary delights of a pulped King Mackerel by the Sea, by superseding and overpowering the Thomians in every possible department of the game, to the utter dismay of the gritty Thomians restricted to the Pavilions, who could only look on helplessly in disbelief. As for the neutral rugby enthusiasts, there were plenty of “Yay!” moments to cheer on the visitors, significantly more than the home team.

The Thomians started off proceedings in the most unimpressive fashion, since their League game for the Canon R.S. De Saram Shield of yesteryear, portraying shortfall in fluidity and lapse in some key skills that continued until most part of the initial half, allowing the visitors to dominate and pulverise the hosts to a point of no redemption. Thereafter, no amount of rekindled self-realisation, or pep talks offered during the break was sufficient to restore the lost confidence, and the usual flow of the Thomian game that had earlier placed the dreams of the fraternity on a Pedestal.

The Thomians had absolutely no defence whatsoever against the swift but powerful Trinity Maul onslaughts that earned the latter two Tries. STC’s lineout throws were sympathetically weak where they could not retain the Ball on at least 5 occasions that led to them being extremely sceptical about going for touch on a number of instances. This uncertainty saw them working the Ball following 6 penalty opportunities presented to them in their own half, attempting to drill through one of the thickest defences of the League, sometimes even from inside their own 10, that made one wonder if it was an act of bravery or audacity?

Trinity worked its Backline magic like a charm, to charm everyone present including the opposition, showcasing their class at another level that was not seen before. Trinity also exposed a previously veiled skill in lineout contention, by turning over once and disrupting five of STC’s throws. Apparently, Trinity had zero lineout turnovers, while losing 3 due to inaccurate or crooked throws in their last two games against Joes and Royal, which made their capability of the skill seem dull earlier. Trinity’s Ball handling was a reflexion of true Champions, consisting of only 2 unforced errors. Their constant struggle to dominate at the breakdowns earned them a surprise Try following a Ruck turnover. One of the unnoticed highlights of their kicking game was their accomplishment in successfully executing 6 touch kicks during open play, that helped them gain 35m or more territory per kick, whereas the Thomians couldn’t pull off a single one. This presented the Trinitians ample chances to stay and attack inside the STC grid, while milking 7 offenses to further invade inside towards and into their redzone, to score successive Tries that put the hosts on their backfoot and out of the game.

Result: Trinity throttle Thora 36-19

Isipathana vs Wesley

Isipathana hosting Wesley – 19 July:

As one encounter that was expected to be an epic Blockbuster flopped, this encounter held its own, thanks to the resurgence of the Green Machine. It not only lit up the entire game, but sent it down to the wire, where Wesley opted to snatch defeat in a match they had already won before it even began.

The two alpha forces in schools’ rugby attempted to take control of the Ball and the game, right from the kick-off, but Wesley’s handling errors and Pathana’s offenses prevented them from doing so. Initially Wesley did show some edginess facing the risen Green Machine that could have been the cause for these errors along with a few crooked throws. They showed total respect for the Kings of Rugby by taking 3 points early on, well inside the opposition’s territory, whereas they could have opted to go to touch, and used their Maul power to score more. However, Wesley lost this game only on the 14th minute, when they made a breakthrough and proceeded all the way to the Pathana 22, where their Centre failed to make a pass to the Winger before being taken down by a Green defender, that deprived them of a certain Try, as there were no other defenders beyond the 22m line, that could have earned maximum 7 points for Wesley.

Pathana’s heavy counts of foul play that lead to them being yellow carded twice towards the half, didn’t grant them much advantage over their opponents in the former half, although both teams defended like there was no tomorrow. Following repeated penalty invitations by the hosts, Wesley obliged attacking inside Pathana’s 5, when a defender forming the last line of defence, moved off his mark too early to take on an attacker who was in the process of receiving a pass, that opened a huge gap in their defence. Unfortunately for him, the Ball Carrier side stepped and dashed right though the space that was opened up for him, to gleefully score their maiden converted Try. 

Soon after, Wesley’s game discipline went downhill conceding consecutive penalties that lead to the Green Machine scoring a Try off a Rolling Maul. If you are thinking as to how the Greens shoved the mighty Double Blues even a step back, then following is the answer and solution for all who are to face the latter in the coming weeks. Whenever Pathana had a lineout inside Wesley’s 22 that posed a chance for a Maul Try, they opted for a 4-man lineout. Believe it or not, this enabled the home team to push their opponents like a well-oiled Wheelbarrow, up to their line of ‘no entry’. Wesley was offered a penalty just before the interval, which they could have used to launch a Maul attack from a lineout at the opposition’s 5m line, but they opted for a Scrum for some unknown reason, only to be held up at the end of their subsequent onslaught.

Both teams committed almost the same number of offences in the latter half, resulting in each side scoring a converted Try each that finally left Wesley trailing by 4 points, when the forces of the Rugby Universe decided to offer one more chance to the Double Blues to crack their demolishing Thunder to wreck the Green Machine. A Wesley lineout was initiated from quite close to the Pathana 10m, off an offside offense, with which the Double Blues launched a well-constructed Maul attack that Pathana could not hold, mostly due to horrible binding techniques. As the will of destiny, or some may call it ‘ill fate’, the Ball Carrier whose Palms were sweaty, Knees weak, and Arms were heavy with the burden of the Ball, went down on his knees momentarily while still engaged to the Rolling Maul, which meant that he technically disengaged from the Maul, although he was still latched on to it, which also meant that the Maul has ended. Though Wesley went over the line for a perfect grounding, the Try was disallowed, because he got up on his Feet and reengaged to the Maul that warranted a penalty for ‘obstruction’.

These mishaps can happen in a game, but what has been practiced over and over again for years on, such as passing, which is one of the core elements and objective of the game, but yet wasn’t executed on time, is totally inexcusable! Of all the years and hours of toiling for this and, “you got one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment, would you capture it or just let it slip?”. (Quote from Eminem’s Lose Yourself)

Result: Wesley allows Pathana to surpass 17-21

Royal team celebrates victory against St. Peters in B.C. Anghie Memorial Trophy contest

St. Peter’s hosting Royal – 19 July:

The Bamba Brigade bounced back into form playing elite rugby that made this encounter a scintillating Blockbuster with echoes of excitement roaring across the Pavilions at SPC. The Royal Tuskers and their Fraternity joining the Party to make an even contest out of it, turned this into one of the games not to be missed this season. The Lads in blue and gold showed clear signs of what they have been holding back all this time, while SPC continued to show uncorrected weaknesses in some areas of the game that led to their demise.

This encounter breaks down to simple rugby statistics and there is nothing more to it.

Royal was able to score a Try and a penalty directly off 5 SPC offenses, while the hosts were able to score two converted Tries as a result of 8 penalties, with some of them being totally unwarranted.

Quite interestingly, when Royal accumulated 27 points, SPC had committed 9 offenses, and Royal 1, just in the second half alone. Royal confined its offenses to 5 in the latter half, giving away fewer invitations to attack inside their grid, while SPC turned generous towards their guests with their Invites, that determined the outcome of the game, and there was absolutely nothing else to it, other than one crucial factor that impacted the result.

SPC missed an easy Conversion and a straightforward penalty kick to lose 5 points in this game; the exact sum of points required to win it. The inability to slot-in kicks in front of the Posts has been an issue that has followed SPC rugby since the beginning of the League. Failing in their own turf, in conditions that they are accustomed to, is quite bizarre and unrealistic. Failure to address this longstanding shortcoming has now stripped away the opportunity for the defending Champions to secure at least the runners-up Title this season, and is something that requires long and hard reflexion by the SPC Camp.

Another deficiency of the Brigade has been their high penalty count in the second halves in their recent games, that hasn’t been looked into nor addressed, which unpleasantly repeated itself in this encounter to force their downfall.

Result: Pete’s miskick to prop Royal 23-27

Result: Pete’s miskick to prop Royal 23-27

D.S. Senanayake team celebrates victory against Zahira in RIT Alles Cup

Zahira hosting D.S. Senanayake – 19 July:

While the Donz went on a Try frenzy spree on a windy Saturday evening, they were amicably chased down closely behind by the Zahirian Thunderbolts, who were not Super, neither Heroes, nor giving up! However, most of the scoring done in this game were due to back-to-back penalties conceded by both teams in tandem, with a few exceptions.

• DS kept attacking aggressively and with purpose soon after kick-off, that created an overlap on their far left, which they used to score a Try
• DS scored 2 Tries off crisply executed interceptions that came out of nowhere, to surprise the gullible Zahirians
• Zahira cleverly capitalised on a knock forward inside the DS 10 to score a converted Try
• A Zahira kick that went fully out during a restart was smartly worked out by the visitors to secure a Try

Zahira’s usual stance in disregard to the laws of the game, coupled with poor Ball handling, turned the former half sour for them, opposite a much righteous Donz.

In addition to the exponential spike in offenses by DSS in the second half, the home team stepped up its aggressive onslaughts to full throttle, like a prayer. However, most of the rules that the visitors broke could have been avoided easily, just as they excellently did in the former half. To be precise, DSS was penalised thrice each for ‘not 10’ and ‘high tackle’ offenses.

The highlight of this game was the place-kicking brilliance of Zahirian Basith Feroz, who executed 4 unrealistically breathtaking kicks either from acute angles or from the Touchlines, on an evening of high winds, that made all the Flags posted around the playing Field flutter as in during a pre-hurricane period. His form can make a difference to the Zahirian game, if only they could curtail their offenses to less than 10.

Result: DS let Zahira chase its Tail 41-35

St. Joseph scores a try against Kingswood

Kingswood hosting St. Joseph’s – 19 July:

What kicked off as an intensely contested neck-to-neck scruffle, continued in that fashion into the second half as well, only to suddenly just pull away towards Joes way. Whatever the home team desperately attempted to do in order to restore order later, seemed to only backfire, as desperation turned into nervousness. The underfoot conditions that was spread across the majority of the playing Field, didn’t help the Randles Boys in achieving their full-throttle pace of 0 to 40 km/h in 3 seconds either, that ultimately confined their attacks mostly to their Pack.

Joes picked up on a passing error by Kingswood early on in the game to lead of 7. Thereafter, they had to work hard to earn each and every Try in the first half, which involved some spectacular rugby of continuous attack and infiltration, with a little assistance from a few handling errors by the hosts. The primary reason for this was that Kingswood conceded only 2 penalties in the former half, while also defending well enough to slow down the Saints who kept pushing forward to dominate the game. However, the hosts received free access into the visitors’ front Porch due to an unending array of back-to-back offenses, that gifted them with 3 Tries using their primary weapon of ‘pick ‘n drives’, all in that half. Although Joes lead 21-17 at the break, it should have been 21-all, as Kingswood missed two straightforward Conversions, and the high wind factor is not an excuse for the home team that conducts its practices regularly at Bogambara.

Maybe it was just one side of the Field that was jinxed, the hosts suddenly caught all the symptoms of the visitors, whereas the visitors seemed completely cured of their earlier ailment of frantic offenses. While Joes committed 17 crimes in the prior half, Kingswood beat them by 1 in the second, to end up with a total tally of 20. This, opposite Saints’ 4 wrongdoings in the latter half made it quite challenging for Kingwood to cross the opposition’s line of prestige more than once, whereas it was relatively easy for the visitors to score two more Tries to seal the deal. This was accomplished by utilising consecutive penalties offered by the hosts to encroach into the Kingswood grid, and then further advancing via Mauls, which the hosts could not defend without offending further. Although only one Try was scored directly off Joes Mauls, the other one in the second half was scored via a combination of Maul and ‘pick ‘n drive’ to finish off from inside their 5m line. This encounter is one more addition to the list of Kingswood losses due to poor game discipline this season, and highlights the need to upgrade their Maul defence against opponents who have access to the full range of nutrition supplements.

Result: Joes maul Kingswood 33-22

Footnote:

Though we love to, unfortunately we are unable to analyse all 9 games played during the weekends due to time limitations, and therefore compelled to accommodate only around 5 reviews each week.

Pix courtesy: thepapare.com

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