Royal to field 13 men at next RoyTho!

Dialog Schools Rugby League 2026 Week 5 Tactical Analysis

It was a traffic light weekend, where plentiful red and yellow signals controlled player movement, from and to the green fields all over the Country, which made one wonder if certain quota targets were set to be achieved before the first round concluded? However in reality, the reason was due to the quality of rugby dipping all around, especially amongst the top tier alphas who resembled beta and gamma outfits.

Royal hosting S. Thomas’ – 23 May:'

There’s nothing much to be said in this analysis except that the final score and stats don’t really convey how pathetic STC’s game was. Only half of the players had the same passion and drive that the whole team had during the past few weeks. Enthusiasm was often at large, focus of some players was tiny, all summing up a substandard performance mustered by the Thomians in comparison to their previous feats.

As the stats certify, STC’s miserable ball handling qualified them for a more appropriate Plate Segment, based on the benchmarks stated in our season teaser.

• Few of the passing / receiving errors occurred when unfocused or uninterested Thomians obstructed passes while lazily ambling back from offside positions to their onside points
•  2 of the 4 passing / receiving errors resulted in loss of territory and possession as well
• Royal scored a Try off a passing error, and another off an unforced knock-on by STC
• The hosts scored a Try following a restart kick that none of the visitors were interested in chasing or securing. Moreover, they conceded 2 consecutive penalties out of panic, which made it a cakewalk for Royal.
• How naive could a team be in terms of game awareness, if it couldn’t overcome another team playing with a player short, for over half of the game’s duration?
• Knowing quite well that Royal would be playing with a player short for at least 10 minutes in this game, it appears that nothing has been coached to take advantage of this opportunity

Nothing can be done by even the best coaching units in the world, if there is lack of commitment from the team to play ball, which makes one wonder as to how many of these players are into rugby out of their own free will?  What is the point in going up to Maradana and beating a top team like Zahira, if the Thomians were not willing to commit themselves to play proper rugby until the end of the season? Furthermore, these boys have to ask themselves, if it was fair by Zahira, for STC to have stolen their honour and glory, only to flush the opportunity down the drain on the subsequent weekend? This isn’t about losing, but how the game was played.

Royal Tuskers were the deserving winners despite their own and Referee errors, as they showed consistent commitment throughout the game, and the Red Card only made them stronger. Captain Disas Pathirana led the team making a firm statement that the Michael Gunaratne Trophy wasn’t going to be touched under his watch.

While this column stood by the Royal Tuskers, backing their superior skill sets and capabilities while justifying some of their past shortcomings, even to the total astonishment of many Royalists, this was a poor show by Royal as well. Although the unforced errors were few, the manner in which they were conceded was neither acceptable, nor classy by the standards of Royal Rugby. In addition, most of the penalties that were conceded by Royal were a result of intentional negative tactics, and were uncalled for. These malicious tactics have no place in today’s rugby, as per World Rugby’s code of conduct. The personnel who are responsible for teaching or encouraging school children to abandon their civic sense taught by their Alma Mater, and to stoop down to such levels should be banished from the Tuskers’ camp, if its dignity is to be preserved. 

Referee Raveen Alexander had an off-day with the whistle in this encounter, but it was overshadowed by both teams’ shortcomings that submerged the overall quality of rugby.

Result: The Thomian Grit? Dead again! 24-29

St. Peter’s hosting Wesley – 23 May:

The weather gods were merciful, as it was only cloudy with a chance of rain; but instead, it rained penalties at the SPC Grounds on Saturday evening, almost every 2 minutes of the game. Both sides seldom looked like the teams we once knew, reducing this clash nothing close to the cracking knockout encounter that was witnessed between the two, a few moons ago. Neither played their natural free-flowing game of open rugby, restricting themselves to specific patterns of plays, and constricting themselves to play conservative rugby, as opposed to brave attacking rugby. What kind of a champion team goes for penalty points from the inception of the game without going straight for the kill? The sheep in both sides’ heads was quite obvious from the outset, with their intention to slot penalties from ambitious distances and angles. It was also apparent that the players’ mindsets were clearly clouded, and darkly gloomier than the threatening skies above, that led them to commit an unusual number of offenses that they had already remedied, especially at the breakdowns. Both teams have to go back and think hard if they are to continue this gloomy, pessimistic, backward approach in the Super Round as well, or play it out like real Champs?

There is absolutely no point in examining both halves separately, because both teams played it safe, but horrendously messed up on game discipline. This mostly affected both teams’ onslaughts, and when combined with their solid tackling and defensive skills, this turned out to be a low scoring game. In particular, SPC forced 4 ‘holding on’ offenses while Wesley forced 5, as a measure of their defences. There is no need to analyse as to why a team either lost or won, as both were competing to be the worst pessimist in this encounter.

 Result: Fortune favours the Brigade 17-13

Zahira hosting Thurstan – 23 May:

This encounter turned out to be a neck-to-neck thriller as expected, that ended in Zahira seizing the day due to their matured rugby. A few shortcomings from Thurstan proved that they are not Cup Segment material as yet, hence they could utilise this season in the upgraded Plate Segment to get more exposure and accumulate additional knowledge of the game. Other than for those shortcomings, Thurstan was on par with Zahira, where skill sets were concerned. Before we examine what those are, let’s have a look at the full game stats.

Although Zahira lost more possession than Thurstan, they conceded fewer points because they scored additional points using Thurstan’s blunders.

 

• The biggest blunder Thurstan made was due to the lack of knowledge in rugby rules, or decision paralysis, which we are all sure will be learnt with time. A Thurstanite fumbled and knocked-on an incoming ball close to his 5m, and let it roll into the in-goal area. Upon panicking, he stopped the ball from rolling away into the dead ball area, by tapping it inwards back into the in-goal area, where a gleeful Zahirian pounced on it for a donated Try.
• Thurstan’s kicking strategy was not well thought through in this game, where some of the random pressure kicks went straight into the hands of a Zahirian Centre or Winger, positioned at a channel where Thurstan’s defence was the thinnest. Some of these senseless kicks resulted in the hosts scoring a few Tries, which sums up the analysis of this game.

As observed in this and the last few games, although Shamlie Nawaz has coached some advanced skills, it naturally takes time for organic maturity and growth, but the platform laid here is absolutely looking up for the Thurstanites.

Result: Thurstan donates freebies to Zahira 28-36

Sri Sumangala hosting St. Anthony’s – 23 May:

After an experimental first half that let the Eagles soar in cloud 9, SSC unwrapped their pack of TNT and dropped them one after another on the unsuspecting Antonians in the last 10 minutes of the game, to emerge victorious in front of an utterly shocked and bewildered opposition players and supporters, who didn’t quite understand what hit them. In order to understand what caused the drastic differences in both halves, we should examine the stats of each separately.

• Although Summa’s ball handling was not substandard, they returned to their old ways of playing by conceding a ton of penalties in the opening half, that prevented them from successfully turning opportunities into points
• Moreover, Anthony’s scored two Tries facilitated by Summa’s 9 penalties and 2 yellow cards alone in this half
• On the contrary, Antho missed a straightforward conversion and 2 penalties. In particular, the two missed penalties should have been kicked to touch in order to gain maximum points from those opportunities, while they were in a commanding position.

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• While Sumangala improved the game discipline to match up to the Antonians in the closing half, 3 yellow cards in one half by the latter, empowered the former to run riot with the ball, showcasing their brilliant game awareness and attacking rugby instincts.
• Summa scored the first Try off a ‘high tackle’ penalty, coupled with a yellow card conceded inside Anthony’s half
• A brilliant 60 plus meter touch finder following a penalty conceded by Antho inside Summa’s 30m, got them very close to Anthony’s 5m, from where the second Try was scored
• St. Anthony’s scored their last Try off consecutive Summa penalties
• St. Anthony’s failed to find touch off a penalty opportunity, which Summa used against an unprepared and malformed defence, to score the third Try
• Summa collected the ball following the subsequent restart kick from inside their 10m, and ran around the fast-approaching defence, and blasted through a wide-open gap between the Centre and Winger that emerged due to a poor defence strategy / formation, all the way up to Antho’s 30m, before passing onto the Winger who blasted the second TNT in the corner
• Sri Sumangala dropped the third TNT on the clueless Antonians, by attacking intensely following the next restart kick, advancing in multiple phases through a bewildered and worn-out Eagles unit, to ground the last Try of the game

Result: Excess yellows mellow the Eagles 24-33

Isipathana hosting Trinity – 24 May:

The final scoreline of this encounter was not a surprise, as it was either expected or speculated by most rugby experts and analysts. However, this fixture turned out to be the most prestigious event in Colombo on 24th Sunday, while an international rugby game was scheduled at the same time at Race Course.

• The entrance of Havelock Park resembled something close to a prime time “Dansal Dinner”, an hour before kick-off
• Once inside, all the best seats were already taken, as only the ones closer to the Trylines were available
• By kick-off, all the pavilions were packed, elevating the atmosphere close to a League final

Some came in spite of knowing the results, some came hoping for a miracle game by the Green Machine, but some others were simply present for the sake of tradition, making this a sentimental and special event in the schools’ rugby calendar.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Isipathana’s day as they fell short on many aspects including aggression, spontaneous decision making, and many more. However, this column recognises, deeply appreciates, stands up, and salutes Isipathana Rugby for playing a clean and distinguished game of rugby. This may not be sufficient for the many Pathana fans, as a win is what makes them go home happy. But now it is time to embrace the fact that a game played with positive vibes and attitude commands much more respect by the fraternity, than a win.

Our forecast was completely wrong, as no intimidation tactics were used by the Greens at all, and the game was played in absolute silence. Although categorically not required to win a game, there is nothing wrong with a bit of sledging, and mild physical intimidation, as long as the boys are specifically taught what the boundaries are. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, “Speech is silver; but silence is golden”, the ability to win without doing any of these shall elevate the Kings of Rugby, to “Righteous Kings of Rugby”.

The black mark of the event came from Trinity college, where they were awarded 4 yellow cards, mostly for dangerous plays. Acts of reckless plays, coupled with yellow cards, have been surfacing frequently from Marija’s first season until now, which has been overlooked for the past 4 years. As the schools’ rugby fraternity recognises and welcomes Trinity College as the new role model for the development of schools’ rugby in general, a sincere appeal goes out to Head Coach Fazil Marija to look into the area of safety and responsibility during contact rugby, so as to ensure the wellbeing of all school children. If the skills are not within the Trinity camp, many Consultants are available in Sri Lanka, who could provide expertise in this area.

Game Summary:

Both teams played a substandard game of rugby, that wouldn’t help either of them in the next round. Isipathana’s dynamic defence reformation was horrible at times, while their indecisions and poor sense of rugby, gifted at least 3 Tries to the visitors.

Result: Pathana donates freebies for the love of Trinity 12-36

Kingswood hosting Science – 24 May:

Upon uplifting their rugby to phenomenal standards for the first time since the pandemic last weekend, that produced an adrenaline pumping thrill ride filled with rugby moments that seemed ‘out of this world’, Kingswood Rugby returned to normalcy, making them huff and puff to pull off a win at the death. It was an average game of rugby consisting of many errors, but it’s highlighted being two spectacular, world-class Tries scored by both teams.

The ‘total loss of possession’ is comparable, and in the absence of innovative gameplay, the ‘points conceded’ were also similar in the opening half.

• Kingswood scored a Try after Science messed up their lineout throw close to their 30
• Science attempted to kick away a potential chance to score, close to Kingswood’s 5m, which resulted in a Knock-on as well
• Science scored a Try off multiple penalties, all conceded inside Kingwood’s 22

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•  Again, the ‘Total Loss of Possession’ and ‘Points Conceded’ are more or less equal.
• Science scored a Try off consecutive Kingwood penalties
• Right after Kingswood slotted a penalty in front of the giant sticks, Science darted alongside the Touchline and collected the ball in a flash, close to Kingswood’s 35m from the subsequent restart kick, then made a further dash up to the 5m line to create a phase, and then scored a Try from there
• Kingswood scored a Try assisted by the visitors’ back-to-back penalties
• Science threw a stray at a lineout coming off a penalty touch kick inside Kingswood’s 40, and then Kingswood worked the ball from inside their 30m from the subsequence scrum, to speed 70m and score the winning Try under the crossbar

 Result: A few mistakes cost the game for Science 21-25

How to interpret results:

The points scored by the first team mentioned in the results phrase, appears first.

Ex: Ananda whines to Wesley 12-20, means Ananda scored 12

Pix courtesy of thepapare.com

 

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