Semi-final-like Quarter Finals light up stands

Trinity number 8 Shryan Satheeshkumar on a move

Isipathana vs Wesley

Royal vs D.S.

Two seemingly unpredictable, intense clashes awoke two slumbering arenas in Colombo, transforming them into do-or-die battle colosseums at the quarter-finals of the Dialog President’s Knockout Trophy 2025. In the end, the two supremos prevailed, stamping their marks and defining why they are the better sides.

Trinity vs S’Thomas – 3 May

The staunch blokes from Mount Lavinia put up a true show of gritty defence, restricting the mighty Lions to under 25 kill points, and thereby making a severe contest out of what could have been a runaway train to Kandy. Hats off to the STC coaching crew for dumbfounding the critics by turning around such a consistently solid defence within a week.

Both teams looked edgy since the kick-off, and both naturally gifted place kickers missed easy penalties at the inception itself, owing to scoreboard pressure. Overall, the Trinitians seemed unwaveringly more nervous than the Thomians during the first 20 minutes which was completely unwarranted, as they were clearly the stronger side on paper. Feeling overconfident while being under-skilled is one thing, but being paranoid even when highly skilled without any key weaknesses, is another. This calls for immediate attention for mentally conditioning the young Lions to level up to their Rugby prowess. The paranoiac state influenced Trinity’s ball handling and decision making, as they were clearly neither fluent, nor quick as they were on the previous weekend. 

Although STC defended like a totally different team this time around, their penetrative aptitude remained constant. As anticipated, they could not create the spaces required to bullet through for the kill points. Their first try was scored off an unforced handling error, which was an unwrapped gift from the visitors to the Thomians to start off the mutually respected gala rivalry episode. They scored their second try through phases of ‘pick & drives’ that took way too much time than they would have liked it to, which was purely owing to the monumental defensive efforts that Trinity put up continuously.

Although STC kept their infringements count under control to 6 less than Trinity’s, supported by precision Ball handling of only 2 spills, their lacklustre kicking caused them to lose possession on 4 occasions. They failed to clear the touchlines during 2 penalty touch kicks, and then kicked the Ball out of the playing area on 2 other instances. Having had all these 4 possessions may not have guaranteed points for the Thomians, as they failed during the final series of onslaughts inside the opposition’s 22, due to the lack of inventive moves or tactics, in order to break through the lengthy Trinity Fortress that withstood Thora’s continuous battering Rams. Had the STC Camp realised that they could defend so well keeping the required target points down, then they could have devised a strategy to chase down the delta points using some of the 10 penalties they received on Trinity’s front Porch. In fact, this was one of the key strategies employed by Trinity at last year’s Bradby, based on the kickable opportunities that Royal is likely to present to them, based on previous stats.

Trinity’s primary weakness still remained as crumbling under pressure, as they yanked 10 infringements out of a total 15 in their own front yard, yet managed to defend their line of prestige as if their lives depended on it. Bold and speedy Shan Althaf made two breakthroughs through the stiff Thora defence when others hesitated, to earn Trinity two Tries that flipped the game in their favour.

Result: Trinity withstood Thora retort 24-15

Isipathana vs Wesley – 4 May

At the second most anticipated encounter on Sunday at the Royal Sports Complex, Wesleyites sparkling with electrolytes, lit up the centre stage with their dominantly hyper personas and bamboozled their opponents to score the first two Tries of the game to lead 10-nil. However, the initial thought that usually crosses the mind of a critic is whether they can keep this up throughout the game? A possible tactic could have been to overpower the opposition by 20-25 points by half time to demotivate them, but there are known existences of some teams that cannot and never shall be demoralised, and Isipathana Rugby, by means of their Green DNA, leads that charge!

As usual and as expected, Isipathana was pleased to take the backseat for a while and relax patiently without being perplexed by the extreme fizziness, until the spike subsided before too long. When that happened, not only Wesley’s onslaughts grew less potent, but their defences also got slower; so slow that 5 out of their 12 infringements were ‘not rolling away’. The Pathans knew exactly when to scoot over to the driver’s seat and begin their acceleration. 

Wesley had a decent first half with 4 penalties and 2 unforced errors that was slightly better than their opposition, but undercooked a crucial penalty touch kick while they were dominating the game, which could have gotten them another 5 points. Despite their best efforts, the Pathans equalised their points tally by half time. Then what transpired in Wesley’s second half?

 While handling errors transfer ball-possession to the opposition, offenses give away possession as well as territory. When Pathana attacked ferociously in the latter half, Wesley gave away freebees and fuelled the Greens’ cause, but that wasn’t the only reason for the

 14-point deficit. The double blues missed a good number of try scoring opportunities because the passes weren’t made on time before the tackles, halting their onslaughts and allowing adequate time for the opposition defence to regroup.

Isipathana’s 8 unforced handling errors prevented them from scoring a few more tries. However, their superior ‘jackaling’ efforts won them 3 ‘holding on’ penalties, while they were able to turnover twice at the lineouts with their contesting skills.

Result: Pathana superseded Wesley 24-10

Royal vs D.S. Senanayake – 4 April

Royal Rugby elevated itself from pre-season mode to showcase a precursor of what is to come this season, and it looks both promising and exciting! The first thing to note is that Royal is back playing it’s game as it is supposed to be, expanding the excitement of the Tournament. Secondly, Royal’s lethal rolling maul appears to be back with redefined control and purpose, perfectly supported by long-range touch finders during open play, that influences the placement of those mauls, and therefore the only piece of the puzzle that is left is, ball retention at the lineouts amidst tough contenders like Isipathana. Reid Avenue also presented some innovative moves and are likely to have more up their sleeves that could erupt the pavilions in exhilaration.

Although their overall contempt of the laws was within the limit, it was quite uneasy to observe Royal giving away too many unnecessary penalties at the beginning of the game, even without being pressurised. Their pick ‘n drive defences, especially at the goal line, need revamping and should be the very first thing that has to be strengthened before the semi-final game. 

D.S. has some shortcomings that have to be corrected before they could become a threat to other able sides. Their defence formation is weak leaving frequent overlaps during most onslaughts by the opposition. The laws that apply at the breakdowns may have to be revisited and revised, as the young Donz looked puzzled when the Referee awarded 2 ‘hands in the ruck’ penalties against them, and it indicates that they might be confused as to when a ruck actually forms at the breakdowns. Consequently, RC scored a Try off the first occurrence of the offense. The pluses for the Donz are their strong Forwards game, with penetrative pick ‘n drives. Their penalty count and Ball handling are satisfactory, while they strive to contest and turnover possession at the breakdowns. Although they managed only a solitary ruck turnover against Royal that is sufficient testimony to ascertain the quality of their contesting skills at the breakdowns, against the reputation of Royal’s support play skills.

Result: Royal overlapped DSS 41-24 

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