Hot Plate and simmering Bowl appetise lower Segments

The Plate and Bowl Segments of the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2025 heat up as DSS, Joes, Kingswood, Antho and Thurstan vie to come up on top in their respective Segments, to be able to grab and take some silverware home. Scheduling some of the matches on Fridays has allowed us to review at least one Bowl Segment encounter this week, and should continue in the coming week as well.

St. Joseph’s hosting Zahira – 26 July:

Sincere apologies for the error in the venue in our preview; since consecutive games were hosted at Zahira, the mind got brainwashed into thinking that Zahira Ground will be a permanent venue for Zahira this season; but we do hope that you enjoyed the little humour at the end?

The match didn’t quite turn out to be a Pendulum swinger as forecasted, instead Joes lead all the way from the start, although the contest was tight and the scores were level at Lemons. The primary reason for this being Joes’ tackling that kept the unpacifiable Zahirians at bay, although their three quarters did find ways to score two corner Tries and equalise by half time.

• Joes scored off a pick and drive due to back-to-back penalties conceded by Zahira

• A passing error by Zahira inside their 22 costed them a Try

• Zahira scored a Try off an array of successive penalties by Joes (4-5 fouls)

• A Jaw dropping cohesive and continuous play by Zahira from the subsequent restart kick, receiving the Ball from their 22, and working in phases all the way, deep into the Saints’ holy land, rewarded them with a corner try

• A timely hard tackle by Joes saves a certain corner try in the former half

Zahira’s offenses increased in the latter half, leading to a surge in penalties that the hosts fully utilised to demolish the visitors.

• A poor clearance kick by Zahira that landed too short was capitalised by the Saints to insanely Maul Zahira for a converted Try

• Joes then scored a Try off consecutive offenses by the visitors

• Zahira also scored a Try off multiple penalties by the hosts 

• Finally, Joes scored a converted Try off consecutive penalty offerings

Zahira conceded 4 unforced knock forwards in this game, and shockingly all of them occurred when catching high balls. These were all inside their 40m, which granted Joes 4 Scrum opportunities to attack with. Moreover, Zahira’s primary weapon was their three quarters, while Joes unleashed their heavy Forwards to do the heavy-duty work on the Zahirians, who scored 3 Tries off pick & drives, and a solitary Maul Try. All the valiant attempts by the visiting team to stop the ferocious Forwards were short-lived.

Result: Joes plough through Zahira 29-15

Science hosting Mahanama – 26 July:

An intense and constant attacking game of rugby was overshadowed by complete lack of discipline by both teams, and substandard Ball handling by Mahanama, that resulted in nearly 50 stoppages that no Spectator would wish to pay money to watch.

There was not much of a difference between the two sides in the prior half, except for the fact that Science missed a few close Tries due to a few ‘holding on’ and other offenses. Most of Mahanama’s knock forwards occurred inside their 40 while catching the Ball, some high and some flat, but Science could not make use of most of those opportunities due to their indiscipline.

• Science scored a Try off Mahanama’s knock forward on their 5m

• Mahanama scored a Try off consecutive penalties by Science

• Mahanama improvised and invented a Try via a kick and chase deep into the Science redzone

• Science scored a Try off successive offenses by Mahanama

It must be admitted that it was a Statistician’s nightmare to keep tab on all the errors made by both teams, and noble prizes should be awarded to everyone who patiently watched this game. Key factors of the latter half are as follows.

•  A lineout turnover inside Science 22 earned a deserving Try for Mahanama

•  Science work-off from inside their 40m to score a spectacular Try

•  Mahanama missed an easy penalty kick from close to Science’s 22, and right in front of the giant Sticks, which caused them to settle for a draw

•  At the final stages of the game with 5-10 minutes remaining, Science seemed a bit lethargic in their approach to the game, and gave away 2 ‘holding on’ and a ‘not 10’ penalties in succession, for Mahanama to gleefully score the equalising Try

•  Science was also seen punting the Ball and puzzling the audience inside the opposition 40, while the scores were locked with less than 5 minutes of play remaining

•  A fierce tackle by Mahanama forced a knock forward to stop an imminent Science Try in the dying minutes of the game

Science excelled in Ball handling exhibiting some nifty and bamboozling moves, conceding only a single unforced error at the lineout. If they can attain some composure in their attack, and put in some method to their attacking madness, they could be much more lethal.

Result: Helter-skelter rugby ends in a tie 31-all

Sri Sumangala hosting D.S. Senanayake – 27 July:

What a step-up has it been since their entry into the top Division? DS might have won this game, but Summa certainly shined and won the hearts of many. Whatever magic this coaching unit is performing behind the scenes is working, and this impeccable crew should be definitely part of this fraternity next season as well. However, some instinctual and minor tactical improvements can be made by bringing in interim expertise to streamline the thought process of the Players.

Sri Sumangala lost this game in the former half, not because they performed poorly, but only because DS outperformed them, much meticulously.

• 5 offenses in one half aren’t bad, but the divine Donz made it look bad

• DS scored their first converted Try off successive offenses by Sri Sumangala

• Summa WOW!!! Their backline dazzled the audience by working the Ball at full throttle, all the way from their 40, to score one of the most spectacular and feel-good Tries of this season

• The visitors scored another converted Try off a ‘side entry’ offense, that could have been avoided easily by the hosts

• Donz manufactured their 3rd Try in the former half, by kicking, chasing, tackling and stealing the Ball

Post-break, Donz returned to the centre, not so divine as before, thereby loosening their grip on the game. On the contrary, Summa amazed the Statisticians by embracing the visitors’ earlier Divinity, while practicing it far better than them.

Keeping offenses down to one in any half is quite an achievement, at any level of the game, and if this can be sustained, only success shall follow the Divine. However, dominance always overrules Divinity, hence both have to go hand-in-hand in the game, and Summa Rugby is striving to achieve just that.

Sri Sumangala’s Maul defence was surprisingly splendid, as they were mostly able to hold off the strong DS Mauls owing to immaculate binding techniques. However, this was not executed consistently, that led to them conceding 2 ‘collapsing Maul’ penalties, out of which DS scored a Rolling Maul Try at the end of the game. Therefore, Summa has to learn to defend Mauls without collapsing it, throughout the game.

Result: DS eclipses Summa’s shine 26-19

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