Jazzy Joes and shocker by Lumba Rugby

• Dialog Schools Rugby League 2026 Plate and Bowl Final Week - Tactical Analysis - Part 2

While St. Joseph’s victory on the last weekend in order to secure the Plate was quite certain, Kingswood was on the confirmed list to secure a win against Lumbini and grab the Bowl. Shockingly, both these encounters received unexpected shakeups by the underdogs, where Kingswood stumbled owing to poor pre-match assessment of their worthy opponents, which resulted in the Bowl tumbling down Randles Hill towards Mount Lavinia.

Thurstan hosting Ananda – 27 June:

Ananda's elite class ball handling enabled them to defeat Thurstan

Two gifted coaches hailing from the same green sanctuary of rugby legends, empowered two recent newcomers of the top Division, to rise to another level by demonstrating the finer skills in rugby, that was a treat to watch, more than gazing at Tries being scoring. With the game being played at tremendous pace by both sides, some of the crisp cleanouts, counter rucks, steals and ruck turnovers followed by meticulously phased assaults, sent goosebumps down spines at times. It was fundamentally a game built on tactics, specifically designed to overcome the other mastermind, especially the enchanting beardy wizard, who happens to be the most unpredictable. Regrettably, the game was riddled with a high number of uncharacteristic handling errors by Thurstan, that disrupted the momentum and slowed down the pace of the game from time to time.

•  After conceding over 20 penalties in their last game against the Saints, Thurstan sought sainthood by restraining themselves to 3 offenses in the opening half. However, their unforced ball handling errors hit the ceiling, preventing them from scoring much in the half that they lost the game in. On the contrary, while Ananda maintained stellar ball handling, their game discipline was pretty elementary.
• As a net result, the delta loss in possession became equal, nevertheless, Thurstan lost many attacking opportunities due to the high number of handling errors. In particular, they lost a fine scoring chance by dropping the ball at a Maul close to Nande’s 10
• Ananda scored their first Try off a scrum on Thurstan’s 22, that was awarded after dropping the most elementary of passes
• Ananda bolted suddenly to the surprise of everyone, following a penalty awarded inside their half for “holding on”, to score an uncontested Try off a quick tap. While the previous Try was a gift by the hosts, this one was manufactured by the sheer pace of the Anandians.
• Ananda received a 5m scrum following a touchdown by a Thurstanite, after taking the ball into his in-goal area. In the face of an imminent Try, Thurstan conceded a scrum penalty while trying to force a turnover, which Ananda used to score using a quick ball to the lineout, and an instant Maul formation that baffled Thurstan
• The only Try that Thurstan scored was through a penalty, awarded just before lemons

Although Thurstan lost twice as much possession than Ananda, both teams ended up scoring the same number of points, so let’s examine how.

 

• A rejuvenated Thurstan returned after a heavy dose of Melons courtesy of the enchanted wizard, employing a structured phased attack, minus the errors, to get past a lethargic Ananda defence to score the second converted Try. This accounts for the additional 7 points that didn’t add up in the above stats.
• Thurstan scored another Try off a midfield scrum following a knock-on, by working the ball all the way to the finish line
• Ananda scored a Try facilitated by multiple penalties, and another off a scrum inside Thurstan’s 40, that was awarded as a result of a forward pass

 Result: Ananda’s elite class ball handling steals the day 32-22

Sri Sumangala hosting St. Joseph’s – 27 June:

 St. Joseph's stamped its superiority in their victory against Sri Sumangala

What began as an uninteresting contest of rugby in the opening half, spun into an intense strife to stamp superiority, that propelled the game to the edge of the cliff. Let’s examine as to why the two halves were complete contrasts.

Sri Sumangala had a terrible half, both with ball handling, and following the rules of the game, whereas the Saints were stuck in purgatory owing to their immoralities. Nevertheless, Summa’s 4 turnovers brought some relief to their net lost possessions. However, there was a lot of kicking involved in the former half, especially following turnovers, that diluted the solidity of the possessions count captured by the above stats.

• Joes scored the first Try by picking up the ball that was dropped inside Summa’s 40, and then sprinting unto the gleaming white line, and into the sunset
• Both sides scored a Try each off consecutive penalties
• Joes missed a Try scoring chance quite close to the tryline, due to an unforced KO
• There were more than 30 stoppages in this half alone, owing to the high number of infringements, that made it quite an uneventful half to score points or watch with interest

Ball handling was elevated to respectable standards by both sides in the second session, while urgency, and the will to dominate each other took over proceedings, that transformed this half into quite an entertaining one, up until the final whistle. Readers might notice that although Sri Sumangala lost twice as much possession than Joes, they conceded fewer points.

 

• The primary reason for the above was that, Summa managed to infiltrate Joes’ defence quite effortlessly on one occasion due to two missed tackles, and finished off the offensive with a penalty Try, as a result of a high tackle during grounding
• The second occurred when the slightly weary Joes couldn’t quite sense what hit them, when frantic Summa zipped with the ball from their own 22, running circles around the defence of the slow Joes, to score a Try under the crossbar
• The above two incidents accounted for 14 extra points, leaving out just 5 points that were scored by the hosts initiated by a lineout turnover, and followed by multiple penalties by the visitors
• Joes manufactured a Try of their own as well, soon after Melons, when a clearance kick by Summa was collected inside Joes’ 40, and was run all the way for a Try
• The Saints created another opportunity for themselves by ripping the ball away, just outside their own 22, and sprinting all the way to Summa’s redzone, to attack from there to score via multiple penalties
• When Sri Sumangala scored their Try that equalised them with Joes, with just a few minutes before full time, none of the Josephians had any forethought or intention to attempt to charge the proceeding conversion, as they were too busy sulking behind the tryline, which allowed the hosts to surpass them
• However, Joes received a lease of life in the dying minutes, when Summa was penalised for a proper and legitimate “holding on” offense close to their 22. Instead of going at the sticks, Joes opted to touch and scored the winning Try off the subsequent offensive

 Result: Second half Summa blitz insufficient to jolt Joes 26-31

S. Thomas’ hosting St. Anthony’s – 27 June:

Tactical game awareness saw Thora to 

outclass Anthos

This match was analysed to find out as to how an optimistic and dazzling team that overran the formidable Nande Army Camp with confidence, couldn’t even put up a decent fight against a shaky Thora ensemble. One aspect that became concrete during the analysis was the “shaky” part. It makes sense to analyse each half separately, as there were dramatic contrasts in both.

 

• Both sides excelled in remarkable ball handling, thus the respective coaching crew have to be applauded for maintaining such classy standards in schools’ rugby. STC’s stunning 2 penalty half was indeed a noble gesture in trying to uplift the civility in rugby.
• The Thomians’ steep improvement at the lineouts was not underlined by the 2 turnovers that were pulled off, but by the precise and definitive manner in which they were accomplished
• However, their clearance kicks to touch were pretty elementary, especially at the outset, that made one wonder if 5 days of practice was actually necessary to sustain kindergarten rugby skills? Perhaps a shuffle of positions could be considered instead, before the Trophy cabinet becomes empty?
• As an outcome of the above, the Thomians served as perfect hosts by compelling the Antonians to score, by repeatedly kicking the ball short or fully out, until the visitors received their bounty. Antho also scored another Try by repetitive STC penalties.
• The Thomians scored their first Try off a scrum just outside Anthos’ 22, that was awarded following a knock-on
• STC approached Antho‘s 22 via a “holding on” penalty conceded inside their grid, aided by a 30+ meter touch kick, and then worked their backline to find a long overlap on the far end, to score

 Most stats including the net loss in possession were symmetrical, but Antho couldn’t score any points in the last session.

• The Primary reason for the scoreless Antho half was due to only 2 penalties being sanctioned inside Thora’s grid, while the other 5 were conceded inside the visitors’ grid. Moreover, the absence of back-to-back offenses make it harder for oppositions to score Tries.
• Thora scored a Try off a knock-on that occurred just outside Antho’s 22, and another off an Antho penalty in the closing half 

Result: Tactical game awareness thrusts Thora through 29-10

Kingswood hosting Lumbini – 28 June: 

 Lumbini produced the mammoth shocker of the weekend with win against Kingswood

The mammoth shocker of the weekend happened on a calm and quiet Sunday evening, when newbies Lumbini College went up the hills to defeat the pioneers of rugby in Sri Lanka. This was a paramount achievement indeed for Lumbini, that is sure to give a shot in the arm for Lumba Rugby.

 The Randles Hill blokes had an easy job to do on their final Sunday outing of the League, in order to secure the Bowl; either lose with 2 bonus points or draw the game! Although Lumbas were no pushovers, a school rich with a hundred years of rugby history should have known something more about the game, than the newbies. Regrettably, it appears that no homework was done prior to this encounter to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the visitors. conversely, the visitors came well prepared tactically, hence they won it in the opening half itself, thus it makes sense to analyse each half separately.

Kingswood had an amazing session of elite-class, pristine ball handling, but only to be eclipsed by their poor game discipline, that drew the framework for their tragic story. Both teams suffered similar counts of lost possessions, then how is it that Lumbini scored 19, while Kingswood was left with nothing?

• Kingswood didn’t opt to kick-at-goal during penalty opportunities, but kicked to touch and lost possession 3 times owing to crooked throws. A high wind factor may have had an adverse effect on their hooking. They lost another chance due to a “not 5” infringement as well.
• In fact, the only Try that was scored in this half was after a crooked throw by the hosts, but inside the visitors’ grid. Lumbini worked the ball all the way from their own territory to finish off with Pick and Drives to complete the attack.
• Lumbini was bubbling with confidence so much so that they kicked from outside the 50m as well, missing only 2 out of the total 6 penalty kicking attempts. Moreover, they managed to convert their Try from a rather difficult angle as well.

 Lumbini’s charming character took a bungie jump owing to their degraded game discipline in the closing half, amassing 12 sanctioned penalties coupled with 3 yellow cards, resulting in 50% additional lost possessions than Kingswood.

• Kingswood never attempted kicks-at-goal during any of the penalty opportunities, but instead strived for maximum points and managed to score two converted Tries, solely aided by consecutive penalties
• The hosts lost two penalty prospects due to infringements at the subsequent lineouts, viz. knock-on, and not 5, and the others owing to handling errors
• One of Lumbini’s core strengths this season has been their tackling, hence they defended quite well, even with 13 players at times. Two certain Tries were prevented by holding up one in their in-goal area, and another by turning over a Maul.
• The wind factor affected Lumbini’s lineouts this time around, causing 4 crooked throws, that compounded their misery, and rendered them scoreless

 This was a monumental milestone victory for Lumbini College indeed, who has been well-coached with an ideal mix of key skills. However, their behaviour displayed once the final whistle was blown was rather disappointing. These kids should be taught to remain humble in their victories. Instead, they were seen to be antagonising the patient Kingswoodians, that lead to chaos post-match. As history has shown us, such teams swiftly disappear from the face of the top Division, faster than a bird dropping.

 Result: Lumbini kicks Kingswood out of the Bowl 19-14

Pix courtesy of thepapare.com

 

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