Week 5 to confirm schools under relevant crockery

At least 2 unbeaten teams will remain, and many unanswered questions would be answered, while the second team to enter the Cup Segment from Group 1 shall be determined at the 5th and final weekend of Round 1 of the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2025.

S. Thomas’ vs Isipathana at Big Club Ground on 5 July:

S. Thomas

Isipathana

The two unbeaten teams from Group 2 shall lock Horns by the seaside in their quests for the League Title. Whoever falls short on this day will end up being on the waiting list for a chance at the Title, and since no one likes to play the waiting game, this shall be a final-like intense battle for supremacy.

Coincidentally, this would be the inaugural encounter for the Rizvi Suhayb Memorial Trophy between the two Schools, that opens a new chapter in the history of Schools rugby, that could change its face forever. Hence, the collaboration of these two great rugby playing institutions, completely overshadow the outcome of this encounter.

Although the Green Machine has been downplaying their rugby since the knockouts, they are expected to bring back their top game in trying to tame a threatening Thora outfit, who almost beat them at the knockout Semis last season. The Greens have sharpened their Ball handling to professional standards, their Maul offensives are now ever so deadly, while their ‘pick and drives’ are capable of boring through Rocky Mountains, their touch finders are able to target the Moon’s orbit, and the “Try scoring Machine” can now be also dubbed as the “Lineout Turnover Machine”.

STC has been playing an aggressive attacking game quite similar to Isipathana, ever since Head Coach Anuranga Walpola took over last season. Therefore, this game would be more like watching un-identical twins going at each other using somewhat similar skills and gameplays. However, Pathana excels in specific set pieces than their counterparts. For instance, the visitors are expected to contest and spoil the hosts’ lineouts, and thereby hinder all chances of being attacked by Mauls. Meanwhile Thora’s demanding and super-quick game continuity proved to be too stressful for the Greens last season, as it certainly put them under severe pressure. This shall be the core strength of the Thomians this season as well, but upgraded to the next level. Can Isipathana survive the revived Thora test, is left to be seen at a packed Big Club Ground at Mt. Lavinia.

Trinity vs Royal at Trinity Rugby Stadium on 5 July:

Trinity

Royal​

The tiebreaker for Group 3 shall take place at the Den of Lions up at Pallekele, and potentially in front of a roaring full house. Just as Isipathana or even better, these two schools have been also playing down their respective games ever since the Knockouts, and shall come out this Saturday to showcase their brilliance that they have been concealing all this while. Therefore, any attempt to tactically forecast this encounter could be detrimental to the reputation of Analysts in general. Nevertheless, based on their natural performances at the Knockouts, the day could belong to either side.

St. Peter’s vs D.S. Senanayake at SPC Ground on 5 July:

St. Peters

D.S. Senanayake

Been mauled and shoved down by the same incumbent Goliath of the League, these two sides would now have to battle it out for the second place in Group 1, in order to secure their place to compete in the Cup Segment. One may call it the qualification encounter to enter the Cup Segment as well.

These two sides have two of the best Forwards units in the League, but yet proved to be completely useless opposite the might of Wesley. While that does not make them inferior, their strengths and skills will be put to the test in this game. DS has not conceded a single penalty for collapsing Mauls in the League games, even against Wesley where they conceded some Maul Tries. This goes to show the seriousness of fair-play, sportsmanship and safety aspects that Donz Rugby strives to instill in their rugby culture. In addition, DS has not conceded a single Maul Try in their last two outings against strong Forwards such as Ananda and Science, whereas Peter’s has conceded Maul Tries, and penalties for collapsing, quite frequently in the League games.

As far as the Backs game is concerned, the Brigade seems good on paper purely due to their reputation, but fans have not yet witnessed frequent tangible or captivating occurrences of the brilliance that they usually display. Therefore, we could safely state that the hosts will hold only a slight edge in this department, mostly because they are playing at home. As per statistics, Pete’s are vulnerable to hard tackles, as they have conceded nearly 10 forced knock-ons against Wesley, and 4 against Science, while DS has a good track record for forcing handling errors with their fierce tackles against vulnerable sides. (SACK – 5, Science – 3)

Wesley vs Ananda at Havelock Park on 5 July:

Wesley

Ananda​

The sheer power of the Wesley Forwards may scare some, but not the new kids on the block who may not match their strength, but can certainly match or exceed their valour. As one of the teams with the best discipline in the League of 40 offenses in four games, against 75 of Wesley, it should undoubtedly grant some prospects to attack. How cleverly they would use these opportunities to successfully turn them into brownie points requires an entrance ticket to the Havelock Sports Club on Saturday.

Ananda has the edge on finding longer touches than Wesley during open play, while Wesley has the edge on slotting the acute place kicks. Wesley possesses better Ball handling abilities, while lineout hooking and contesting skills are more or less similar. 6 yellow cards swallowed by Wesley against just 2 of Ananda so far in the League, puts the hosts at risk of playing with less than 15 boys at times, which the visitors would gleefully exploit with vengeance.

Ananda has succumbed to only DS Mauls so far, but held off the others without collapsing any of them. However, the power of the Wesley Pack might be too much for the infants to handle, unless they plan to avoid the Mauls from forming altogether, example by not giving away penalties in their half. Wesley would also have a substantial edge on pick and drives over Ananda, for which the defence must be beefed up before this game by the underdogs. Although Wesley’s defence and tackling takes the Cake over Ananda’s, the latter’s is not inferior either.

Zahira vs Mahanama at Zahira Ground on 5 July:

Zahira

Mahanama​

So far, Zahira has had an inconsistent season with mixed fortunes and form. At times the reason was external, but mostly internal. Nevertheless, their last game against Isipathana was promising, hence this should be another close encounter for the thrill seekers of schools’ rugby.

Although Mahanama’s game is full of wits and flairs, it is often smothered with recklessness, consisting of high counts of infringements. They have suffered more than 36 unforced handling errors in the past 4 games, which is 50% higher than Zahira’s. In contrast, Zahira seems to be shaky when stirred, coughing up a total of 10 forced knock-ons so far, which is double of Mahanama’s. The recklessness of Mahanama’s game discipline has gotten them 10 yellow cards so far, against a modest 3 for Zahira. This means that at least 2 or 3 players are sent out to repent for their wrongdoings in every game, exposing them for the oppositions to attack for the duration of 20 to 30 minutes.

Zahira is able to perform slightly better with long distance touch finders during open play than the visitors, but both teams are yet to accomplish their first 50-22 in the League. Both sides love the idea of attacking with Mauls, and luckily, both would have sufficient opportunities to try this out inside each other’s 22, as each team is likely to forfeit an average of 15 penalties, with most of them being back-to-back.

St. Joseph’s vs Sri Sumangala at CR & FC on 5 July:

St. Joseph

Sri Sumangala

As Sri Sumangala has already qualified for the Plate Segment with 2 wins, this is a must-win game for the Joes in order to catch the same Bandwagon, thus this encounter would be more crucial for Joes than the visitors. However, the considerably improved Summa outfit is likely to be a thorn on their side. Summa’s enhanced pick and drives would threaten Joes’ solidity, and test their skills in defending it. The visitors’ Ball stealing skills would be another menace that must be dealt with, while Joes would have to be a tad faster in everything they do in this game, in order to keep it under their control.

Sri Sumangala’s lineouts have been far better than of their counterparts in the last two outings, as Summa hasn’t messed up any on their own except for a solitary crooked throw, whereas Joes have messed up 5, but in the absence of strays. In addition, the visitors have turned over at least 2 lineouts, whereas the hosts haven’t at all.

Nevertheless, the decisive factor of this game could come down to the adherence to the laws of the game where Joes excel, while Sumangala’s offenses are 50% more in their last two games in comparison, which has also earned them 2 yellow cards, against none for Joes. In combination with the above key advantage that grants Joes plenty of attacking opportunities, coupled with the ability to defend well with effective formations and hard tackling, alongside proven track record that prohibits grounding of pick and drives with up to 3 ‘help up’ efforts, Joes might take a Cake unless Sri Sumangala can drop their penalty count to 10 or less.

Science vs St. Anthony’s at Science Ground on 6 July:

Science

St Anthonys​

Both teams are yet to win a game this season, thus they shall be playing in the Bowl Segment; however, no team prefers to move to the next stage without even a solitary win, and therefore sparks are deemed to fly in this close encounter, that is more than likely to walk the Tightropes.

Science’s primary attacking option could have been using their Forwards, but the Eagles have recently beefed up their Forwards defences considerably well, that Ananda struggled to infiltrate it with pick and go’s. They were also able to restrict the heavier Ananda Pack to only 2 Maul Tries. The Antho Backline charms can be witnessed in this game in its fullest potential, if only Sunday stays dry in Colombo. The Eagles have proved to be quite swift in stealing the big white Pill at the breakdowns; however, their extreme swiftness causes frequent fumbles when passing, impeding the momentum gained while attacking intensely. Additionally, the Eagle’s eyes are capable of targeting distant points along the touchlines during open play to gain maximum territory, while the Scientists lag in this skill. 

The Science lineouts are comparatively healthier than their counterparts with fewer crooked throws and higher turnovers, which should offer them more chances of attacking with their Mauls; in fact, SACK is yet to turnover at the lineouts this Season. The hosts are categorically more disciplined in their game with 45 offenses opposite 58 of the visitors, where the yellow cards yielded stand at 2 and 4 respectively.

 Footnote:

Though we love to, unfortunately we are unable to preview all 9 games to be played each weekend due to time limitations, and therefore are compelled to accommodate only around 4 forecasts each week.

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