Wesley and Dharmaraja proved a salient point
View(s):The league championship was won by Dharmaraja College Kandy, who remained unbeaten and their achievement was a result of the passion they showed on the field. However, they failed in their attempt to win the double. They were beaten in the semifinal by Wesley, who then beat Trinity to win the knockout. Both Wesley and Dharmaraja were in the schools’ ‘B’ division in 2012. The schools were coached by current national players Radhika Hettiarachchi and Terence Henry who are in their first year of coaching. Both are men are also Old Boys of their respective schools.
Neither Dharmaraja nor Wesley has massive budgets to spend compared to some of the better known rugby schools who have not made it to the top this year. Neither do these schools have a well equipped gymnasium nor a full ground that can be called a rugby playing field. According to reliable sources the rugby budgets of these two schools are around 10% of the budgets of some of the top tier teams which spend in the range of Rs. 10 to 20 million a season. The Rajans, according to inside sources, confirmed that in the past they found it difficult to maintain the team at the top level despite good performances at the junior games. The school protected the team during the last two years by providing the boys with an opportunity to be coached in their studies as during the season the players undergo a hectic schedule. Last year there were nine players who were successful at the Advanced Level and they expect a good outcome in the field of academics this year too.
During the season Dharmaraja fashioned themselves into a side that was making use of the talent they had and they were determined to win the league. They played basic rugby, maximum use of the skills they possessed. Nothing fancy or extravagant; and they proved that you can win a championship if the fundamentals skills are used to your advantage. Wesley, in a similar pattern of play, concentrated on playing as a team unit. Both schools tasted success and this would spur them on in the future. Once you have come to this standard next year the possibility of looking for a sponsor is much better and both schools as well as rugby will benefit. At the moment they depend on Old Boys and well-wishers to maintain rugby in the school.
Henry Terrence, the coach of Wesley, was proud of the performance of the team which played and stayed together like a family. It was indeed a lot of hard work by the coach and his assistant, Amal Pathirana, which led Wesley to success. It has been an effort devoid of the luxury of trainers or conditioning coaches.
The knockout reached a high level of excitement beginning with the semi-finals. The lesson is that if you do not have eight of the top teams available, do not fill in the numbers by bringing in teams from the lower league. Some do not at least come to the ground while others fail to stand up. If you have only six teams, play with them and the quality of the game will be better and there will be more spectator interest.
In the final, Wesley came strong in the first minute of the game but were challenged as Trinity went into halftime with a lead of 13 points to 8. Upon the resumption of play, the Wesley blitz in a space of 10 minutes took the game to Campbell Park and much away from the Lions. They scored 26 points from three goals and a try scored in the 5th, 7th, 11th and 15th minute. The messing up of a high ball and dropping passes saw Wesley move from inside Trinity territory. Trinity resistance came in the 17th and 39th minute but it was not enough to match the 10-minute blast of Wesley as the game ended 34 points to 21 to make the Campbell Park boys the new KO champs. Wesley made the scores count despite that they were penalized 23 times and 17 being offences at the tackle ruck and maul and also were shown two yellow cards for repeated infringements. While the victory is very much a plus point the lesson for the players to reach the next level is to be skilled at the breakdown. If this was improved probably the margin may have been more. On the other hand it showed that Trinity, a much-skilled side, did not know to use the opportunities that came their way. The kicks at times never found touch and they threw away the opportunities as they received many penalties as Wesley erred. It was obvious at times that the Trinity backs were going for a crash ball as the Fly Half took a static pass and passed it to his centers. This was very obvious and to a hard-tackling Wesley side it was easy to pin them down.
While Wesley and Dharmaraja need to be recognized and congratulated, my sympathies are with some who cannot see others performing. Particularly to some who darted to the officials at the end of the match to complain about the use of performing enhancers during the break. The truth is that such substances don’t have Popeye-spinach effect. Credit must be given to the winners and the mistakes that were made when the high ball was missed should be reviewed. All opportunities were made use of by the winners.
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB
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