Isipathana, Trinity and Kingswood eyeing rugby glory
View(s):To snatch a defeat from the jaws of victory has been a consistent performance by St. Joseph’s who did it once again at Havelock Park last week. St. Peter’s took home the Basil Weeratunge Trophy and made it 15-in-a-row. Did they deserve to take that cup home? Lucky, I would say as the opponents lost their way or flushed the plan down the drain at half time. What makes the Joes so unique in performance is their ability to make this second half plunge as a matter of habit that has been on this year. The tragedy is that some do not understand the need for a self review but review others.
The Joe-Pete encounter at Havelock Park had a close battle - File pic
While there can be many reasons for a team, whoever it may be to fall this way; the main reason I would say is the inability to hold your mindset when you are in the lead. This is because you focus in winning and then suddenly shift gear to play safe to safeguard a lead as against getting more points. The player then sabotages himself and guided by some misguided folk fall off and cry foul as to why the match was lost.
Isipathana, the leading contenders for the league title are on a mission of destroying the opponents and are two games away from the championship. The green team had a very ordinary first half but came strong to beat Science College who played well but could not face the guns of the Park boys. To these boys the proof is on the field and the off-field antics are not much heard of. Kingswood, the closest rival had a hard time and managed to beat Royal by a mere point and 
is still contender two for the Cup as of last week.It is now virtually a game between two teams and a third having an outside chance. The matches between Trinity, Kingswood and Isipathana are the most important and will decide the Cup. In the midst there are many who think that pre-match and post-protest is the way to get somewhere and would certainly turn some of their fathers and forefathers in their grave. For reasons unknown the first three are not the noise makers but those down the line as well as some facing relegation. There are a number of also rans and some in lower division following the leaders who have missed the Cup and resorting to tactics that are attempts to arm twist.
The most recent decision taken by the governing body in keeping with the sports law to keep away those who are involved in any form of coaching from refereeing will have a good side and a bad side. It is a start and the impact will be known in the future. Initially numbers of referees will fall and the shouting will be more. The lead to this is a folly of some schools that see and get referees into the coaching staff not to improve the laws with a hope that a word can be put in. Who then is to be blamed for fingers to be pointed?
A former Trinity Rugby player said what his guru, Alex Lazarus would say; “You can win a game and loose a match and also lose a game and win a match”. The difference is one of enjoying the game played in the true spirit of rugby and not win at any cost. The game is virtually life while the match is another event or milestone in life. He went onto say that even today in life and in the corporate world he remembers the words of wisdom that makes him proud of what he learnt in school through the wonderful game of rugby.
The question that befuddles me is what has happened to this wonderful teaching game that is marred to no end by those who have in recent times who thought that the way to a win is by asking for changes of a referee or asking a for a foreign referee or better still explained in the ‘bazaar language messaging’ those concerned.
It is not a surprise to see a behaviour where the core values of rugby is subjugated to a ‘win is a must’ leading to antisocial behaviour in the culture that is being propagated. The game at school is getting sensitive to the demands of the sources and finders of revenue. The cornerstones and principles of the game seem foreign to the administration and to advisers. If you tolerate the devious or resort to the dubious one can hardly be expected to be willing or able to control the players’ behaviour on field and off-field. The game at school is all about the future of the young who should enjoy and build for life than satisfying the fancy of the ‘has been to school’.
Broader society should not expect the game to clean itself up. It is the participant who can clean the game and make the game it was where the corner stones are discipline, passion, integrity, solidarity, and respect. If not one day somebody might ask why play rugby in schools?
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB