Bradby third leg in the offing
View(s):In the midst of some pulling off as a team or players opting out as individuals due to numbers in the injury list the school knock out commenced last week. In Kurunegala the whistle was blown for the Carlton Rugby Sevens on the newly laid St. Anne’s turf. The wise men in the schools who advise on how best to play the game always talk about the money they spend on teams. This includes expenditure for a coach, a forwards coach, a backs coach, a trainer and sometimes a kicking coach. With the numbers that are involved and virtually employed why is it that teams find it hard to keep up to their commitments claiming that their players are
St. Joseph’s were outdone by Royal in the Milo Knockouts as they are set to meet Trinity for the third time - File pic
injured.Probably money cannot buy physical and match fitness unless there is commitment. Watching the quarter-final matches I got the impression that players seem to carry on the motions of rugby and looked very much jaded. It was expected that some teams would be trying to redeem lost prestige while others attempt to keep the status of being champs intact.
The first game of the season between Isipthana who met arch rivals Thurstan was David taking on Goliath and falling flat in the face losing 50 points to 05. Though it was not awe inspiring performance Pathana showed that they are ruthless in pursuit of a win in the knock out too. St. Peter’s through their folly allowed Science who stuck to working on the basic rugby preceded to the semi-finals. At the end of the day it was Science with a last minute try that secured a place in the semi-final and will now play Isipathana.
Joes lost themselves to a Royal maul that was always gaining ground. Joes still had a chance in this game if they could have at least reduced the number of penalties that was given at regular intervals. Trinity took Wesley to the cleaners in another dreary match and is 
to meet Royal in the semi- final. The semi between Royal and Trinity will be the match to watch while unpredictable Science have an opportunity to clear the heavy score line of the league against Pathana.
I was wondering why rugby in this knock out turned to be drab and non eventful. Yet I could find no answer other than grumbling about somebody else. I was tickled to glory when I heard a story where a school has approached a videographer to film the referee only so that they can look at the mistakes and report. The best you could do is to video a match and capture the event focusing on the referee while the game is in normal mode. Good idea and probably use a software to prepare a tag to the incident and run a separate small frame inset while you watch the game. A swell idea to help referees if that is the intention but a bad one if it is to fix referees.
A question that is being widely circulated is about the rolling or what you may call a driving maul. Some try to give an opinion of legality of the move. The laws that govern favour a ball being allowed to be transferred after a maul is formed. Then what is the issue that is being raised when this old trick and talking through the hat has been in place for over five years. The problem is that this cannot be defended and so to confuse talk about it being legal. Why not stop contesting at line-out and do an immediate sacking or do quick push of the ball winners so that they have little time to settle that strong maul base and if it becomes stationary then the use it or lose it comes to place. These are just thoughts to work on but then I am not a dollar boy coach. Now I am convinced why players fade off and drop almost dead and make it difficult to a game to come alive.
Meanwhile in Kurunegala, the Carlton Sevens first leg was played at St. Anne’s Ground. The ground was a well laid out green which would make some of the schools in Colombo wondering why they do not have a similar piece. Hopefully this will give a good opportunity not just for the revival of rugby at St. Anne’s but also will help the resurgence of the game in the rock city. The game in the Carlton did not reach a high note as one would have expected in Sevens. Nevertheless the later games in this format turned to be interesting and some went on to extra time. The tournament will continue this week in Beliatte in the Southern Province. One problem I saw with the players seemed that they were coming out of a lull period and also tended to go into 15-a-side mode at times. Possibly players also did not give their best as the second round is this week will decide in the numbers that will find the eyes of the bidder when it comes to the International games. It is at this stage that the game gets more interesting as well as more rewarding. Rugby in Sri Lanka continues by the week and through the year.
* Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, Coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator of IRB