eTrinity needs a realistic plan for redemption
It doesn’t need too much crystal-ball-gazing to venture the thought that there will be more of the same when the second leg of the 72nd Bradby Shield encounter comes around. Over the past four years, Royal has depended on their chief stock-in-trade, the Rolling Maul, to get close to the Trinity goal line or even go over. This year they advertised it will be before-hand. Yet, strangely enough, the Trinitians couldn’t work out much of a counter.
To think that Royal will abandon their tried and tested method and think up a fresh scheme for the second leg at Pallekele is naive and fool hardy. Never change a winning team, they say in cricket. So why change a winning tactic, a successful method?
Last year, the Royalists had a quality player or two, in the back division (the likes of skipper Bhanuka Gamage) and they got them involved in the play a bit more. This year’s back four are not all that experienced. So word will be sent out fly half Lennox Calyanaratne to either kick for territory, or to send the ball back to the forwards, so that they can set up the infamous maul.
Skipper Nikhil Gunadheera, prop Ayesh Maduranga and scrum half Ashok Vijakumar were in the thick of things. Royal stuck to their plan and it worked for them. There was no need for a fall back option.
How Trinity must be rueing that moment of madness at the start of the game. They had barely taken the field when, in the twinkling of an eye, Janidu Dilshan intercepted and streaked through. From then on, it was catch up rugby. To their credit, Trinity did that well.
A five pointer going in to the second leg is not an insurmountable lead. To put it differently, it need not be a monkey on the back. Murad Ramzeen, who led Trinity to the first of their four wins on the trot in 2011, saw to it that they came back from a 25-33 loss in the first game to score a staggering 40-5 win in the second leg. Even more sensational was the 2015 encounter where Royal (23-22 winners at Pallekele) turned the game on its head in Colombo to win 49-0. The salient fact is that a small lead is largely psychological. Numerically it’s not mind-shattering.
Trinity had far more possession in the first half, yet they failed to open up the game. The ball moving sweetly down the line, and at speed, with the wingers putting the finishing touches, was the essence of Trinity back division play. It provided delight to the spectators and put their fans in a frenzy. The Royal defence was tight, and afforded few opportunities to Trinity to play their run and pass game. But why didn’t the Trinitians have recourse to the other nuances of back division play?
At the same time, it must be added that the change in the weather forestalled Trinity from capitalizing on their strength. In fact, it worked the other way and played into Royal’s hands.
Draw the man and pass in one of the fundamental tenets of good back division play. Trinity seemed to forget this. One or two attempts at going solo came to grief, handling errors added to their woes. Crucially, late in the game when Trinity was on the attack and the overlap formed, the ball was passed to a Royalist.
As in sevens Rugby, possession is the name of the game when playing against this Royal side. The ball has to be retained and kept away from the opposing forwards at all costs. The return of skipper Rahul Karunatilleka will be welcomed by his mates. A good ball-winner, the lock forward roams all over in his attempt to keep his side in an advantageous position. It is hoped that he will have a significant input regarding the throws. Trinity’s line out work locked flexibility and original thinking.
The first leg was expected to be close. So it proved. The second could go the same way. The bad news for the home team is that the rains seem to have started. A Trinitian could be excused for exclaiming “there goes my everything.” But time is on their side. A realistic plan, encompassing the fickle weather, must be put in place.