Boys to men

What would spectators want to see in a game of rugby? Action and scoring that makes you on the edge of asking yourself what’s next. The CR vs. Army match was one of those games that would have given the spectator the excitement and satisfaction he would want to see at a rugby match. This game had a total of 67 points scored. CR won this game by 46 points to Army’s 21.

There were ten tries scored in this match. CR was however held scoreless for around 35 minutes in the second half till they planted their last try during injury time. Army during this time did score twice. Ten tries, works to an average of a try every 8 minutes. This means that there was more flowing rugby. That is what the spectators would want to see. This will is what the sponsors would want. Hopefully we will see more in the coming weeks.

Havelock’s had a close call before they finally beat Air Force by 24 points to 20. Air Force who promised much have yet not delivered to secure a victory. Perhaps they get far too much of on line commands which make them confused as to what they should when they have to decide.

This week it was the turn of CH and FC to keep the scoreboard working overtime. The kids on the park had no answer as CH piled up points against the Old Zahirians. Kandy in the meantime beat Police at Nitttawela. What next for the Old Zahirians. Where do they go from here and what do they give the opponents. They seem not to be doing anything good neither for themselves nor to their opponents. Matches against the minnows allow clubs to pile up points. But it does not help in the improvement of the game that made them had in taking to the game.

Trinity stays on top as the only unbeaten team in the schools league. St Peter’s, S. Thomas’, Kingswood and Isipathana follow having lost a game each With the leaders and those following close due to meet among them; the coming week will see more exciting rugby.

Trinity managed to stay unbeaten having defeated S. Thomas’ in the final minute. Just as much as S. Thomas’ found St Peter’s taking it easy in the last minute this time around it was the boys from Mount Lavinia who left a hole in their defense after the fullback fumbled. The match also drew attention to what the referee and his touch judges did not see. Seen from the replay and viewed from different angles confirmation is made that the ball did cross the bar. Unfortunately the referee goes by the signal from the men under the post. They in turn go by what they see and not what they are shown later on. To castigate and call the referee by many names as possible is part of the game and the exposure to such vituperative attacks is nothing new to a referee. He goes on and the game goes on as without a referee there can be no game.

I can at this stage only recall the incident where the elimination of the Kiwis was blamed on Referee Wayne Barnes. All Blacks fans were infuriated by some of Barnes' decisions, which included the sin-binning of the Kiwi centre and his failure to spot at least one forward pass scoring the crucial second try for the French. English official Wayne Barnes was defended by IRB referees' manager Paddy O'Brien amid fierce criticism of his performance.

O'Brien, himself a Kiwi, said: "I think it's a disgrace and people have to grow up.New Zealand losing that game was not all about the forward pass. The pass was forward but that's rugby refereeing. I thought the referee actually had a decent game. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but you can't turn back the clock. He's a superb referee and we have a lot of confidence in him, that's why we gave him the quarter-final. He's an outstanding individual as a person and it makes me sick to the stomach to hear some of the comments that have been made about him."

So what’s wrong if you stand by those who have had the courage to be in the middle spat upon with pyrrhic venom while the game continues to lose the referees one by one?

In the midst of adults who see only one point (with apologies to others of the same ilk who see things differently) there is one Thomian player who deserves praise .Underlying that the boys play to enjoy.

It gives hope that among the youth are gentleman and sportsman. That’s the S. Thomas’ deputy skipper Devaan Hallock who wanted the referee to ask his touch judges again. This is despite that the two points would have put S. Thomas’ behind. That is what will make men and gentleman out of boys. Well done!

Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB