At Havelock Park the Army went into the game playing attacking rugby and dominated play for around 15 minutes against Havelock’s Sports Club. The first score was chalked by Army who however did not maintain the momentum and gave the game to Havelock’s who lead 29 points to 3 at the end of the first half. At the end of full time the scores stood at 36 points to 13. Complacency, fitness, moving out of the game plan and everybody wanting to score were what restricted the Havelock’s to only a converted try while army scored twice.
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Army is a fit side that played rugby the way they knew but without much cohesion. To the fans of the park club it was joy having won this match and the men and women looked happy. One stalwart commented; a win and a good one will bring the fans back. Hopefully it would bring the fans back home and also attract sponsors as the club has been scrapping the bottom for some time. Playing a faster game the focus was to centre on the two non nationals. They should not be overly dependent on their prized possessions. On this day, they allowed the duo to do most of the work and the others rallied around them. Yet into the second half; the unforced errors increased as the tendency to forget that there was a team. Winning and team building should be a part of the plan for Havelock’s. They seem a capable outfit that can remain in the first four. If you get to the top four and the current rules prevail there won’t be any non national as your platform.
The unexpected defeat of CR at the hands of Police was something difficult for their supporters to bite. If you go back to the match played the previous week that was lackluster then this outcome was not unexpected. Man to Man, on paper, CR had a better team against both teams. The output however did not retain the quality of the input. Tell me why?
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| The Isipatana-St. Peter’s game was played on a very co-ordinated manner with both schools paying a lot of attention on crowed control. (Pic Ranjith Perera) |
Navy on the other hand seemed to have used more sand paper to polish the edges that were not smooth the previous week. It was a better performance that kept then in shape to beat the Air Force and on that day it was a birthday present from the boys to their Captain.
Kandy playing some explosive rugby got the better of the CH side who together with the Army have lost in both their outings.
Yet people will how better the rugby was at the 2nd leg of the Bradby and the match between Peters and Isipathana. Trinity was very clinical in their approach and had it all planned to not give the Royal forwards the space they would have enjoyed. The game was fast paced and the crowds loved the rugby that was played.
Isipathana in their game against Peterites not only used their forwards well but also had the Peters back peddling whenever forwards were involved in play. One would normally associate Pathana with fast and furious back play. This weekend they used their forwards to a plan and denied the strong Peters backs the freedom to run. Most times the Peters threes got bad ball but whenever they ran they made sure to make good use of the opportunities that came their way. The game was exciting and had total of 69 points scored by both sides. This victory by Pathana gives them some hope for the league crown and the only way is for St.Peters to beat Royal.
This game was expected to draw a lot of fire considering the animosity that was spilling from last years experiences. It must be appreciated that rugby was the winner as everybody was interested on a good game of rugby. Special mention must be made of the Old Boys of Isipathana who worked with the Peters rugby committee to ensure that there was harmony and all enjoyed rugby. Mention is also appropriate to applaud the effort of the Peters committee who accepted the goodwill gesture of the visitors to work and see that rugby was what mattered. At the end that is what it is all about. When you have experienced skirmishes during the season and there is enough opportunity to fuel a fire the best thing is to take corrective action.
I have heard some schools say what can we do if the spectators behave in a bad way. Peters have started to educate their followers and Isipathana joined. Both schools have shown the way in an atmosphere of petty violence resorted to by some. Last week I told you of officials walking to the referee’s room. This week it was an attempt to manhandle the referee as he left the ground. This was followed by an abuse SMS that was sent and has been traced to a teacher probably not realizing about the CLI. Most shocking news is that of a Captain, of a school that boasts of tradition, who had spoken to a member of the assignment committee on match official appointments. Way to go! talk your way through .
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB |
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