Defending a title in any sport is a tougher task than winning it. The title defenders in addition to their in-born skills must confront an extra psychological pressure each time they take the field. Eventually the individual or the team becomes the most avoured object to beat. St. Peter’s College, who defended the league rugby title eventually by pressure or pleasure, had to succumb to the mere truth as they watched Royal College take hold of their prestigeous title as the schools league rugby champions of 2011.
Where or what did drag St. Peter’s to an unexpected drowning is a big question that still haunt many rugby fans of Sri Lanka. The Peterites who are renowned to be a well balanced schools rugby outfit earned a dominating name which is hard to blemish within a short period. The coach of the St. Peter’s rugby team, Dinesh Colin verified some real facts behind their setbacks.
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Peterites at practices. (Pix by Sanka Vidanagama) |
“To begin with the coach is not exactly satisfied the way things took place during the three-month tournament. Before the beginning all had high expectations on St. Peter’s but unfortunately we lost the title. On the bright side we never played badly except for the games against Kingswood and St. Joseph’s where we couldn’t earn bonus points. If you analyse carefully St. Peter’s have scored four tries or above in a match and have been able to win bonus point at nine outings which is a remarkable fact,” Colin assessed.
True to the facts related by Colin, St. Peter’s played 11 games while winning seven and losing four. But they are the only team to score 440 points while league champions Royal were 40 points behind them. St. Peter’s also leads the way in tries scored with 70 while the second best team next to them is Isipathana with 65 tries. They also lead in conversions with 39 successful kicks as to 34 by Royal who is the next best team in that aspect. These figures only prove the fact that St. Peter’s played good rugby despite being unable to reach their target. But St. Peter’s too went through bad patches and experienced the agony of losing a title that they dearly defended.
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| Dinesh Colin (Coach) |
“Our strength during the league season was our backs and we relied a lot on them. Any team would love to have a fantastic set of three-quarters like St. Peter’s but unfortunately they didn’t get the ball. As a result we couldn’t achieve the set points this season,” Colin said.
Colin said the coaching staff headed by Sanath Martis had even drawn an entirely different action plan for the year 2011 knowing that they are not a strong outfit with forwards. This prompted the Peterites to take on the league season in a match-after-match planning basis.
“Our forwards were not so strong but they were mobile. We lost many scrums and line outs and lost possession of the ball many a time. As a result of this we were compelled to defend than our usual style of attacking rugby. But we are happy that St. Peter’s have showed a quality brand of rugby during the past decade. I really believed that we could have won the league title though it’s not the truth,” Colin who is now fully changed the focus into the upcoming knockout competition said.
“Rugby is a game that cannot be predicted. This year like us many teams faced unexpected and mixed outcomes and the season was full of surprises. This season may have not been the best for St. Peter’s but we have done well in the past and will continue to keep up that form in years to come. Bad periods may come and go but we have a long term vision for rugby. Our feeder base is strong and talented. The future looks well set and bright,” Colin stated.
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