The Royal sports complex was the epicentre of school's rugby today with the Bradby 2nd leg to be played in the evening. Having a front row seat was beyond exciting because its far removed from the congestion experienced in the standing tiers on the other side of the ground. Incidentally, the Bradby was my first match of the season (after this it will be the last) as a live spectator. Previous Royal matches had to be sacrificed due to study commitments with classes falling on weekends.
In a nutshell, nothing went Royal's way which to many was quite hard to handle. Here is a team that beat Trinity in Kandy 2 weeks ago when branded as 'under dogs', not to mention getting off to a flying start from the kickoff. Early in the game Royal fluffed 2 penalty kicks (both within kicking range), which to me was not a good sign. The game plan would be to apply early pressure on the rival team and increase the 8 point lead from the 1st leg. Instead, all I saw was Trinity calling the shots and Royal being more reactive as opposed to playing offensive. Even in offensive play after the 3rd or 4th phase Royal was unable to maintain possession of the ball which stalled momentum considerably. Credit is due to Trinity forwards who kept the Royal forwards in check all the time without giving them any room to break through their defenses. To me, the Trinity captain stood out both in attack and defense; he was able to draw at least 2 defenders every time when engaging the Royal defense. This enabled Trinity to capitalise greatly in having extra men to run the ball. Royal's game plan of playing with their forwards hardly worked in their favour because each time the forwards went for hits they were running into brick walls.
The Trinity three-quarters were a scintillating lot with amazing running displays; every time the backs made a move they were able to punch holes in the Royal defense. Trinity backs had powerful running displays, and were resolute in their defense as well. In the entire match, I would have seen the Royal backs work their line not more than 10 times. And there were moments when the backs had no clue what to do after getting the ball. Better yet, the Royal forwards walk up to line-outs and jump for the ball (and mind you, its something not even the All Black do) without being able to reclaim it. Losing to Trinity in Colombo gives an impression that Royal's victory up in Kandy was a stroke of luck- like Royal were the 'lucky' team that day. The 40-5 margin speaks volumes of how much Trinity has worked towards winning the Bradby after the 32-25 loss 2 weeks prior to this.
I fear the Royal team needs to re-think its strategy in many ways. In all honesty, it was a heart breaking day to be a Royal supporter, but this all part and parcel of life. I hope others won't be too critical in their evaluation of today's match- after all they are still school boys. I refuse to single out any Royal player for not being up to par, since rugby is a team game, and both victory and defeat needs to be absorbed by every player of the team equally. I hope the Royal team will take this defeat constructively and move on, because the league title is still within reach- maybe all is not lost, not yet anyway.
On the brighter side (apart from having to see Royal lose), the stands were packed with people not to mention the female supporters of both schools. Its nice to see ladies coming to watch a rugby match!! I need to get me one of them ladies' (like they are displayed in shops and are up for sale)- LOL! Also, I get a complimentary souvenir since I happened to be a past editor of the Bradby souvenir, not to forget my name being included in it as well. I suppose for me its a consolation end of the day. Hats off to Trinity because they were worthy winners today and I'm sure the entire team is above cloud 9 at this moment.
In a nutshell, nothing went Royal's way which to many was quite hard to handle. Here is a team that beat Trinity in Kandy 2 weeks ago when branded as 'under dogs', not to mention getting off to a flying start from the kickoff. Early in the game Royal fluffed 2 penalty kicks (both within kicking range), which to me was not a good sign. The game plan would be to apply early pressure on the rival team and increase the 8 point lead from the 1st leg. Instead, all I saw was Trinity calling the shots and Royal being more reactive as opposed to playing offensive. Even in offensive play after the 3rd or 4th phase Royal was unable to maintain possession of the ball which stalled momentum considerably. Credit is due to Trinity forwards who kept the Royal forwards in check all the time without giving them any room to break through their defenses. To me, the Trinity captain stood out both in attack and defense; he was able to draw at least 2 defenders every time when engaging the Royal defense. This enabled Trinity to capitalise greatly in having extra men to run the ball. Royal's game plan of playing with their forwards hardly worked in their favour because each time the forwards went for hits they were running into brick walls.
The Trinity three-quarters were a scintillating lot with amazing running displays; every time the backs made a move they were able to punch holes in the Royal defense. Trinity backs had powerful running displays, and were resolute in their defense as well. In the entire match, I would have seen the Royal backs work their line not more than 10 times. And there were moments when the backs had no clue what to do after getting the ball. Better yet, the Royal forwards walk up to line-outs and jump for the ball (and mind you, its something not even the All Black do) without being able to reclaim it. Losing to Trinity in Colombo gives an impression that Royal's victory up in Kandy was a stroke of luck- like Royal were the 'lucky' team that day. The 40-5 margin speaks volumes of how much Trinity has worked towards winning the Bradby after the 32-25 loss 2 weeks prior to this.
I fear the Royal team needs to re-think its strategy in many ways. In all honesty, it was a heart breaking day to be a Royal supporter, but this all part and parcel of life. I hope others won't be too critical in their evaluation of today's match- after all they are still school boys. I refuse to single out any Royal player for not being up to par, since rugby is a team game, and both victory and defeat needs to be absorbed by every player of the team equally. I hope the Royal team will take this defeat constructively and move on, because the league title is still within reach- maybe all is not lost, not yet anyway.
On the brighter side (apart from having to see Royal lose), the stands were packed with people not to mention the female supporters of both schools. Its nice to see ladies coming to watch a rugby match!! I need to get me one of them ladies' (like they are displayed in shops and are up for sale)- LOL! Also, I get a complimentary souvenir since I happened to be a past editor of the Bradby souvenir, not to forget my name being included in it as well. I suppose for me its a consolation end of the day. Hats off to Trinity because they were worthy winners today and I'm sure the entire team is above cloud 9 at this moment.
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