I was watching the Bradby with an old Royalist buddy of mine. Having played first eleven cricket and been Head Prefect of his school, he knew a thing or two about Reid Avenue and its dynamics. Watching the stress levels rise, even though when it was clear Royal were the better side, showed just how much this game means to Royal. And how much pressure they put on themselves to win it. Somehow, the Trinitians seem a little more relaxed, in general. And perhaps that translates onto the field as well. Not to say that they want it any less.
Kick off was sans the usual haka drama. And Royal steamed out of the blocks faster than the Bradby express. A Warnakulasuriya break on the right flank set up good ball, and Jayasinghe quickly swung it wide left. Slick hands saw Feroze breezing towards an early try, except for the outstretched arm of the Trinity defender that brought him down by the collar. It was probably not a penalty try, it may not even have been a yellow card. But it was certainly at least a penalty. Royal has another opportunity soon enough, and while I did call for Jayasinghe to run a bit more in my preview, he made exactly the right break but left the ball behind under the posts. The knock on reprieved Trinity and the first salvo of sustained pressure from Royal went unrewarded.
This seemed to set the Royalists back a little. An overthrown lineout fell into the hands the electric Boyagoda and he streaked over for the try completely against the run of play. If the early frustration set them back, the Royalists – 15 on the field, and thousands off it – thought to themselves, ‘oh no, not again’.
I had Boyagoda down for one of my stars of the match and he didn’t disappoint with the try. A few minutes later an outside of his foot clearance from the little half back fell kindly to the counter attacking Royalists. An easy pass in midfield, just outside the 22 was well read by the reed like Rahul Karunatilleka who set off on an unlikely sprint to the line which was 75m away. In a week where Sam Whitelock scored a brilliant long range try, Karunatilleka did the same. Askey failed miserably with the cover tackle and the lanky second rower stepped out of it like a giraffe trying to escape a pack of hyenas. When he dotted the ball down with his team mates yelling at him to go under the posts, he could hardly believe his own luck.
Trinity has pick-pocketed themselves two tries and Royal had to reply fast. Skipper Gamage did just that, spotting a yawning hole in the Trinity midfield. He stopped, looked at the gap a few times, it stayed open and he swerved nicely over the line. It was the sort of defence that would make a coach want to eat his hat. The under the posts try from the skipper seemed to settle Royal down. They got back into the game and scored over 20 points in quick time.
The inevitable tongue lashing from Sanath Martis would have been ringing in their ears when just after the restart Ashok put his winger into space with a well judged kick. It was a hammer blow just after half time as Warnakulasuriya went over just before the half time break only to be held up over the try line. It was a try he really should have scored. Then it was quick ball sent wide to Gamage who gave a difficult pass which Feroze dealt with and finished with aplomb. Eric Miller’s half time talk would have centred around defence, but his charges were a little indisciplined in executing it despite their enthusiasm. Sanushka the full back had a first leg he would rather forget, dropping off tackles and being out of position more often than not.
After they’d run up an 11 point lead though, Royal seemed to take their foot of the gas. Jayasinghe suddenly went missing and allowed Trinity back into the game. With Saranga Goonetilleka hitting the posts twice, the rotund fly half – Thisula Perera – took over the kicking duties. He closed the gap with a penalty and with Trinity desperate for a score put in a beautifully judged chip for Goonetillake to fall over next to the posts. Both Perera and Askey had chances to win the game or extend the lead, but both failed with difficult kicks.
Royal’s defence has really not been tested so far this year. They showed some vulnerability and Trinity’s decision to run at Royal can be excused. However, there are many ways to skin a cat, and I thought in my preview the best way to beat this Royal side is to turn them around. Perera has a judicious boot and a good skill set that he can do more with if his conditioning is better. Nevertheless, the fly half with his half back partner will have a big role in the second leg. Trinity’s midfield defence also needs to improve. Weerakoon and Dissanayake allowed way too much space and Sanushka needs to make the last ditch hits. Isuru Rangala – the Lions skipper – had an excellent game in defence. But when his front row are getting monstered, there’s little the no.8 can do.
Royal were guilty of being a little unfocussed. They knew they were favourites and probably let it get to their heads a bit. They discounted the dangerous runners that Trinity have and got caught flat footed. To their credit though Trinity’s two first half tries were poacher’s tries, and not tries that were conceded through sloppy team play.
One note that Eric Miller has to take on board though is the refereeing of the scrum. The way the Trinity pack got driven off the ball was astounding. There is no question that the Royal forwards are in better condition. But almost every single scrum, Royal were guilty of standing up in the front row and. Lifting is dangerous, and illegal. And it was not called. The other aspect is the crab walk that Royal do on the defensive scrums. Deliberate wheeling is a penalty and it was blatantly obvious that the Royal forwards were walking sideways to wheel the Trinity scrum. It should have been policed. It wasn’t, and had a massive impact on the game. Royal were also lucky not to have a player carded for a challenge in the air. It was right in front of the assistant and was as dangerous as they come. Players must not commit to tackles unless the intended recipient is on the ground. It’s a caution players must take into their own hands, and coaches need to tell players that the safety of their opponents is more important than field position. Referee Pieris gave a lot of ‘next time’ warnings which were audible on the broadcast. Perhaps he means the second leg.
Despite that however, it was pretty obvious that Royal were the better team. Trinity have a few game breakers, but in terms of overall personnel Royal are much better. They didn’t play to their potential but nevertheless managed a win and to remain unbeaten in their group. Both unbeaten teams – Isipatana and Royal – have shown some flaws though. Peters exposed Isipatana and Trinity have exposed Royal.
Chances are that the maiden Pallakele win would have soothed the nerves of Gamage and his team. A more relaxed Royal team maybe a more dangerous one in the second leg. The probability is high that they will win it easy. But if Trinity do their homework, tackle well and execute their tactics well – who knows.
