Royal College register another win thanks to a dominant second half performance

Royal College locked horns against Dharamaraja College in a Week 5 fixture of the Dialog Schools Rugby League today (15^th of July)  at the Royal College Sports Complex. In a game that swung both ways until the Half Time break, the Tuskers produced a stunning display of Rugby in the latter half to cruise towards a 36-18 win against the visiting Rajans

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Royal College attacked from the word go in this encounter, but there were too many unforced errors from them. The Rajans, on the other hand, defended their hearts out, especially in the first half as they managed to stop the Tuskers thrice just a few inches away from the try line. The first score of the day came when Royal made the error of using hands on the ruck, as Dharmaraja had a successful kick from Sadeesha Weerawansha. (RC 00 – 03 DCK)

The Rajans then entered into the Royal half with an attacking opportunity, and the Royal defensive line was found to be offside by the referee as the Rajans received another penalty, which Weerawansha kicked through to increase the lead. (RC 00 – 06 DCK)

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Dharamaraja continued their aggressive passage of play as the errors kept coming in from Royal College, especially under the highball as they knocked the ball forward a lot of times. The visitors received another penalty after a late charge from a Royal player, and Weerawansha added the 3 penalty points very easily. (RC 00 – 09 DCK)

Royal needed something special to turn the tides back into their favor, and that special moment came soon after an error they made. After conceding a penalty, the Rajans took the quick tap and the runner unfortunately got tackled by the last defender. Other Royal players pounced on the isolated Dharmaraja player to steal the ball and to kickstart a counterattack. Amika Samarasinghe ended the counterattack with a lovely cut back inside and a strong run towards the try line as Royal found an all important opening. Simak Shafeek added the two points with a successful conversion. (RC 07 – 09 DCK)

Just a few minutes later, Royal won a lineout near the 22m line of Dharmaraja, and the iconic Royal Maul began as Dharmaraja had no answer whatsoever to this move. The hooker Naqeeb Mohommad was the try scorer for Royal, and they were unable add the extra points as the scores were equal. (RC 12 – 09 DCK)

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The visitors tried to land a counter punch after that 2^nd try, and the Royal defensive line was once again called for a line off-side infringement within kickable distance. Weerawansha had no trouble with the kick as the scoreline was 12 all at lemons. (RC 12 – 12 DCK)

Soon after the whistle for the resumption of the game, Royal entered the Dharmaraja half and the ball carriers just brought the Rajan defensive line towards the middle of the field. This created an opening in the right side of the field, which Thiven Perera clearly identified as he gave a kick pass to Charuka Seneviratne, who had no one in front to stop him. Nabeel Yahiya received his first kick of the day, and he got the job done to increase the lead. (RC 19 – 12 DCK)

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The Royal outfit which took the field after the Half Time break was a completely different, one as they did not give the Rajans any breathing space in the first 5 minutes. After winning a lineout inside the 22m line of Dharmaraja, the Tuskers once again opted for the rolling maul, which paid off big time as Kavinash Srikanth went over for his first 5 pointer of the day, which Yahiya converted. (RC 26 – 12 DCK)

To derail the Royal progress a bit, they conceded a penalty after a high tackle, and Weeranwasha obliged to his Skipper by kicking the penalty through. (RC 26 – 15 DCK)

The game slowed down a bit after that, and the game did not see much action right until Royal received a lineout just outside the 22m line. However, that situation became a very fruitful one for Royal as they pulled off their hat trick of Rolling Maul tries in this game as Naqeeb Mohommed found the whitewash for the 2^nd time. The conversion did not go through as the lead stayed on 16  points. (RC 31 – 15 DCK)

Amika Samarasinghe also scored a second try for his team as that was their 6^th try of the game. The conversion did not go through, and just before the final whistle, the Rajans added 3 more points thanks to Weerawansha, who ended the day with a 6 out of 6 kicking record. (RC 36 – 18 DCK)

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Dharmaraja had their moments in the game, and it can be fair to say they were calling the shots during the 2^nd half. However, just as always, the boys from Royal were too clinical in that 2^nd half. With this loss, the Rajans are out of the tournament, while Royal College have almost booked their place in the super round.

FULL TIME :- Royal College 36 (6T, 3C) beat Dharmaraja College 18 (6P)

NDB Bank Player of the Match :- Yehan Weerasuriya (RC)

Points Breakdown :

Royal College :- Naqeeb Mohommad (2T), Amika Samarasinghe (2T), SImak Shafeek (1C), Nabeel Yahiya (2C), Kavinash Srikanth (1T), Charuka Seneviratne (1T)

Dharmaraja College :- Sadeesha Weerawansha (6P)