The finals of the Singer Schools Rugby League championship was decided appropriately between two teams who never said die, right throughout the season.
Even the staunchest and truest Thomian supporters, muttering under their breath about refereeing decisions, could do nothing but shrug and accept the fact that they had been beaten by a well-oiled Green Machine.
Speaking to both captains before the game, it seemed that Kushan Indunil was the more relaxed of the two skippers, with the weight of expectation heavy on Pandula De Silva’s shoulders. Kushan was exactly where Pandu is one year ago with the disappointing loss to Royal in the final game of 2015 after promising much. He was determined not to let that happen again. No doubt S. Thomas’ will be a stronger for this set back.
As it happened, a Ben Smith like moment of madness from Naveen Henakankanamge decided the game. Smith is one of the All Blacks best and most reliable players. Naveen is much the same for S. Thomas’ and has been an excellent defender while also being the season’s top try scorer. His adrenaline fuelled tip tackle in the first couple of minutes of the game saw him get a yellow card which was the only invitation Isipatana needed to exploit the gap in defence and the mental setback for the Thomians. Before the Thomians could recover from the loss of their talisman, Isipatana had driven the ball over the line in an unexpected line out move. Still reeling, S. Thomas’ isolated themselves in midfield as they did most of the afternoon and conceded a turnover to the try scorer Vageesha Weerasinghe who set up his skipper to straighten the line and unleash Rankothge who broke the defensive line and sent in Chamodh Fernando through the hole left by the yellow card. Possession in that ten minute period was vital for S. Thomas’ and they contrived to give it away.
The 14-0 reversal in the first few minutes was something the Thomians never really recovered from. In the next 70 minutes they scored 4 tries to Isipatana’s 1. But the accuracy of Gayan Wickramaratne kept Isipatana in the lead.
Given the debacle of last year’s failure in the face of Royal’s forwards, not enough can be said about how Isipatana have worked on their shortcomings. Despite being walked off the ball in the first scrum, Isipatana responded by doing exactly the same, more than once, against a bigger, heavier pack in the second half. Similarly, going into the final fortnight Isipatana had converted only 50% of their 40 odd tries. But Gayan Wickremeratne had worked on his kicking and was flawless both against Royal and STC, giving the Isipatana team a completeness that the 2015 version lacked.
When Herat converted Jayathilaka’s first try for STC and then missed an easier conversion of Wijeratne’s try in a bid to make it 14-17 on the stroke of half time, the Thomian spirits deflated further when the break was taken at 17-12 to Isipatana.
Ill-discipline at the breakdown shipped STC 6 more points and the Isipatana skipper had a try disallowed for a pedantic, and ridiculous interpretation of the rule regarding the kicking tee. However, the moral damage was done and an air of desperation crept into the Thomian attack which looked to skip many passes flinging it to Henakankanamge hoping that he would conjure a miracle finish as he did against Royal and Trinity.
The Thomians’ inability to protect the ball at the breakdown led to a smart Chamodh Fernando flick which Vageesha Weerasinghe picked up off his bootlaces and ran 80m like a marathon runner being chased down on the home stretch. Bhumindra Dissanayake’s cover tackle was not good enough and Ferdinando couldn’t catch the indefatigable no.8 in time, and Weerasinghe sealed the game with his second try of the game. He had a hand in all three of his side’s tries in a man of the match performance.
Herath then barged over – or did he? – from 5m out with the replays casting doubt on the grounding of the ball. Irshard Cader was on the spot and awarded the try to take STC ti 28-19 and when the Isipatana defence finally started cracking and they were reduced to 13 men with two yellow cards for Wickramaratne and the brave Ekanayake, Naveen Henakankanamge went over for the final act of the game. It was fitting that he should score, given the season he has had for STC as probably, along with Anuruddha Wilvara, its most devastating outside back of this century.
Pandula De Silva’s team made no excuses. They tried their best and they came up against a team that was hungrier, that had tasted defeat and found it bitter. Despite the fact that 7 starting players had suffered the viral flu and Shenal De Silva, the combative scrum half, had come out of hospital two days before, they made a fist of it. A fist that Sachitha Jayathilaka’s fractured hand couldn’t assist. Clearly those fitness issues affected STC who were late to clear the ball from the breakdown on more than one occasion and were also hampered by the no.8’s inability to pick up from the base, as Isipatana put the scrum under pressure. Despite all those setbacks the Thomians showed grit and resolve to outscore Isipatana in the last 70 mins of the game. However, regardless of whether it is the first ten minutes or the last, rugby remains an 80 minute game. In my preview I said that he who protects the ball would win, and STC didn’t do so consistently enough.
The Isipatana third row completely outplayed their counterparts at the breakdown. Added to that the best centre combination since Royal’s unbeaten pairing of 2001 [Jayasundera/Kaularatchi], carved up the midfield while also shepherding the threat of Henakankanamge. As much as you can analyse the game – and I do – you cannot quantify attributes like intelligence, heart, team-spirit and desire. Isipatana seemed to tip the scales on at least the intelligence front where they lured STC to play at their pace. Indunil’s team deserved this win. Unequivocally.
Much has been said of the refereeing. Indunil’s try was disallowed pedantically, a touch judge intervention on an Isipatana score was waved away and the try not awarded, cards – they saw three yellows – came very late in the day against Isipatana and Herath’s try may or may not have been short. Add to that the chaos at the breakdown and Handunpathirana escaping a yellow while Wijeratne dribbled the ball for the knock on to be ignored in full view, it is fair to say that none of the losing team players were the worst performer on the pitch. The decisions did not affect that outcome though, and for that we can be relieved.
Ibrahim and Henry, with their stable of junior coaches have done a great job with this Patana side. Maintaining the consistency is their challenge. Laga and Dinesh Kumara will have one eye on the knockouts knowing that they were ever so close.
