The Guneratne Trophy has made one of its infrequent trips across town to Mount Lavinia. But only just. In the last twenty years S.Thomas’ have won the trophy in 2000, 2005 and 2013. To say that this wasn’t a good return, is to put it mildly.
So the anticipation at possessing a good team was high, and Royal’s unbeaten record in the League since last year, meant that the encounter was extra spicy. With a little chillie on top, for good measure. As expected the match was tight, tense affair, which came down to the last move. Not a spectacle that is easy on the hearts of the spectators.
Given the resources available, it was a game STC should really have won much more convincingly. In the end it was a botched no. 8 pick up that squirted the ball out to ‘Chooti’ the scrum half and Nanayakkara got a rare touch with which he set up Kankanamge. The winger, who had scored the first try, had plenty to do, but with great step off his left foot, sheer pace a nice swerve and a strong fend he went over in the corner and touched down mid right. It was quite literally the last move of the game. And the Thomians had gone 90m from being under a barrage at the end of the field.
To be entirely objective though, despite the exhilaration of the last minute winning score, it was a cruel defeat for Royal. The scrum which led to Henakankanamge’s try came off a lapse in concentration by the Royal back three when the full back fumbled the ball into his winger who was coming across to help. It was a knock on that came completely out of the blue from Dissanayake’s long punt upfield. It was a slice of luck that the Thomians capitalised on. But seasons, especially championship winning seasons cannot be built on luck. It was a blessing in disguise that the tired technique of the no.8 meant that the ball went to Dhanoj De Silva sooner rather than after several carries. The first phase is the best time to score, and Henakankanamge finally got the ball in a dangerous position.
It didn’t take a last minute piece of intelligence for the Thomian camp – and anybody who has ever seen this manifestation of Royal play – that there was going to be one heavy weapon unleashed on the Thomians. The rolling maul, that indefatigable, nearly unstoppable piece of armament. And so it was. Royal mauled all day, all the time. And STC seemed to be caught unawares. Clearly the strategy was to take the Royal maul on and beat it with superior strength. But Dushanth Lewke coaches this maul better than anyone else in the country, and it is not easy to stop its forward march once they get set. When the original attempt to counter the maul with sheer force didn’t work, there didn’t seem to be enough execution of the back up plans. Clearly, the coaches had done their job. In a planned move S. Thomas’ didn’t engage in one maul and got a penalty. That was one of the very few wrong decisions that referee Cader made on the day. Royal had the ball with the first man and should have been able to advance.
The danger of that particular move though is that the wedge is not yet a maul without engagement from the opposition. So, it allows the ball carrier to be chop tackled. I’m surprised an aggressive Thomian side didn’t take the opportunity to make a tackle which would have made the Royal jumper think a little bit more. Inside the 22 it’s obviously difficult to use the rules to stop a maul. You’re better off using strength. But S. Thomas’ did nothing between the 22’s to try and do something different. With Mack, Senanayake and De Lille STC have one of the strongest line outs in schools. However, even in midfield they chose not to contest the blatantly obvious lobbed ball to the middle of the line out. Contesting line outs puts pressure on the opposition jumper and the hooker. The two or so that were contested went awry for Royal. STC are unlikely to come across a team so expertly focussed on the maul again, but contesting line outs will be a good option for them to spoil the opposition’s platform.
Despite the preparations that had been made the Thomians seemed to bottle it on the field and not make decisions that would help themselves. Even when they had penalties in the red zone there was too much haphazard stuff, with no.10 Bumindra Dissanayake taking most of the 5m short taps in a very unusual occurrence. Surely the forwards are capable of setting up a couple of phases before the fly half spins the ball down to the dangerous Henakankanamge and Jayawardena. Unfortunately, the Thomian 10 and 12 were most often with their heads buried deep in the ruck. This meant that the half backs options were limited and S. Thomas’ squandered a raft of opportunities out wide that would have put paid to the closeness of the encounter.
Captain De Silva needs to take control with his senior group. With a few overthrown line outs, he too needs to not take his place for granted. Coach Laga is not averse to dropping a player no matter how senior he is, and De Silva needs to inspire more confidence in what was sometimes a rudderless performance.
With their riches obviously lying wide Thora were lulled into playing into Royal’s hands by seeking the contact rather than seeking to move the Royal defence side to side. This Thomian side is strong, and can probably win collisions, but playing smart and to your strengths doesn’t mean that you run into everything and smash it. No. 8 Wijeratne and several of his team mates suffered from white line fever and took the ball over the whitewash only to knock it on. The Thomians celebrated another try which Cader was unsighted for and Royal were also denied a try through dubious positioning although they did score off the next phase.
Royal’s defence was outstanding. They were screaming up in the 13 channel and stopping the ball before it got to outside to the wingers. Their fringe defence was also excellent and despite giving up several penalties also managed to turn the ball over a crucial moments. It is a team built on two things. Defence and the rolling maul. Vijayakumar Ashok is easily the most valuable player in the Royal side and it was his intelligence that kept Royal one step ahead for 79 minutes of that game. The maul is foolproof and failsafe. It doesn’t make for entertaining rugby but when results are important aesthetics take a back seat.
In the final equation a below par Thomian side won the game. It’s the second match that has been stolen in the last few minutes, as we saw Science to the same to St. Peter’s. It makes for exciting times although the quality of the fare is not as high. If they want to win a title for the first time in a long time then S. Thomas’ will have to tidy up on their execution and decision making. Else, they may have to be content to be the first side to win the Guneratne at the Royal Sports Complex.
