The Title Race Is On - Trinity Take The Lead!
Trinity College remain the only unbeaten team at the start of Round 2 of the Cup Segment, while Isipathana and Royal make comeback wins from their Round 1 defeats.
Following up on the after events from an action packed Saturday, one that saw as many as 9 matches in a single day, here's a summary on the Cup segment games after all the noise has slowly died out. Here's last week's preview in case you missed it!
The Sidelines
Trinitians Triumph - Who Dare Stop Them?
The Thomians who just overcame the barrier of not beating Isipathana in the last 16 years, came head to head with a very powerful side of Trinity, a more enhanced version of whom they faced in the Knockouts and went down the wire.
This 'Clash of the Titans' was the most high-scoring game in the Cup segment, with Trinity running away 36 to 19 and retaining the Canon R.S. De Saram Shield for the fourth year in a row, and top the Cup segment points table. Many anticipated a tight contest between the two unbeaten sides, but the lineouts and lost possession while running into 'Trinity Traps' cost the Thomians the game in which they have only themselves to blame after their super performance against Isipathana.
However, this should not undermine the effort of Trinity, especially in the first half, who steamrolled with 5 tries off driving mauls, stolen lineouts and some exceptional passing to outspeed and outfox the would-be defenders. Notably, the second half saw a tied contest with 7 points apiece and the Thomians falling short in two occasions inside the opponent's 22, not being able to add the finishing touches by the quick defence. We hope to discuss more in the next segment.
Royal Regain B.C.Anghie Trophy After 7 Years
For the first time since 2018, Royal College regained the B.C. Anghie Memorial Trophy after a very close encounter with St. Peter's College, with only a penalty kick to separate the two teams. The Peterites on the other hand fell short with their kicking as two missed conversions from the left side of the post went astray despite their second half charge.
An age old rivalry since 1932 (second oldest running in school's rugby), this encounter was played with high hopes from either side at Bambalapitiya, but it was the visitors who stamped their authority with the captain leading from the front and scoring two crucial tries, with Fly Half Farouk slotting an important Penalty despite the 50% success rate in the 4 tries.
The Peterites on the other hand, got 2 bonus points, one for the less than 7 margin and another for scoring 4 tries, but with 2 defeats including the one against Wesley that gets carried into the second round, mathematically are still in the title race in the Cup segment where all teams to lose at least once, and Trinity twice, which at this point looks very unrealistic.
Green Machine - 'Not Finished' Amidst Controversy
There's a saying that you must never write off the 'Green Machine' especially after coming from a loss, and they certainly lived up to their name! Isipathana despite losing to S.Thomas' after 16 years in the first round, came into the second round with a purpose and managed to overcome Wesley College, one of the dark horses for the title, in a very close game.
Of course, there was a controversial decision or two that disallowed two tries by Wesley, one where the ball carrier was grounded on both knees while bound to the maul and another quick restart where the opponents were still finding their way into their half with their backs turned. It is debatable for many, but we definitely have to feel for Wesley who came very close to getting their revenge from the Knockouts. Here's an expert view by Boa Athu on that last move.
One of the positives for Isipathana that was noticeable in the STC game as well was that their place kicking has improved, and slotting crucial conversions made the difference today to come ahead by 4 points in another close game of the weekend which ended 21-17. Neither team secured the bonus point for tries, although Wesley gained a losing bonus to stay at second place in the table.
Zahira Donates 1 Million For 'Help Janodya'
As a continuation from last week's preview, we made a very special mention on Zahira's magnanimous gesture to donate their gate collection for the 'Help Janodya' cause and in true spirit, despite being on the losing end that day in a high scoring thriller that ended in a 41-35 game, donated Rs. 1 Million to remind everyone that Rugby is not boys bumping into each other for a ball.
Stay tuned for more as we will bring you the preview for this week soon!
If you wish to make a meaningful donation to little Janodya's cause, you can do so by contributing to the DSSC OBA as below.
