Royal went into the match against Zahira without their senior architect. Philio was in an ankle brace after the freak incident against Vidyartha last week. Coach Luka had brought back Nabil to man the last line of defence and had promoted Naqeeb to start at hooker. His sledgehammer Yovindu was back at open-side after missing the last 2 games through injury. The mounting injury toll in the squad had forced him to name a total of four 16-year-olds in the match day 23, including a rookie apprentice on the bench.
30 seconds into the game, Charu who has chased and collected Simak’s box kick is tackled in the air. Thivain gets good touch and Royal are in early pursuit of points. But Zahira match Royal’s rolling maul and keep them away.
124 seconds into the game, Royal’s midfield wrecking ball; Duljaya unfortunately cops a stray knee to his head whilst falling in a tackle. The winger-turned-center is blessed with speed and power and had been a standout performer in the 3 previous games. As much as he tries to convince the authorities that he is good to continue, Referee Aruna Shantha does not accept his shaky fitness certificate. He is escorted off the field, but restoration efforts continue.
DC moves inwards to the center position as Royal are all over Zahira, spending the next 6 minutes in their red zone. Concrete defence from Zahira enable them to thwart another rolling maul and combined with a penalty and knock-on by 14-man Royal, they keep the scoreboard bare. Off-field negotiations to bring Duljaya back fail and Amika finally comes on. Royal’s constant pounding of the Zahira defence forces them to concede an off-side penalty in the 12thminute and Simak obliges. They have made a mountain of tackles. Their foundation had been shaken but (for now) was holding.
Two minutes later Royal take a 2nd haymaker. Their ceaseless open-side is floored while executing a grass-cutter tackle. Yovindu’s “jelly legs” are a tell-tale sign of concussion and he is replaced by the Big Bastharon.
Around the 20th minute, Zahira finally make inroads into Royal territory. They first run back Simak’s box kick and then kick it deep. The persistent Thanvir does not allow the ball to cross the dead-ball line and charges back with it. From the ensuing ruck, Royal don’t stay on their feet and gift Zahira their 1st points. Much against the run of play, it’s 3-3. A similar long kick is touched by Amika just before the dead ball line and he is forced to run it back. He does it successfully by side stepping and evading tacklers to take the ball just outside the Royal 22.
When the Zahira full-back jumps in the air to collect his own high kick, he collides with DC and both need treatment from their respective Physios. The Referee determines that DC has not done enough to protect the player in the air and penalizes him. Zahira are greedy. They overcook the kick to touch by sending it over the dead ball line, giving up valuable field position and possession.
A 3rd long kick by Zahira is chased backwards by Charu, well gathered, and run back. When he is challenged, Randul is quick to the breakdown, cleans out efficiently and Amika makes a healthy 25m run. On all 3 occasions, Royal has showed signs of endeavor, intent, and a bit of adventure.
Around the 31st minute, Zahira are awarded a penalty on their own 10m line when Royal are penalized for sealing. To the surprise of the crowd, they decide to take a shot at 3 points. The 60m attempt is short and Nabil grows in confidence with a strong kick to touch. Zahira get another penalty when Royal is penalized for hands in the ruck. To the dismay of their fans, Zahira overcook the kick to touch again.
Simak’s box kicks have improved. Buwa chases and successfully blocks one of them. He is matched by his twin tower as Diga also blocks a Zahira clearance to keep the pressure on Zahira. Royal has been very physical whilst keeping their penalty rate down. However, their 5th knock-on on the stroke of half time presents Zahira with an opportunity to take the lead. Disappointingly, their pickup and kick goes into touch but at 3-3, they were the happier team.
“What’s going on?” questions were thrown my way. I insisted that even though Zahira were a recently promoted side to the A Division, they had won their 1st two games convincingly and were not expected to cave-in meekly. I was reminded of the saying ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day; they were laying bricks every hour’. Rome was the result; the bricks were the system.
The 2nd half starts well. Within 17 seconds of the restart, Kavinash matches his fellow prop by pulling off the 2ndJackle of the game. His effort bears more fruit (than Thineth’s in the 1sthalf) as this time Simak takes a shot at goal. Royal take a 6-3 lead.
When Royal’s tight-head drops the restart, Zahira’s full-back slices through and is only brought down by a sniper in the crowd. He slips over himself and Thivain’s excellent defensive job is complemented by Bastha, Thanvir and the rest of the team’s high-speed line defence to keep Zahira out.
In the 41st minute, Simak’s 5th box kick is once again well chased by Charu and the Zahira defender fumbles under pressure. Charu picks up the loose ball and runs into the Zahira 22m. Buwa showcases his speed by clearing out the Zahira tacklers and is well supported by Naqeeb. Bastha makes a block-busting run, leaving Zahira defenders in his wake as Royal have a 4-man overlap on the left. Randul runs strongly before drawing the defence allowing DC to charge over the line. Simak has a tough angle to convert and misses but Royal have built the 1st story of a structure. The Zahira number 8 is showing signs of shoulder and hand trouble.
It was déjà vu immediately after the restart as Simak box kicks again and the Zahira number 8 promptly drops the ball. He is holding his hand in pain while Charu runs away with the loose ball. The replay is almost complete when Bastha makes another marauding run. Zahira give away their 6thpenalty and Simak is asked to take the 32m kick directly in front of the posts. He surprisingly sends it left of the posts and his kick success rate for the match drops to 50%
Royal are playing entertaining 15-man Rugby as forwards and backs combine for their 2nd try. Wide passes are combined with inside passes, forwards are bumping off tired defenders and DC showcases his strength with post-contact meters. Thineth and Kavinash are at the forefront of the attack carrying the ball multiple times, culminating in Kavinash’s 3rd try of the season. Nabil misses the conversion but Royal have built the 2ndstory and with 20 minutes to go, talk of the 4-try bonus begins in earnest. Zahira’s number 8 leaves the field.
Simak’s 3rd box kick in a row is once again fumbled by Zahira, but this time they manage to send Charu into touch. Zahira gain further confidence as Royal miss a few tackles and concede 2 penalties.
Buwa does his best to spoil their line-out but knocks-on in the process. Royal take advantage of Zahira’s tiredness and are dominant in the scrum, but they concede a free kick when they contravene the U19 rule of not pushing the scrum more than 1.5m. Zahira taps and runs but are held up in goal. They get another opportunity when Royal infringe again. Once again, they tap and run to enjoy 5 minutes of sustained pressure on the Royal try line. But a poor pass and strong tackles from Thivain and Thanvir push them backwards towards the Royal 22m line.
The demolition man Bastha is crashing and walloping again allowing Thivain to get the backs into motion involving DC, Nabil and Randul. Thivain then gets his forwards to hit the ball up with Thineth featuring strongly. Once again the ball is swung from touch line to touch line with Randul showcasing his superior fitness. When he is tackled and Zahira play the ball on the ground, Simak taps quickly, passes to Ayyash who gives Thanvir the easiest try he will ever score. Nabil converts from under the posts and the 3rd story has been completed. Royal has gone from defending their own try-line to scoring at the other end.
Bastha is not taking any prisoners as he bursts through the exhausted Zahirians again. Simak’s final box kick finds touch and Zahira are imploding as they cannot control their line-out. Ayyash steals the ball from them and then joins Kavinash and Buwa in carrying the ball towards the Zahira try line. Thivain utilizes DC, Randul and Nabil to get the ball out to Charu who runs 30m and scores a well deserved try after beating 4 defenders. It’s his 3rd for the season. Nabil makes an excellent conversion from the right touch line and Royal has the magical 4-try bonus.
Naqeeb and Simak are replaced by Savistha and Afeef. The 16-year-old scrummie has been sharpening his passing, kicking and tackling skills.
DC, Nabil and Randul are in the mood to razzle and dazzle. The skipper is seen running and then kicking the ball 50m up-field. The frazzled Zahira full-back can only knock-on under pressure. Randul scoops the stray ball and dives over the try-line but has no control over it and the try is disallowed. Sadly, a Zahira player is stretchered off the field as Luka empties the bench.
From the 5m scrum Randul charges twice with possession and the heavy pressure ends with Afeef scoring Royal’s 5th try of the match and his 3rd of the season. Nabil converts and the score reads 37-3.
Zahira are shell-shocked. They send the restart directly into touch and Royal are hungrier than ever. They are in a 7’s state of mind as they swing the ball left and right as Randul makes another strong run. His SBW like offload allows Amika to run 35m and young Didula also gets a run with ball in hand, before Zahira concede their 8th penalty through a deliberate knock-down. Savistha taps and passes swiftly for Bastha to make another 20m bust followed by Gesandu. An unselfish Savistha passes to DC who scores his 2ndtry of the match and the 3rd of the season by the left corner flag. Nabil makes the difficult conversion and Royal have constructed a 6-story behemoth in under 30 minutes of the 2nd half, scoring 41 unanswered points.
Most pleasingly, the heavy penalty count experienced in the 3 previous games has been brought well under control, with only 3 conceded in the 2nd half. Royal has shown that they are not overly dependent on the rolling maul and can score tries from anywhere on the field. They have chosen to run the ball regularly as they only took one single line-out in the 2ndhalf against Zahira, ending up with just 5 for the game. Nonetheless, their line-out efficiency has improved to 87% for the season.
