After 2 highly successful weeks against Trinity and Isipathana, Royal were playing the last game of the 2023 school’s League against SACK at Bogambara. With no possibility of winning the league, all Royal could hope for was to continue their dominance over SACK and finish 2nd on the table. To do this they had to secure a Bonus point victory and hope that SPC beat Pathana, whilst denying them a losing bonus point.
Coach Luka was experiencing many late season injuries. Diga was kept on the bench and Thanvir took his place. Bastha was starting ahead of Ayyash.
SACK are on the attack early. Royal are forced to defend. Their kicks for territory give the opposition many lineout opportunities but SACK are unable to get the score board moving by knocking on and giving away a Free kick. Thivain gives them a sniff with a missed touch finder but he recovers well by ‘marking’ their return high ball. When Royal concede their 2nd penalty under pressure, SACK take a quick tap but end up kicking the ball dead.
Another weak high kick by Thivain sees SACK swing the ball wide. Their winger Rodrigo is charging down the tram lines when Duljaya comes across to attempt a tackle. Duljaya has not gone low enough and Rodrigo appears to lead with his forearm. The direct hit to Duljaya’s head, knocks him out cold. Assistant Referee Sarath Madugalle is just 5m away from the incident but stays mum. Sadly Duljaya is stretchered off the field in the 8th minute. This is the 2nd concussion he has suffered this season but he was seen congratulating both teams at the end of the game. DC comes on as a substitute.
A Jackle from Randul sets off a sequence of possession being turned over by both teams and the rest of the 1st quarter goes scoreless as both teams concede 3 penalties each. A 3rd rolling maul has been just formed when Randul peals off. Afeef also carries strongly before Buwa falls over under the sticks. Royal’s 1st try has come in the 18th minute and when Nabil slots the easy conversion they lead 7-0
A 4th rolling maul in the 28th minute sees Afeef score Royal’s 2nd try but this time Nabil’s conversion goes wide of the right post. The score is now 12-0
The restart is not collected on the full by Royal but SACK are guilty of tackling Randul in the air when he attempts to gather the bouncing ball. It’s the 6th penalty that they have conceded and a Yellow card for a dangerous tackle is dished out in the 30th minute.
Royal get 2 lineouts to attempt a 3rd try but SACK rip out possession from a rolling maul in the 1st and a crooked throw spoils the 2nd. SACK’s 5th knock-on of the 1st half is right in front of the sticks. Savistha’s pass to Randul is not accurate but Charu recovers well and sets off a string of charges by Thineth, Afeef, Abdul Rahman and DC. SACK cannot handle the big Royal forwards and concede more offside penalties. While Referee Alexander warns SACK skipper Keerthisiri, Nabil calmly slots over the easy penalty kick and Royal go into halftime at 15-0
Senior loose head Kavinash comes on for Abdul Rahman at the beginning of the 2nd half. As in the Pathana game, the young prop has made an impact in the 1st half.
Royal vary lineout possession and bring Nabil in from deep. He is isolated and is pinged for holding on. The resulting SACK lineout is stolen by the towering Buwa allowing Bastha to make a good run and Savistha to box kick. Keerthisiri decides to run the ball back at Royal and is floored by Thanvir. One of the highest try scorers of 2023, SACK right winger Roshen Kumara has possession. He is running across field when Yovindu cuts him down. Keerthisiri has recovered and joins the next phase where he beats Randul for pace. Thanvir jackles the ball back and the threatening move fizzles out. AR Weranga then informs Alexander that Thanvir’s tackle on Keerthisiri was late but does not recommend any punitive action. He suggests a scrum to SACK.
In the 39th minute Royal are found offside and 5 phases later SACK score their 1st try which is converted by Keerthisiri, reducing the lead to 8 points. Impressively, SACK has scored with just 14 players on the field.
Bastha is replaced by Ayyash soon after as SACK continues to attack. Philio pulls of an excellent cover tackle to prevent further damage. Keerthisiri attempts to involve Roshen Kumara again but his long pass is well behind the dangerous winger. Royal’s hungry defence pounces and pushes SACK backwards in possession and they then compound the error by being accidentally offside.
Randul leads from the front as he motivates Thanvir, Afeef, Charu and Thineth to make strong inroads into SACK territory. He and Kavinash make multiple carries in this same move which unfortunately is halted by their very first knock-on of the game. But SACK have been offside again and Nabil kicks his 2nd penalty and takes Royal to an 18-7 lead.
Thivain’s long territorial kick is returned with interest by Keerthisiri. His 50-22 gives SACK a lineout on Royal’s 22m but center Maryadas has butter fingers in front of the posts. Royal has formed several scrums in this game as opposed to their previous encounters and this time Savistha’s pass is behind DC and Thivain knocks on when he tries to collect the loose ball.
Simak replaces Savistha in the 49th minute. Yovindu has once again kept his sights firmly on Keerthisiri as he tracks a loop and brings him crashing down. But Maryadas beats Charu in the line and runs around to score SACK’s 2nd try under the posts. Thivain complains that he was obstructed in the move but is ignored and when Keerthisiri kicks the conversion, SACK are within 4 points of Royal. It’s 18-14 in the 52nd minute.
Amika uses his pace to put in a big tackle at the restart and SACK are penalized for sealing. Royal have a lineout 6m away from the SACK try line. Buwa soars high and secures clean ball for Randul and Thineth to charge their way through. Kavinash finishes the short range move by scoring Royal’s 3rd try but Nabil can’t convert and Royal stretch the lead out to 23-14 in the 55th minute.
A few minutes later Simak puts in a long range Box kick which Rodrigo makes a mess of. Amika toes the loose ball through and runs into Keerthisiri while in pursuit. DC is leading the chase and gets a decent bounce just before the try line. Disappointingly he knocks-on and a great scoring opportunity has been botched.
Keerthisiri is Yellow carded for his obstruction on Amika and Royal have a one player advantage in the 57th minute. They form another rolling maul from 6m out and Afeef scores his 2nd try of the match giving Royal a 4-try bonus point. Nabil makes an excellent conversion from wide left and Royal lead by 30-14 with 10 minutes remaining.
In the next few minutes both sides make errors that stifle their scoring chances with DC even trying a chip kick from 1st receiver. It is blocked and then Royal are pinged again for holding on.
In the 64th minute Naqeeb comes on for the tireless Afeef and Didula replaces DC. The multi talented back line player is making his 1st appearance at this level. Just a few seconds later Amika is Yellow carded for executing a dangerous high tackle.
Both teams are down to 14 players but Royal will have an uneasy 4 minutes after Keerthisiri’s return to prevent any late damage.
Buwa pulls off his 2nd steal of a SACK lineout but SACK also executes a Jackle of Royal possession preventing any further addition to the score.
Keerthisiri returns in the 67th minute and Gesandu comes on for Thanvir. The hard working 2nd/3rd rower has given everything in his return to the side.
When SACK concede their 14th penalty of the game, Alexander informs them that this will be the last move. Naqeeb throws long at the lineout and SACK control possession. The hungry Ayyash has other ideas. He pulls off a turnover on the 50m line. When Kavinash receives the ball he is 55m out. He sparks a move that highlights Royal’s superior strength and fitness in the dying moments of the game. 19 phases later all the forwards have carried the ball up against the tired Anthonians and gone 55m to score the 5th and final try of the match (with 14 players). Most of the Royal forwards like Randul, Yovindu and Naqeeb have made multiple carries but Kavinash has had 4 and is only eclipsed by Thineth who had 5. The 104kg tight head is rewarded for his outstanding effort with a ‘no prisoners taken’ try which Nabil adds the icing to and ends the game at 37-14
Royal’s discipline has been commendable with just 9 penalties conceded and 6 knock-ons coughed up. Once again the defensive effort in steals, turnovers and dominant tackles has shown that the coaching efforts are bearing fruit.
Pathana’s inability to secure any points in their game against SPC has seen Royal snatch the runner-up position in the league.
One more game to make a strong final statement for #Team2023
