A big, bold one. One that would hush the critics and uplift the die-hards. If you missed the SC kick-off, you missed the “Big Bang”. Pabasara aka the Big Bastharon, collected it and ran 30m having broken through 6 tackles. It was a moment. It was an explosion. It was the beginning.
The bustling 8-man was 1 of 4 changes to the starting 15. The other 3 were – Ayyash at open-side and debutants Abdul Rahman at tight-head and Charuka on the right wing. Coach Luka had shifted Thineth to lock, Duljaya to outside center and intriguingly Philio to full-back. The changes in the 3rdrow were a result of injuries but the backline changes appeared to be tactical.
Having been starved of possession in the SPC game last week, especially in the 1st half, the backs were seen enjoying their ball-in-hand opportunities. Around the 6th minute, Philio joined the line, played catch with Duljaya, took his inside pass, and glided through 4 defenders to score under the posts. Simak took the 1st kick of his senior career and converted.
Royal continued to enjoy territory and possession and there were many strong carries by the forwards combined with backline moves that saw the full-back involved regularly. A few handling errors and penalties prevented the score from growing further.
The line-out was functioning smoothly and SC were desperate to thwart its influence. As early as the 3rd line-out they decided not to engage Royal and then gave away another penalty for collapsing a maul. Royal had advanced to the SC 5m line but came back disappointed as the open-side could not hold on to possession with the chalk in sniffing distance. SC could not keep Royal away from their red zone and despite a high throw-in, Buwa stretched to his full height and dragged the ball in for Royal to make another assault on the white paint of the try line. This time a sealing penalty prevented the move from bearing fruit.
It was only in the 2nd quarter of the game that SC finally made it into Royal’s half through a long territorial kick, but a knock-on stopped them from progressing. Another long kick was cleared well by Philio who was monstrously floored in the feat. It may have been late, he may have been taken with his feet in the air, but the lack of Video evidence and despite his best attempt at an Oscar, the Referee and his assistants chose to continue play.
The 2nd consecutive high throw-in was luckily recaptured by Royal but another sealing penalty kept them from progressing. SC had made a further inroad into Royal territory forcing a line-out 10m from glory. Royal were put under further pressure when Diga had his arms wrapped around their jumper. SC’s confidence led them to take a tap. The other twin-tower, Buwa came to the party by pulling off the first jackle of the game.
A strong kick to touch and another territorial kick which SC fumbled, took Royal back into enemy territory. From the ensuing possession, Thiva made a 20m long cut out pass to his right winger. Charu smartly went over the try line in the right corner and Royal had their 2nd if not overdue try. Simak makes an incredible conversion to boost his confidence.
The forwards and backs were hungry for more points and several good carries were undertaken by Bastha, Simak, Philio, Abdul Rahman and Charu keeping SC under constant pressure. They managed to end Duljaya’s strong run by forcing him into touch. Diga compensated for his previous boo-boo by stealing the SC line-out, but Royal’s 3rd knock-on of the half quelled the move.
SC gave away their 4th penalty of the half when they high-tackled Charu. Their scrum half was Yellow carded and when Philio made good touch, Royal had an attacking line-out 10m from the SC try-line. The throw-in and catch were perfect. SC decided not to contest again but quickly changed their minds when they noticed Buwa had still maintained possession. But they could not prevent the rolling maul from progressing and Ayyash fell over the line with ball in hand. Simak’s conversion attempt went marginally right of the posts and Royal took a 19-0 lead into lemons. The stars were aligning.
Royal began the 2nd half with an inspiring kick chase by Diga forcing SC into a knock on, but Thiva ran across with possession and the move ended with the ball being turned over. SC continued to offend at the line-out by coming in at the side and Royal gained good territory through Philio. SC did manage to slow Royal’s next rolling maul making them send the ball out wide and pressure them into a knock-on.
Having scored 3 tries in the 1st half, Royal would have been keen to secure a bonus point at the earliest possible stage. When Royal received a center field penalty in the vicinity of SC’s red zone, many in the crowd were expecting Royal to kick to touch and form another rolling maul. They were surprised when Simak attempted a penalty kick. Given his performance unto that point, it should have been a straightforward kick, but strangely the young half back failed with the attempt.
Three consecutive penalties conceded by Royal culminated in a Yellow card for Kavinash for dangerous play. SC kicked for touch and hoped their line-out would produce some quality attacking ball. Buwa had other ideas. His steal of their line-out ball was great defensive play but Royal could not control the loose ball and SC had a 5m attacking scrum. Good tackles from Thiva and Charu prevented them from scoring.
The 9th penalty Royal gave away was for hands in the ruck and this time SC opted for a scrum. When they kicked the ball into Royal’s red zone, Disas aka DC, collected it and made an excellent 30m run beating 3 tacklers. Royal conceded another penalty for sealing and this time SC decided to take the points. Substitute Okitha came on for Thineth in the 2nd row as Royal yielded just 3 points during their 14-men-only 10 minutes as Kavinash returned soon after.
Royal gain their bonus point when Affiya followed up his 15m run with a 2nd carry in the same set and barged his way over the SC try line. Simak makes the simple conversion for Royal to lead 26-3
When Royal had a scrum 20m into their own half, the ball was shunted to Philio who made a long territorial kick. The SC fly half collected the kick on his left-hand side, ran 50m to the right of the field, beautifully drew the confused defenders and delivered a try assist pass to his replacement winger; Isuru Pasindu who ran 20 unopposed meters and scored in the right corner. Oshada Perera then capped off his magnificent collection, run and pass by converting the try from the right touch line, giving SC a respectable 10 points. His place-kicking efficiency for the game was 100%
Royal’s response was immediate. Bastha made another good run from the back and passed to Philio, whose bounce pass was well gathered by Duljaya. The burly winger turned center, then brushed past 5 tacklers, stepped off his right foot and ran close to 60m to score under the posts. Simak obliged with the simple conversion and the gap was now 23 points.
If the 4th try was a brilliant individual effort, the 5th was an accomplished backline effort. It was a thing of beauty. Royal had ruck ball approximately 10m from the right touch line when Simak was asked to feed his fly half. The VC received a 15m pass and then gave a similar one to Philio, who in turn made a long pass to Duljaya. The 4thlong pass of the move saw DC score in the left corner of the field. Simak’s corner flag attempt hit the left upright and he ended his 1st ever place-kicking game with a 57% success rate. He showed great potential with the added burden.
With the score at 38-10, Luka cleared the bench, including a replacement scrum half who turned 16 just 2 weeks ago. Thiva received a pass from him, dummied and crashed his way past 3 defenders to score Royal’s 6thtry. Substitute Nabil made the simple conversion and the score ballooned out to 45-10.
From the 12 games played thus far in the DSLR, it is the highest score by any team. There have been several upsets and 58% of the games have seen the losing team gain a bonus point for being within 7 points. It will be a short but interesting 1st round and like in 2022, the “points for” could determine the final positions on the table.
Royal has made a strong statement, showing that a good team cannot simply be created on the 1st day of the season, but will evolve during the season. The atoms, molecules, galaxies, and stars have risen.
