As forecasted, the unsuspecting Saints walked into a bed of Landmines, camouflaged by the beautiful lush green turf of the Sugathadasa Stadium, and as predicted, the enchanting wizardry was at work throughout the game, revealing previously unseen spells of perfectly crafted cross-kick Tries, surprise back hand passes, and the amusement of mid-field Mauls springing following restart kicks, etc. Thus, Joes had to deal with more than what they had planned for, which resulted in a hard tussle for points, every step of the way.
Luckily, both sides had managed to eliminate their lineout problems in this game, which presented them fair chances of attacking with their Mauls, and getting close to their respective finish lines, although no Maul Tries were scored. Since it was a neck-to-neck contest throughout, it makes no sense to analyse the two halves separately.
The stout Tankers rammed the pedal to the metal in order to become an eligible elite member of the Super-League above the current League, by matching up to the standards of the ‘invincible’ Lions, making them twirl, turn, wiggle and break immense sweat of discomfort, before going down like the fallen heroes of D-Day in WWII. They were warmly received post-match by the ecstatic Zahira proponents with loud cheering, at the backdrop of confetti showering down and decorating the orange skies with colours of their Alma Mater.
Our prophecy that was professed when we kicked off the League with the Teaser Preview titled ‘Trinity leads charge in redefining Schools Rugby’, was fulfilled by Trinity, by being responsible for creating a monster that reflects their symmetrical mirror image, as the Tankers mimicked the Lion King’s every skill, every move and every tactic, that prevents oppositions from executing their pre-planned actions to perfection, if not prevent them altogether. Moreover, their ability to manufacture Tries at will from thin air against the calibre of Trinity, left the latter’s followers dumbfounded, as the rest raved in ecstasy.
The pressure situation at Maradana was immense and somewhat similar to the base of the Mariana Trench, yet it seldom affected the ball handling of either team, as 4 and 5 errors in such a tense brawl is excellent by any standards. However, human emotions were at the peak of Mount Everest, which led to an unusual number of other mistakes by both sides, particularly penalties. Our prediction with regard to Trinity’s 5 lineout losses was close, as they lost 4 altogether including a proper turnover by Zahira. However, our prediction that Trinity would force 4 knock-ons was made completely incorrect by the Zahirian coaching unit in reading, which can be perceived as one of the positives of the existence of this column. In fact, Zahira knocked-on just once in this game, and all the other 3 were forward passes.