Kingswood, St Joseph’s, and the DONS: Favourites in the Plate Segment This Weekend
Scrum and Engage with SriLankaSports.com
Scripted by: Brian Thomas
Adjudicator: Christopher Jordashe
Third Eye: Tony Amit
Kingswood 53% – Ananda 47% @ Bogambara
Kingswood has been hurting recently, mainly due to infringements rather than intent or lack of game awareness.
After being very competitive in the first half against St Joseph’s on their own turf — the deficit being only 4 points — the Kingswood lads made a hash of their second-half approach. They forgot basic rules such as falling back 10 meters, avoiding hands in the ruck, neck tackles, and isolating their ball carriers, especially during crucial breakdowns.
You cannot win crunch games with such repeated mistakes.
Kingswood, you’ve got what it takes, but you need to play without undue stoppages and maintain continuity in your phases to finish — that would be the coach’s call.
The Saints had no issues, except they capitalised on the home team’s faults and used their heavy forwards to break through the defence and score.
The second half virtually became like home territory for the visitors.
Ananda, despite their hard-running three-quarter line, were not too convincing against Sumangala last week, as the Kandy boys scored thrice — mainly due to Ananda College’s lapses in defence.
The win predictor tilts towards Kingswood due to a slight home advantage, plus their discipline should be rectified by the coach — once bitten, twice shy. A lesson learned from their last outing.
St Joseph’s 51% – Zahira 49% @ Longden Place
The Josephians almost enjoyed a walk in the park, especially in the second half against Kingswood last week. But Zahira is much more disciplined when it comes to infringements.
This is a game where neither team has a home advantage — it’s a neutral venue, period.
Josephians will look to use their forwards, but for Zahira to win, they must use their forwards to create the phases and let their three-quarter line do the hard running, as St Joseph’s seems vulnerable in their line defence.
Why is Zahira playing catch-up rugby in the second half?
They come back strongly with excellent forward and three-quarter combinations after the turnaround, but they tend to huff in the first half and leak too many points.
St Joseph’s has the edge after their performance against Kingswood away from home, while Zahira will be wondering why they were flat-footed against the DONS in their own backyard — especially in the first half.
Perhaps they couldn’t handle the DONS’ heavy forwards.
D.S. Senanayake 60% – Sumangala 40% @ Pallekele
This is a home venue for Sumangala, but they have not made the most of playing in Kandy, their home base.
Sumangala looked very promising when they beat Vidyartha this season and showed their prowess against Thurstan, but they seem jaded in their recent outings.
The DONS, with their powerful forwards, are likely to nick this game, as Sumangala appear low in confidence and out of depth at this level.
Third Eye Predictions – Tony Amit
Tony Amit, our Third Eye, feels Kingswood have a 55% win probability against Ananda — thanks to home advantage and a defence capable of handling Ananda’s heavy forwards. However, he cautions that Kingswood must avoid infringements.
He gives St Joseph’s a 51% edge over Zahira because the Josephian forwards are better conditioned and will dominate in breakdowns, rucks, and rolling mauls. Still, he notes that Zahira’s stronger three-quarter line could upset the apple cart.
The DONS have a 60% advantage over Sumangala, despite the away venue, because Sumangala appears jaded and lacking confidence at this level.
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