Everything to do with Sri Lanka schools 1st XV rugby, the most followed schoolboy sport in the region – no folly, straight-up one-on-one game analysis with Boa Athu, the statspert. The island nation’s foremost expert analyst of the oval ball code is joining us at The Daily Morning Sports from the land of the All Blacks.

Let's delve deep into the analysis game with Boa on the concluded quarter final clashes.

Zahira vs. D.S. (15-13), will the post match drama continue?

Well what a controversial finish and now we learn that D.S. have asked for an impartial inquiry into some of the incidents they say prejudiced them unfairly, which includes: 

• A try which was awarded which should have been a knock-on
• A red card given against them which they alleged that there was no clear-cut foul, in fact no foul committed worthy of even a penalty

 And they claim that the footage, I've looked at the footage and it doesn't seem like there's an obvious foul or any sort of conclusive footage to suggest there was a kick to the head. The third aspect of it is a late charge, direct contact, shoulder to the head, in fact it looked like a head on head contact, it was ugly and yeah should have been a red card for Zahira no question! No arms, no wrap, it was a high entry point, very unsafe and there's no mitigating factors. I think this DS was hard done by, no question about it and there's some validity but we’ll wait and see

Zahira of course said that this is none of their fault, it just unfortunately overshadowed what they've done, but you know,

• They took the points at every given opportunity

Both sides played very well, controlled territory well, they used the kick quite a bit, And whenever they got the opportunity they took the points.

• D.S. where they fell apart was their line-out, they just couldn't win, but apart from that they contested in all other aspects and it was incredible skill to actually only lose by two points. But now all that is up in the air so we’ll wait and see what happens next. 

St. Joseph’s 57 vs. 00 St. Anthony’s like we predicted sweet revenge by Joes, a bit too much for Anto?

It was a bit of a mismatch. Joes looked to bounce back against Antonians who were missing nine regulars and this was a very depleted side and guess what they got absolutely thumped. Joes ran berserk. For me the try of the game was when the big man, the number 8, the incredible Hulk Navin Marasinghe got the ball at pace, in motion, full swing, he ran through four tacklers and absolutely obliterated whoever was in front of him. It was actually quite scary and impressive at the same time.I have to give respect to Anto for fronting and not pulling out even with a very depleted side, knowing very well that they were gonna get an absolute hiding which is exactly what happened.

There was another great moment in the game where one of the Josephian players was ankle tapped and his head, in a most sickening manner bounced off the turf, it was very very scary and concerning to see. St. Anthony's skipper Sahan Keerthisri goes straight over the ball and attempts to play, but then he sees the injured player who was completely out of it and he points at him hoping to get the attention of the AR which is what happens and the game is stopped. So this to me is the Spirit of The Game and Fair Play moment of the season. Bravo! Well done Young man. Winning or losing aside, that has to be mentioned. 57 nil a thumping and the Eagle never took off, it just crashed landed. St. Joseph’s back in form, I don't care how bad the opposition was. 57 nil is 57 nil ! So St. Peter’s they better watch out. 

Red-Hot favourites St Peter’s 25-13 against Trinity, could have been a closer contest?

Trinity fans, for whatever reason, were very bullish that they were gonna cause an upset against the new reigning league champs. I have to say It, Trinity did start like a house on fire, throwing a few punches not literally but you know what I mean. They tried some really good strike moves and they attacked really well but Petes had class. They absorbed that pressure and weathered that storm. Both teams exchanged penalties, so it looks like they've been listening to what I've been saying. They took the points, it was 8-6 at one point and that kept Trinity in the game. But you know St. Peter’s are a classy side and they resorted to their kick-chase and their kicking out of hand was fantastic first class. Really nice strike moves and set pieces including one which was disallowed which I thought was incredible for the fact that it wasn't a forward pass, it was a perfectly normal pass. But anyway it is what it is. Trinity fought hard but they just didn't have enough ammo and the tactical know-how to diffuse the champs. SPC was slick, they did sort of look like they were in cruise mode, they didn’t have to work too hard but they just worked the right amount. As I said again they played smart rugby. Took the points, took their opportunities and In the end it was a fairly comfortable win. Trinity unfortunately have to go back to Kandy, they haven't got the most pleasant of memories in Colombo. Bit of an average season.

So Petes they've got a date with Joes and I think it's going to be a cracking game, so let's see what happens, but from what I saw Petes are clear-cut favourites in this competition. They're a very smart side, they put phases, play territory, take the points and when they get an opportunity they nail. And of course they got my Straightup MVP Sudesh Jayawickrama, an outstanding player and he's developing into quite an all rounder particularly around his power game be it offence or defence. 

And now into the Straight Up Rugby semifinal prep with the stats_pert. 

What should Zahira do to pull off a miracle against Isipathana? (Saturday 2 Sept. at Havies)

Basically they got to try and mirror what St. Peter’s did. Of course Petes had the skill set and the players to do it. What does work in favour of Zahira is that they've got a number of players in the backline with a lot of footballing experience, given that Zahira is a school famous for football.

Defence

• They've got to get Saad into the game nice and early
• Kick across the phase, make sure they pin and aim for the corners 
• Push Pathana backwards and if you're gonna attack, get them to run the length of the field, make sure Zahira come up in a nice even line, put pressure and don't give them any space.

Once they do that they'll frustrate Pathana and then they'll start throwing the ball around. Now when that happens the mistakes will come and there lies the opportunity for Zahira.

Attack:

• Zahira need to be fearless, whenever they get an opportunity they just got to back themselves
• Play territory, play smart, make sure to play in the  pathana 22 and whenever the opportunity arises take the points

They’ve been listening to this formula I've been preaching from day-1, it does work. There’s no reason why Zahira can't take this on board but executing it to the level they need to be doing against a side as skilled as Pathana is definitely going to be a challenge. 

Saints go marching to Havelock park and are we on the verge of witnessing the biggest upset this season by the Joes? (Sunday 3 Sept.)

I wouldn't say that it'll be the biggest upset because they have the skill set, capabilities and capacity to beat SPC or anybody. What I like about this Joes team now is that they've identified that they need to support their main ball-carrier i.e. Navin Marasinghe who is in incredible form.  He was pretty much the Incredible Hulk as he ripped up the Havelock park turf against Anto he was like Godzilla. He was awe inspiring to see this little giant of a man was like Gulliver in lilliput. They've got to get their power game and they've got forwards who can run, play the ball and of course carry very very hard. If they can combine this with the backs and play width sure I think they'll run around SPC quite comfortably, but to do that they have to be on their A game and rather than spend large periods of time trying to defend they need to hang on to the ball and every time they get the ball they need to score points it's that simple. If they can do that I think it's not going to be such a big upset in fact they'll probably run away with it. But that's the best case scenario that they play completely out of their skins, they're capable of it. So if that happens then the scoreline probably might reflect it but you're dealing with the favourite in the knockout. I0f they get their kicking game going, It means that all the big forwards will have to back-pedal, pretty much like how they dismantled Pathana.

So you ask me the biggest upset of the season? it'll probably be one of the bigger ones, but don't underestimate this Josephian side, they've got the full skill set and they've got the weapons to do it.