School Rugby Week 4 – Rugby on full throttle

The Schools Rugby League that took a week’s layoff for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year will return to center stage starting off with the highly anticipated clash between Isipathana College and St. Peter’s College this Friday at Havelock Park.

 Visit the Schools Rugby Hub 

The rugby giants Isipathana College would love to continue their unbeaten streak for the fourth successive week and they will look to take the upper hand in the encounter. The Isipathana team led by Kushan Indunil made a mockery out of the Kings from the hills winning the encounter 51-05 a fortnight back and on the outset will look to oust any opponent that hinders their path to the prize.

Watch Live: Isipathana vs St Peter’s

St. Peter’s were put on alien conditions when they took on St. Anthony’s at a muddy rain hit Nittawela Stadium and having trailed in the first half, the Peterites were able to win the Rector’s trophy defeating the hosts 21-11. St. Peter’s last won against Isipathana in 2010 under the captaincy of Keith Gurusinghe and had the privilege of drawing it square in 2014.

The Mount Lavinia lads will travel out of Colombo for the first time and will face a depleted Kingswood side at Bogambora on Friday. Science College has been the rising force in the segment and has been tagged as a team to watch in this year’s segment. Their back division ran circles around the Dharmaraja team in the previous outing winning the game 54-07 and will be looking to stage a similar performance against the other Kandy side.

Watch Live: Kingswood vs Science

A win-less Kingswood outfit will need to get their act sorted out at home as they posses the advantage and it would be a disappointment if they do not pull out a good game against the Science lads this Friday in front of their home crowd. The visitors will on the other hand will need to get accustomed to the overcast and wet playing conditions if they need to finish on top.

The Thomians will be making their trip to the hill capital into the Lions den in a bid to regain the Canon De Saram shield that has not seen the school by the sea for a lapse of two years. Having last won in 2013 under the captaincy of Devin Jayasinghe, S. Thomas’ will be on the hunt for the Lions at Pallekelle. Naveen Henakan kankamge’s last minute try opened the gates of Royal College ending their unbeaten streak and STC had their hands on the Michael Gunaratne trophy.

This encounter will be crucial for Trinity as well with a week to go for the 72nd Bradby Shield encounter and a win at home will definitely set the mood for the clash in Colombo. The hosts would have definitely done their homework on the Thomian team while STC’s coach Laga notably mentioned that their performance against Royal was not their best which gives a clear indication on the better things to come S. Thomas’ way this weekend.

Watch Live: Trinity vs S. Thomas’ 

Trinity will go into this week’s game with a 65-0 win against D.S. Senanayake College that opened up room for their three-quarters to play their game and it will undoubtedly be a cracker of a game at Pallekelle this weekend. Trinity currently lead the tally 22 wins to 12.

It will be a walk in the park for the Reid Avenue lads against St. Joseph’s College after their loss a fortnight ago against S. Thomas’. St. Joseph’s didn’t have the luck of ending on the winning side in the past three weeks and with Royal eager to be back on the winning strides, the Josephians will be in trouble.

Watch Live: St. Joseph’s vs Royal

St. Joseph’s were unlucky in last year’s encounter, their best effort in the past five years but Royal College walked out with a close 25-22 win and with more than half of the players not playing in this year’s XV, St. Joseph’s will need to put in their best effort to stay on top. Royal College would be delighted with a high scoring win just in time for the Bradby Shield as they yearn to retain it at Reid Avenue for another successive year.

Another hometown rivalry will be metered out at Bogambora on Saturday when the Eagles will take on the Rajans. Dharmaraja already has one win by their side this season when they defeated their arch-rivals Kingswood College two weeks ago but lost out Science and Isipathana with massive margins. It will be a must win for both teams as they look for survival in the top league.

St. Anthony’s College gave the scare to St. Peter’s at Nittawela but could not continue the fight on to the second half thus had to let go of victory. With their flyhalf Samuel Maduwantha topping the top point scorer list, they probably would have edge over the Dharmaraja outfit this weekend but at Bogambora, Dharmaraja can be twice as strong as they are elsewhere.

The Double Blues will be looking for their second win in the season after defeating St. Joseph’s College 10-19 in the previous outing. Starting their campaign strong against Trinity, Wesley College they were unlucky in the first two weeks losing both matches by a whisker. St. Joseph’s was a gift for them for their hard work over the first two weeks and Wesley would look to take maximum use of the opportunity against D.S.

D.S. Senanayaka are not having the best of the seasons after a disastrous 65-0 loss but will have an even playing ground with Wesely College this weekend at CR & FC.