The school rugby season kicked off at the Royal complex today with Day 1 of the Singer U19 Rugby 7’s. Defending champions St. Peter’s College, together with other big names in school rugby, took part in this most anticipated schools tournament.
26 teams participated in the tournament today, hoping to seal a spot in the Cup Quarter Finals. These 26 teams were divided into 8 groups as follows:
Group A: St Peter’s College, Wesley College, Vidyartha College
The defending champions topped this group after a tight battle with Wesley College. Their first match was against Vidyartha which they won with a massive margin of 33 points to nil. Wesley gave a good fight but Omar and his team couldn’t cause an upset in group A. Senura Premawardana with a hat-trick for St Peter’s made sure that they sealed their spot in the cup quarters. The match between Vidyartha and Wesley ended with an easy win for Wesley who sealed their place in the Bowl Quarter finals.
Group B: S.Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia, Dharmaraja College Kandy, St John’s College
Thomas’ College managed to get past Dharmaraja College by just 2 points to seal their spot in the Cup Quarterfinals. It was one of the few hard fought battles today, the Thomians scoring 14 points to go past the 12 points scored by the Rajans. The Rajans had it easy against the minnows St John’s, winning 45 points to 0 to seal their spot in the Bowl Quarterfinals. S Thomas’ too got the better of St John’s, winning the match 39 points to zero.
Group C: Kingswood College, Zahira College, Lumbini College
Kingswood College, Kandy had no trouble in taking their rightful place after beating Zahira College 19 points to 7 and Lumbini College by 33 points to 7. Zahira College showed dominance against Lumbini College with an easy 29 to 7 point victory to seal their spot in the bowl knockouts.
Group D: Trinity College, Prince of Wales College, St Benedict’s College, St Sylvester’s College
Trinity College scored a staggering 93 points in their three group stage matches and only conceded 7 points to storm their way through to the Cup knockouts. This team is surely a team to look out for this year. POW ended the group stage in the 2nd spot with big wins against St Benedict’s College: 40 points to 0 and St Sylvester’s College: 31 points to 12. While POW sealed their spot in the bowl championship, St Sylvester’s sealed third place after winning their match against the Bens 21 points to nil to find a spot in the Shield Quarter finals.
Group E: Science College Mt. Lavinia, Ananda College, Royal College Panadura, CWW Kannangara College
Science College made their presence felt by scoring 137 points in their three group matches without conceding any points. They are by far the highest scoring team after day one and certainly one of the top contenders this year. CWW Kannangara had to settle for second place after their wins over Ananda College and Royal College Panadura. Ananda beat Royal Panadura to claim their spot in the Shield Championship.
Group F: St Joseph’s College, DS Senanayake College, Maliyadewa College
The Josephians too dominated the group stages without conceding any points in their two matches. They are another team to look out for and a team which could surprise you at any given moment. DS Senanayake had to battle hard against the boys from Kurunegala to earn their spot in the Bowl Championship.
Group G: Royal College Colombo, Thurstan College, Mahanama College
The Royalists, making a surprising appearance in the 7’s tournament this year, found it easy to seal their spot among the top 8. They too went into the knockouts without conceding any points in the group stages. Mahanama College finished in second spot after a hard fought affair against Thurstan College, winning it by 12 points to 0.
Group H: Isipathana College, Piliyandala MMV, Lalith Athulathmudali College
Last year’s Runners-up Isipathana College won both matches with utmost comfort to take their rightful place in the cup knockouts, while Lalith Athulathmudali College beat Piliyandala Central 29 points to 12 to earn their place in the Bowl Championship.
The knockouts will commence tomorrow at the Royal Complex. Make sure you go over to support these young stars who will someday represent Sri Lanka. If you’re unable to go, log on to www.thepapare.com to watch the action live.
