One of the title contenders, Royal College kicked off their Dialog Schools Rugby Knockouts tournament with a narrow margin of win (28 – 24) over Kingswood College, Kandy Yesterday (27th of April) at the CR & FC Grounds in the Pre-Quarter Final encounter. Though the expectations suggest that it would be a walk in the park for the Royal, the determined Kingswood were able to stun the entire Sri Lanka schools rugby fraternity.
Both teams executed a fast game and suddenly Kingswood managed to turnover a Royal ball from inside of their own 22 and a chip kick landed in the safe hands of the right winger Sadew Amarasuriya, who had a lightning-fast run to plant the first try of the match (KCK 05 – 00 Royal). As time of the conversion kick ran out (60 seconds under new law) Kinswood was prevented from adding some more points.
The 2nd try for the Kingswood College came from a quick tap that was taken by Ashik Azmi, as the Royal captain was penalised for off-side offence (KCK 10 – 00 Royal). The conversion kick came from a difficult angle and it went astray.
When Kingswood was roaring they let Royal into the game by giving an easy penalty. It followed a lineout near the five meters line and Royal Hooker Nakeeb Mohommad crossed the line for their first through a magnificent rolling maul. Royalist vice-captain Idris Farauk made no mistake with the conversion (KCK 10 – 7).
>>Cracking Three-quarter Amika to lead Royal Rugby Rumble
Later Kingswood was reduced to 14 players as the referee spottes a grass cutting tackle. As Royal earned a penalty inside Kingswood 22 they had a good chance of scoring but it went begging as Royalists were penalized for double rolling under the law of not releasing the ball.
While Royalist were trying to get the numerical advantage by working the line, Kingswood picked the ball from a missed pass and scored their third try through the fullback Rivin Baudween who made over 60 metre sprint. Rivin easily converted his own try which was planted under the post (KCK 17 – 07 Royal).
Then the both sides battled hard but failed to score until the short whistle and Kingswood were the happier side as they managed to score a try with 14 players while Royalist failed to capitalize on the Sin-bin advantage.
Half-Time : Kingswood College 17 – 07 Royal College
Then Royal staged a magnificent second half rally to turn tables on Kingswood in this important encounter. Royalist earned a penalty near the try line and surprisingly they opted for a tap kick instead of the usual kick at the touch followed by a rolling maul. But the decision paid off as the gigantic Prop Forward Akira Yatawara went across the try line with ease. Idris kicked the conversion through to add the extras (KCK 17 – 14 Royal).
After some intense play Royal managed to get nearer to the try line as Kingswood fullback Rivin failed to cleanly collect a kick from the Royal. After a quick handling work Royalist managed to out the number of Kingswood defence and Blindside Flanker Althaf Aman scored one of the easiest tries. Idris Farauk continued his good form with the boots by adding the extras to give the lead for the Royal (KCK 17 – 21 Royal).
When the game was closing to the last 10 minutes Royalist Fullback Yuwan Pathirana was sent to the sin-bin for arguing with the referee and then Kingswood started to smell of a victory. Kingswood won a line-out near to the tryline following the penalty and Royal Forwards managed to bring it down legally. After numerous phases of pick and go, Kingswood managed to score through their Forward Akila Dilshan. Again Rivin Baudween made no mistake with the conversion and reinstalled the lead for the boys from the Randle Hills (KCK 24 – 21 Royal).
>>Thaveesha to steer the lads from Randle Hills
When the game was in the hands of Kingswood, a silly penalty was given as the players in front of the kicker were not tried to retire backward, and the referee enacted the latest changes in the rugby laws. After a few passages of play Kingswood defense went ill-disciplined and gave away penalty after penalty. Royalist Disas Pathirana who came from the bench went for the winning try (KCK 24 – 21 Royal). Idris Farauk made a superb and important conversion by putting the lead beyond a penalty score.
Though few minutes were left in the referee’s watch Kingswood made a mess of their opportunities and the game swung back to the favor of Royal as they managed to edge out Kingswood by a slender margin. But the Kingswood lads who failed to perform well during recent years, showed a lot of heart today though the mighty Royalist just managed to get out of jail to advance for the Quarter Finals.
Full Time: Kingswood College, Kandy 24 – 28 Royal College
Swisstek Player of the Match: Disas Pathirana (Royal College)
Points Breakdown
Royal College 28
Nakkeb Mohammad 1T, Akira Yatawara 1T, Althaf Aman 1T, Disas Pathirana 1T, Idris Farauk 4C
Kingswood College 24
Sadew Amarasooriya 1T, Rivin Baudween 2T 2C, Akila Dilshan 1T,
 over Kingswood College, Kandy Yesterday (27th of April) at the CR & FC Grounds in the Pre-Quarter Final encounter. Though the expectations suggest that it would be a walk in the park for the Royal, the determined Kingswood were able to stun the entire Sri Lanka schools rugby fraternity.){kind=link}