Breaking the ice after three months of silence, school rugby returns to the main stage with the star-studded combination of schools teams of Colombo and Kandy clashing against each other tomorrow at the Havelock Sports Club grounds at 6.00 p.m.
The Kandy Schools Combined XV vs Colombo Schools Combined XV encounter is an annual encounter held as a preparatory run up to the selection of the junior national squad for the upcoming Junior Rugby ASIAD that is expected to kick off during the month of December in Malaysia.
The illustrious 2016 school rugby that saw Isipathana College reigning as double crown champions while delivering a superior blend of rugby with many high-flying performances from the schools in both Kandy and Colombo.
The Colombo Combined team that will be making their way to Havelock Sports Club will include the cream of the top players who played in the 2016 Singer Schools Rugby League. League title winners Isipathana College skipper Kushan Idunil is set to be the main anchor in the Colombo team along with the sensational Naveen Henakankanamage who will add in the extra boost to the side. The Colombo team will also comprise of the talents of Gayan Wickramaratne, Ashwantha Herath & Avishka Heenpalla; all those who played an integral part for their respective schools in the past season.
The Colombo side is coached by the league winning coaches Nilfer Ibrahim and Henry Terrance.
The Kandy Combined Schools team will be teaming up to form a game play to suit their players with the inclusion of key players such as Samuel Maduwantha, Diluksha Dange & Dinuk Amerasinghe. The Kandy school teams did not have the best of the seasons with the top division schools finishing at the bottom of the league table.
However, there is hope for the Kandy lads with most of the players having had the privilege of representing the national under 18 team in September. The Anthonian skipper Pasindu Dulshan will be expected to play a leadership role in the absence of Rahul Karunathilake of Trinity College who is injured.
The Kandy combined team is coached by Priyantha Gunarathne and Nalaka Weerakkody.
