The cool climate of the lush green central mountains and golden tea valleys was suddenly heated up as the 23rd Inter-Plantation Rugby 7s concluded at the picturesque Dickoya Maskeliya Cricket Club (DMCC), Darawala. Malwatta Valley Plantations made it three in a row by winning this year’s edition.
In the preliminary round, the teams were drawn into the following groups:
Group A: Malwatta Valley Plantations A, Malwatta Valley Plantations B, Lankem
Group B: Thalawakelle Plantations, Elpitiya Plantations, Kahawatta Plantations
Group C: Bogawanthalawa Plantations, Kelani Valley Plantations, Browns
Group D: Maskeliya Plantations, Hatton Plantations
After the group stage, Malwatta Valley Plantations A, Thalawakelle Plantations, Bogawanthalawa Plantations, and Maskeliya Plantations emerged as the unbeaten group leaders and qualified for the Cup semifinals.
>>23rd Inter-Plantation Rugby Sevens to kick off on April 05th<<
Further, Malwatta Valley Plantations B, Elpitiya Plantations, Kelani Valley Plantations, and Hatton Plantations managed to finish the preliminary round as runners-up in their respective groups and qualified for the Bowl Finals.
The losers of the same phase were given a final chance to compete for the Shield Championship and secure consolation silverware for their companies.
Though the preliminary round ended with many one-sided games, the second round displayed some fierce battles. In the Cup semifinals, the Malwatta A side trounced the Bogawanthalawa side with five unanswered tries. There was a see-saw battle in the second semifinal, where Thalawakelle managed to edge out Maskeliya in a thrilling game.
The Malwatta B side emerged as the Bowl Champions by beating the Elpitiya side, while Lankem won the Shield Championship by thrashing the Browns side.
In the battle of the top four, the Plate Championship was won by the Maskeliya side, who comfortably defeated the team from Bogawanthalawa.
In the much-anticipated final encounter, the Malwatta Valley Plantations A side, who had a dream run throughout the tournament, managed to retain the Cup Championship against the formidable Thalawakelle side. Though Thalawakelle ended up as the Cup runners-up, the team showed a lot of heart and added great energy to the tournament.
Due to his agility in both attack and defense, Malwatta Valley captain Avishka Chandrathillake was awarded the Player of the Tournament title.
Preliminary Round
Malwatta Valley A 29 – 00 Lankem
Thalawakelle 22 – 00 Elpitiya
Bogawanthalawa 26 – 05 Browns
Maskeliya 31 – 00 Hatton
Malwatta Valley B 22 – 07 Lankem
Elpitiya 34 – 05 Kahawata
Bogawanthalawa 12 – 10 Kelani Valley
Malwatta Valley A 29 – 12 Malwatta Valley B
Thalawakelle 50 – 00 Kahawatta
Kelani Valley 29 – 14 Browns
Shield Semifinals
Lankem 19 – 05 Browns
Kahawatta received a bye
Bowl Semifinals
Malwatta Valley B 33 – 10 Kelani Valley
Elpitiya 36 – 00 Hatton
Cup Semifinals
Malwatta Valley A 31 – 00 Bogawanthalawa
Thalawakelle 19 – 12 Maskeliya
Shield Final
Lankem 50 – 00 Kahawatta
Bowl Final
Malwatta Valley B 12 – 19 Elpitiya
Plate Final
Maskeliya 26 – 05 Bogawanthalawa
Cup Final
Malwatta Valley A 17 – 00 Thalawakelle
, Darawala. Malwatta Valley Plantations made it three in a row by winning this year's edition.){kind=link}