Singer schools rugby league Preview – week 2

It was an eventful week of rugby last week, with a tussle making headlines along with Zahira returning to the top flight of Schools’ Rugby with an inspiring win. This week there will be another six exciting encounters taking place whilst Dharmaraja College gets a rest week.

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A 57 – 00 defeat at the hands of S. Thomas’ College last week was not the start the Cambrians wanted but they will be up for a challenge tomorrow as they take on Wesley College. The Double Blues had a miserable weekend with 6 players getting match bans after an unsavory incident in the game against Trinity. This week Wesley will be minus their star players and the home team Prince of Wales can’t ask for a better opportunity to topple one of the big names in the league.

The Eagles just lost by a whisker in the Rector’s trophy game against St. Peter’s College 25 – 27. However, with so much talent in their squad they will be a team to watch out for this weekend. Last year’s highest points scorer Samuel Madhuwantha missed his mark in the first game but he knows it’s not the end of the world and so do the Antonians. Captain Dinuk Amerasinghe and his center partner Jehan Seelagama are two big ball carriers who will have to do a lot this season.

Dons on the other hand need to fight hard as they fought for the rights to play in the top division. They might not be well-prepared but still have a few experienced players in the mix. Playing in Kandy will be difficult but it will be interesting to see how the Dons will fare in their opener.

All eyes will be on Trinity after their stunning performance last week. Ten tries to start off the season is simply incredible and they could not have asked for better. The Lions played a fascinating game with so much skill and team work, mixing the forwards and backs in attack. Anuka Boyagoda, the scrum half who also toured in Sri Lanka U18 7’s team last year, is a gifted player and showed his class last week. Avishka Priyankara and Shaveen Ekanayake, the props, had a huge impact as well. Lashan Wijesuriya controlled the game smoothly also nailing 7 conversions. Captain Nathan Chang had a good game playing at No8, he also marshaled his troops well and made some good decisions on the field.

Science College will be stunned by their defeat to Zahira College last week. Science who have been known as the giant killers in the recent past, look dejected without a few of their star players who are set to wear a different shirt this time around. However, they too have some quality players like winger Sanjula Rohan and half back Hashan Madhumadawa. Coach Ronny Ibrahim is positive of a stunning comeback.

This will be another interesting match as these two teams played the knock-out quarterfinal game last year. It was very close until the 65th minute and then Naveen Henekankanamage’s magic was too much for Zahira. Tualagese (Laga) Tavita’s S. Thomas’ will be the favorites on paper and not conceding a single points in their opening game will surely give the ‘School by the Sea’ a boost in confidence. However, the Zahira 7s team beat this Thomian outfit twice at the Super 7s last year and they will surely get some motivation out of it. Zahid Singhawansa scored 14 points out of 19 last week and he will be one to watch out for this week.

Both teams come in with a win in their first round games and will surely look to keep the unbeaten tag. Royal coach Sanath Martis and St. Peter’s coach Collin Denish know each other’s tactics very well. Royal should consider themselves lucky in their win over Joes last week as they were gifted two tries. It’s good to see their backs running meters despite the forwards playing a very physical game at the breakdown. Lineouts also were an issue but by now the home work would have been done. Although Captain Ovin Askey is not kicking at the uprights, half back Shakir Nawfer made the kicking look so easy. Janidu Dilshan is a fierce runner in the center field and we may see a see-saw battle with his opposite number.

St. Peter’s might not be convinced with regard to their second half performance last week, as they only scored 3 points. They looked a much better team than the score indicated at full time. Their backs should not play selfish but instead opt to pass and support whilst minimizing their unforced errors. Speedster and captain Diyath Fernando, fly half Stephan Sivaraja and center Theekshana Dissanayake will be key players along with the nippy scrum half Ravin Fernando.

It was too little too late for Joes last week but coach Nilfer Ibrahim is confident that his team will be able to bounce back this week. They will take the losing bonus points after scoring 4 tries and losing by a margin of 7 or less. Captain Vinul Fernando and winger Shehan Akila had so much gas but did not execute well in their running game. Fly half Chathura Senavirathne’s up and under kicks helped the Joes to come out of jail (inside 22m) many a time, his game management will play a crucial part in how they perform.

Isipathana could not do so well perhaps due to the muddy conditions at the Bogambara grounds last week. This will be fast running game and we will see some brilliant off-loading for sure. Captain Sumudu Rankothge and winger Chamodh Fernando will be key players. Randy Silva, brother of Rehan Silva (CR&FC) is also another clever reader of the game. Coach Lasintha De Costa being a former Isipathanian knows how to get the best out of his team. And for Nilfer, who was in charge of the champion Isipathana team last year, it will perhaps be an emotional battle to counter.