Sports

Defending League and schools knock out champions Kingswood College (1A) and Isipathana College (1B) are tipped to be the main contenders for this year’s League, which will be kicked off on July 19 with group 1B games. Two days later Wesley will lock horns with St Peter’s College, St Anthony’s will be battling it out with Kingswood. On the same day Ananda will face the tough Thomian outfit at CR & FC. All these three matches are in group 1A encounters.

This year will be a vital year for both Trinity and Kingswood where both schools are celebrating 100 years in rugby. They will be clashing on July 8 in a friendly encounter at Bogambara. This game will be played on an annual basis in the future

Though 1A being the top division the interesting group will be 1B where three teams will be battling it out for the two positions to earn a promotion to the top division in 2007. Isipathana, Royal and the strong Trinity outfit are the three sides. With the Advanced Level exam being postponed the season too had to be delayed from May to mid July. This years league will be very vital for the youngsters as the national selectors are having a close eye on the lads with the Rugby Asiad round the corner which will be hosted by Sri Lanka in November 2006.

The defending league and knock out champions Kingswood College will be eying to continue their success story when they come out for the season in a friendly centenary encounter against Trinity College. The side will be led by Number 8 Navin Wijetunge who will have 7 seniors in his side. Dev Anand, Thilina Manoj, Gayan Weeraratne and Faizal Marija (younger brother of Fazil ) are the other key players in their outfit. The Randles Hill school had already clinched the Inter Provincial Tournament, which took place last month. They will be once again coached by the former Police stand off Ronni Ibrahim for the fourth consecutive year. Earlier Ronni was to take up coaching in Brunei but later gave up the idea in preference to his alma mater.

The Reid Avenue lads will be all out to earn a promotion to the top division after their dismal performance last year. In 2005 they scraped through for a solitary victory over Joes before losing the rest. They will be led by nippy scrumhalf W G C Sandaruwan who will have almost the entire 2005 side (13 players). Royal will kick off the season with a friendly encounter against the Peterites on July 8 at the Royal Complex. They have got a coach from Western Samoa (Pa) with exposure in Australia and New Zealand. He will be assisted by the former Isipathana and Police fly-half Nizam Jamaldeen. Their first tournament match will be against Science College on July 29.

The “Lions” who are celebrating their centenary year in rugby are all out for the kill. Their first task will be the Kingswoodians on July 8, later the Bradby and the promotion to the top division. They will be led by national youth player Imalka Maddumapatabendi who will be occupying his pet number 8 position. They kicked off the season yesterday with a friendly encounter against St Sylvester’s. They will play St Peter’s on June 17 and the following week the old boys at CR & FC (23 June).

The young “Lions” have already shown their promise when they became runner-up at the under 18 all island 10-a-side tournament, which concluded two weeks ago. They will find stiff opposition on their way to the top division with Royal and Isipathana coming in their way.

The Campbell Park school will be led by 4th year player Yomal Amarathunge who will have seven of his senior players to support him. They will start the season with the game against St Peter’s on July 21. The side is coached by by Priyadharshana.

The national youth skipper Gayan Fernando will lead Ananda with the support of 5 seniors in their outfit. They will be once again coached by the experienced H Gunadasa. They will lock horns with the Thomians on July 21 at Longdon Place.

The young “Green Shirts” had already shown clear indication to their old boys and rugby loving public by bagging three of the trophies, which were on offer. The youngsters not only won the Western Province Sevens and the all Island under 18 ten a side tournament but also the all Island under 16 tournament, which concluded in Kandy last week. The senior side is led by Ashan Costa who is playing in his 4th year and will have 6 of the senior players to guide the newcomers to the under 20 side. The side is coached by the country’s rugby legend Hisham Abdeen. Hisham was an outstanding player and proud skipper of the 1984 outfit, which brought the Hong Kong sevens Bowl home to Sri Lanka.

National youth player and Yoshitha Rajapakse (younger brother of Namal) will lead the Thomian outfit in the coming season. They will kick off the season with the game against Trinity College played for the Canon De Saram trophy. The side will be coached by experienced Asanga Seneviratne with Jeevan Gunatilake assisting. The former Army player P G Gunawardena will be the physical trainer for the outfit.

Number 8 Haren Ariyawardena will lead the Peterites with 6 of the seniors propping up with the side. They will be once again coached by Sanath Martis for the second consecutive year.

The following are the groupings
1A: Kingswood, St Thomas’, St Peter’s, Wesley, Ananda, Thurstan and St Anthony’s
1B: Royal, Trinity, Isipathana, Science, Dharmarajah and Vidyartha
1C; Zahira, Nalanda, Lumbini, Prince of Wales, Richmond, St Aloysius and St Sylvester’s