S. Thomas’ and Isipathana stay ahead of the rest
S. Thomas' and Isipathana are the teams to beat with the present context of the Schools League Tournament - File pic
The final fixtures of the school rugby Division1, first round will be over with four fixtures worked out yesterday. The matches are Royal vs.Trinity (The first leg, which is a league fixture), S. Thomas’ vs.Wesley, St.Peter’s vs.Dharmaraja and up in Kandy, Kingswood vs.St. Anthony’s.
In the segment 1A, the present group leaders are S. Thomas’. Throughout in the group fixtures, Thomians showed the true grit by winning crucial games and maintained their unbeaten record. After a long time, Thomians posses a brilliant side led by hooker Pandula de Silva,with heavy set of forwards and a good three quarter line. The most talk about player in the schools rugby season is, Thomian wing Naveen Henakankanamge, a player with a genuine speed. He has shown his class against all the opponents faced so far especially against teams like St. Joseph’s, D.S.Senanayake, Royal and Trinity. Naveen, is the highest try scorer in the tournament so far. A special mention should be made of Thomian centre Ashvantha Herath, a reliable hard running player who has made stunning breaks.
Their last match against the double blues, to be played yesterday at Havelock Park will surely be a close one.
Trinity, on the other hand will strive to perform better. Their forwards are playing hard with skipper Rahul Karunathilake leading from the front while number eight Shalinda Alahakoon is turning out to be a crack player. They have a good three quarter line as well, with Avishka Shiek, Danushka Dange, Geshan Pethiyagoda and Sanushka Abeywickrema, the players who can make a difference at the end. Trinity has recorded three wins and a single loss so far.
Royal on the other hand, throughout the season depended much on their forwards and their back line is the achilles heel. The forwards led by Nikhila Gunadeera, the outstanding number eight, are dependable and have scored majority of the tries through their trade mark rolling maul. The vice captain Ashok Vijekumar, a versatile player, can make a difference to the three quarters if he operates from the half back position. Royal have won two, one draw and a loss so far.
Wesley is a team with potential that can nearly upset favourites on the day. They could have recorded wins over Trinity and Royal, but in the dying stages of the game they let of their opponents off the hook due to silly mistakes. Wesley skippered by rock hard prop forward Dayan Sabar, is a team to watch in the second round and a team possessing good defence. Wesley meanwhile have a record of two wins and two loses.
So Basically S.Thomas’, Trinity, Royal and Wesley will proceed to the second round.
The other two teams in the segment 1A, St. Joseph’s and D.S. Senanayake played best to their ability but not enough to go to the second round. Josephians, really had a chance of coming on top against Royal after leading 24-10, but in the second round they succumbed to superior forward play of opponents and the game ended in a draw. Joes, finished the first round with one win, one draw and three losses. D.S.Senanayake lost their all encounters in the first round and could not record a single win.
In the segment 1B, It was Isipathana led by center Kushan Indunil, winning all the fixtures in their group and maintaining the unbeaten record. This is a team that posses a mobile set of forwards and a sleek three quarter-line. Their clash against the Thomians in the second round, will probably be the league decider and the match of the season.
Science led by center Nirosh Udayanga, is another team that dished out superb rugby, throughout in the first round. A team with never-say-die attitude. A team possessing a good hard running three quarter-line, that can run circles around their opponents. They ended the first round with four wins and a loss to Isipathana last Friday.
St. Peter’s, in the first round has not played up to the expectations. Peterites led by full back Sandesh Jayawickrema will surely strive to perform better in the second round games. They have a record of two wins and two losses.
In this group St. Anthony’s, are more likely to proceed to the second round. Their game against Kingswood is a crucial one.The team led by flanker Pasindu Dilshan did not perform to its potential. They have a record of one win and three loses.
If St. Anthony’s lost to Kingswood, both teams and Dharmaraja have one win each. Then the number of tries scored by each team will be be considered, and one team will proceed to the second round along with Isipathana, Science and St. Peter’s.
Dharmaraja and Kingswood are two teams that did not play to the expectations of many, in the first round.Kingswood has lost their all matches so far.
- NK