St. Joseph’s outsmart Trinity
St. Joseph’s College outsmarted Trinity College by 14-5 to clinch the Cup title of the Milo Inter-School Under-14 Division I 10s Rugby Championship played at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo last weekend. St. Joseph’s youngsters recorded their points from two converted tries against a solitary unconverted try by Trinity to become worthy champions. The Josephians had a fruitful first day by topping the group and to reach the Cup quarter-finals with ease.
St. Joseph's captain Yevin Perera and Vishika Fernando receives the Cup Championhip from Ranjith Chandrasekara, President of SLSRFA
They reached the semi-final after beating Isipathana 19-14 in a cliffhanger of a game after recording their points from three tries and two conversions against the two converted tries by the opponents. In the semi-final St. Joseph’s overcame Royal College by 19-7 with a tally of three tries and two conversions against a converted try.
The losing Cup finalists, Trinity had a tough game against St. Peter’s College in the semi-final before recording a breathtaking 17-12 win. The points for the winners came off three tries and a conversion while the Peterites scored from two tries and a conversion. Trinity defeated Lumbini College 20-7 in the quarter-final with a tally of four unconverted tries against a converted try.
In the remaining Cup quarter-final matches St. Peter’s and Royal recorded resounding wins despite failing in their semi-final games. St. Peter’s thrashed Mahanama by 38-0 after recording six tries and four conversions while Royal outsmarted Wesley by 19-0 with a tally of three tries and two conversions.
The losing Cup quarter-finalists — Mahanam, Lumbini, Wesley and Isipathana — were drafted to play in the Plate semi-final as Wesley went on to win the title beating Mahanama 19-0. Wesley recorded their points in the Plate final through three tries and two conversions. Wesley defeated Isipathana 19-14 in the semi-final with points coming off three tries and two conversions for the winners and two converted tries for the losers. In the other semi-final Mahanama overcame Lumbini by 12-5 with a tally of two tries and a conversion against an unconverted try.
Vidyartha College recorded a runaway 37-0 win against Zahira College to claim the Bowl championship. In the semi-final Vidyartha beat D.S. Senanayake College by 17-12 while Zahira beat St. Anthony’s College by 17-5. In the Bowl quarter-finals Vidyartha beat Piliyandala Central (33-0), Zahira beat Kingswood College (15-0), D.S. Senanayake beat Science College (19-7) and St. Anthony’s beat Dharmaraja College 19-12).
Bowl champions -- Vidyartha College Kandy
The Shield title was won by St. Benedict’s College who comfortably beat Maliyadeva College by 22-0 in the final. The winners recorded their points through four tries and a conversion. In the semi-finals the Benedictines overpowered Ananda College by 29-0 with five tries and two conversions while Maliyadeva defeated Sumangala Vidyalaya 14-10 after scoring two converted tries against two unconverted tries.
In the quarterfinals St. Benedict’s received a walkover from St. Sylvester’s College, Maliyadeva beat St. John’s College Nugegoda (12-5), Ananda thrashed traditional rivals Nalanda College (38-0) and Sumangala received a walkover from Thurstan College.
The tournament was held on August 10 and 11 with the participation of teams from all Division I rugby-playing schools. The tournament was organised and conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) with Nestle` Lanka’s Milo coming in as the main sponsor.