St. Peter’s secure Cup title of Segment ‘A’
St. Peter’s College secured the Dialog School Rugby 7s Western Province ‘A’ segment crown with a thrilling 19-17 win against S. Thomas’ College at the Royal College Sports Complex last Sunday.The Cup winners were bolstered after three tries and two conversions proved to be sufficient against the three tries and two conversions recorded by the Thomians, who eventually produced the player of the tournament in Mahith Perera. The Peterites led the halftime by 14-12, with an advantage of two points, and with both teams scoring two unconverted tries in the second half, the margin of points remained the same until the final whistle.
Earlier, St. Peter’s recorded a 19-12 win against D.S. Senanayake College in the Cup/Plate semi-final after leading 19-0 at halftime. D.S. Senanayake retaliated well in the second half with two tries while thwarting their opponents from scoring, but the Peterites survived until the fulltime and secure a place in the Cup final.
In the other semi-final, S. Thomas’ played masterly to outclass high-riding Royal College, who were firm favourites to win the overall tournament, with a 21-12 win. All points scored by the Thomians came in the first half, and the Royalists were yet late despite scoring two tries in the second half.
The form they gained against the Cup winners in the semi-final proved to be worthwhile for D.S. Senanayake, who surprised Royal with a 21-5 win and claim the Plate championship of the tournament.
The Bowl title was claimed by Wesley College, who recorded a clinical 19-7 win against Science College in the final. In the semi-finals Wesley beat Zahira College 26-5 and Science beat St. Joseph’s College by 17-12.
Isipathana College, another recognised force in schools rugby, had to undergo unexpected setbacks, as they had to compete in the Shield final, which they eventually won comprehensively by 36-0 against traditional rivals Thurstan College.
The Segment ‘B’ title was of the tournament, played last Saturday at the same venue, was won by Piliyandala Central, who handsomely beat Carey College by 24-12 in the Cup final. Piliyandala Central had very little trouble in beating Carey in the Cup final after scoring from four tries and two conversions. Carey could not live up to their expectations despite landing two tries and putting over one.
Ishan Tharindu of Piliyandala Central became the Player of the Tournament. In the semi-finals of Cup/Plate Carey beat Moratu MV by 10-7 after a tight game while eventual champions Piliyandala Central overcame St. Benedict’s by 17-12.
The losing Cup semi-finalists
St. Benedict’s, overcame Moratu Maha Vidyalaya by 29-0 to lay their hands on the Plate title. Mahanama College recorded a smashing 21-5 win against St. John’s College, Nugegoda after scoring from three converted tries while conceding one to their opponents. C.W.W. Kannangara Maha Vidyalaya defeated
Siri Piyarathana Vidyalaya by 19-5 to emerge Shield champions.
The curtain raiser competition included a total of 22 teams divided into two segments. With the completion of the Segment ‘B’ fixtures, the Western Province competition continued on Sunday with the top 12 ranked teams from the region.
A total of 50 school teams from five provinces will be featured in the series of competitions, which will culminate before the end of the month.
On December 27, the Central province will have its leg, followed by the North Western leg the following day. The Sabaragamuwa leg will be held on December 29, before the final leg of Southern province on December 30.
St. Peter's College -- proud winners of the Western Province Segment 'A' Cup championship
The Western Province Segment 'B' Cup title was won by Piliyandala Central College