It will be a crunch game when Kandy’s leading rugby institutions – Trinity and Kingswood – engage each other on Monday (April 25) at Pallekelle.
Home advantage points to Trinity. This confidence is heightened by the fact that Trinity came out on top during their matches over the last two years.
Recent events would suggest that this could be a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other. Trinity outwitted the lads from Randles Hill in the Central Province twelve-a-side tournament. Revenge was forthcoming a fortnight later when Kingswood beat Trinity in the school rugby sevens.
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| Murad Ramzeen (Trinity rugby captain) |
The fact that the schools are coached by two former Kingswood, Kandy SC and Sri Lanka players (Nalaka Weerakkodi and Niloufer Ibrahim) adds certain piquancy to the situation.
Kingswood’s back division which includes the twins Oshan and Lavanka Perera will pose the biggest threat to Trinity. They excel at running rugby. There is a feeling that when it comes to the contact game, Kingswood may come up a bit short. Their forwards are not all that big built and, if Trinity plays more with their heavier forwards, Kingswood could be in trouble.
Kingswood had a runaway win over Thurstan and a more restrained one over the Rajans. ingswood’s coach was not really over the moon about the second game. However, winning even when you’re not at your best suggests that the team has a certain character.
Trinity beat the Anthonians 11-3 in the first game and then ran riot against the Thomians. In the Anthonian game, Trinity missed too many first tackles and did not fully exploit the speed in their back division. What was really heartening was their line out work. Possession was clean, the release timely and altogether it was a much better effort than in last year’s games.Fly Rehan Weerakoon, scrum half Somasiri and number eight Sean Foster were outstanding against the blue-black brigade. Reserve winger Mohammed Seshan touched down four times.
Admittedly the Thomians are a weak outfit, but what that game must have done to the Lions is to give them unlimited confidence. Trinity seems to have a better balanced side, and their defense, too is quite solid.
At stake is the title Kandy’s best 2011 team. You can be sure that when these two adversaries enter the field, they will be scrapping for something more than that. Ahead lies the St. Peter’s vs Isipathana game. |
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