Title defenders St. Peter’s will be to looking to revive from their shocking defeat at the hands of Trinity when they clash against traditional rivals St. Joseph’s at Longdon Place in Colombo next Saturday (May 28). Both St. Peter’s and St. Joseph’s will meet for the 41st time when they play to lay claim on the coveted Rev. Fr. Basil Wiratunga Memorial Trophy.
St. Peter’s will come out as firm favourites to retain the trophy for the 13th consecutive year while St. Joseph’s who snatched a shocking win against Kingswood will surely look forward to repeat their good performance. The defending schools league champions; St. Peter’s takes each of their games very seriously and fields a strong team to suit the opponent on the day. But their shocking defeat against Trinity which came after nearly 20 games in almost two years. That defeat alone will make St. Peter’s a much stronger side than usual. St. Peter’s team is led by fullback Bhanuka Nanayakkara.
St. Joseph’s who have been in and out of the top group of the league however has had a fairly successful season. They managed to beat much fancied Kingswood and also triumphed against giant killers Science while bouncing back to level against Wesley by 13-all. The Josephians will undoubtly treat the game in a serious manner with their focus totally directed to a win. With their regular skipper Malintha Soyza under treatment for a fractured arm, scrumhalf Piyum Jayasinghe will lead St. Joseph’s next week.
St. Peter’s have the honour of winning the annual encounter on 28 occasions while St. Joseph’s have only won eight times so far. Four encounters have ended in draws. The biggest win was recorded by St. Peter’s when they thrashed their traditional rivals by a massive 101-5 in 2007 under Ranuka Jayasinghe. Last year St. Peter’s won the game by 55-0 under Keith Gurusinghe. The two schools have been playing each other since 1955 but the encounter was revived in 1968 and has been playing for the Rev. Fr. Basil Wiratunga Memorial Trophy ever since.
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