Two unbeaten teams clash in the Central

Trinity will battle it out with Joes to keep their unbeaten run at Pallekelle this weekend 

Dialog Schools Rugby League 2022

By Shamseer Jaleel

This week’s school’s rugby encounters will see six more matches being worked off with three in Colombo and equal numbers taking place in Kandy.

The pick of this week’s matches will be the ‘Match of the tournament’ when the two unbeaten high riding Joes travel up to Kandy to meet the unbeaten Trinitians at the Pallekelle Rugby Stadium. Hopefully with the travel restrictions being lifted by 15 July.

Trinity hold the edge

Unbeaten Trinitians will hold a slight edge when they confront Joes at Pallekelle on 16 July. This will be one of the looked forward-to encounters in the league as both teams along with Isipathana are the three unbeaten outfits so far this season.

Joes had an easy 34/3 win over Kingswood in their first game and then had to fire all cylinders in order to beat Thomians at the Lady Jayathilake Shield encounter against the Mount Lavinia outfit edging them out in the end 30/28. 

The Darley Road outfit is led by Teran Karunanayake, the cracking Centre with some outstanding senior players such as scrum half Vihanga Randeepa and fly half Dilhara Subash guided them well so far. The school is very fortunate to have the National Men’s Coach Nilfer Ibrahim with them for yet another season.

Trinity beat Thomians 20/13 to regain the Canon De Saram Trophy in their opening encounter and then went on to edge out the Antonians 25/18. Their third game was a league encounter against their rivals Royal edging them out 21/20 in a thriller.

The lads from Kandy are led by Lithmal Moragoda with some cracking players such as deputy Loshika Wijekoon, Zeshan Zakeer, Jayageeth Basnayake, Chamdenra Dhanapala, Sheveen Premaratne and Kovida Wickremasinghe in their starting line-up. They are a well-balanced outfit with rock solid forwards and fast running three quarters in their outfit. On form and playing at home the “Lions” hold a slight edge in this game.

Referee was Praneeth Weranga.

Royal out to retain Michael Gunaratne Trophy

Royal College smarting from defeat at the hands of Trinity last week will be all out to return to winning form when they meet Thomians played for Michael Gunaratne Trophy encounter at the Royal Sports Complex.

Royal will be needing wins from their balance two games in order to secure their second-round berths in the league plus to retain the Gunaratne Trophy as well for the fourth year-in-a-row. Last encounter was played at Mount Lavinia with the Royalist wining 17/10. Thomians last won in 2016. The highest score in the series goes to Shabith Feroze’s Royal outfit when they ran riot 52/0 in 2015 while Thomians best effort was in 1991 under Charya de Saram.

Royal beat Antonians and Kingswoodians while losing out to Trinity. Meanwhile Thomians lost out to Trinity and Joes in their two encounters. Thomians are led by cracking number 8, Chariya Kurukulasuriya while the Royal outfit is led by Harshith Peiris.

Referee was Raveen Alexander. 

Wesley in a tough battle

Wesley College beating Vidyartha and losing out to Isipathana will be all out to return to winning form when they host Science College at Longdon Place.

Meanwhile Science lost to Isipathana and held Rajans in a thrilling draw in Kandy. They too will be at their best to return to winning formula. The lads from Mount Lavinia got a fast running three quarter line will be a major threat for Wesley.

Referee was Ishanka Abeykoon. 

Isipathana to continue winning streak

Isipathana College, one of the three teams to remain unbeaten in the league so far, will be out for their third win when they host the Peterites at Havelock Park. Isipathana beat Science and Wesely while the lads from Bambalapitiya outplayed Rajans and lost out in a shocker in Kandy to Vidyartha after a lapse of 10 years.

The lads from Bambalapitiya will be all out for a win but Isipathana hold the edge to continue their winning streak. A defeat here will put the Peterite out of the equation for the League.

Referee was Ishanka Abeykoon. 

Vidyartha to continue winning ways

Vidyartha College will be returning to the field after a rest week when they play Rajans at Nittawela. The ‘Tigers’ after a remarkable win against St Peter’s will be a threat for many schools this season should pull it off. Meanwhile Rajans lost out to St. Peter’s and ended on equal terms to Science in their two outings.

Referee was Gihan Yatawara.

Antonians out for a win

Katugastota Antonians will be all out to end their losing streak when they host Kingswood College in their third outing. Antonians got a good side but their opening two encounters were acid test for them with tough opponents. They were beaten by Royal and edged out by Trinity after dominating proceedings for more than 50 minutes in the game.

Meanwhile the weakest side in the league, Kingswood College will be finding it tough to contain the Antonians.

Referee was Dilum Deeshana.

 Schedule 

16 July

nRoyal vs S. Thomas’ – Royal Sports Complex

nIsipathana vs St. Peter’s – Havelock Park

nTrinity vs St. Joseph’s – Pallekelle

nDharamraja vs Vidyartha – Nittawela

17 July

nKingswood vs St Anthony’s – Nittawela

nWesley vs Science – Longdon Place