CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – D. S. Senanayake College will be hoping to bounce back into recognition when they confront Kingswood College in their Inter-Schools Under-19 Division One League Rugby Tournament encounter at Havelock Park on Friday. The kick-off is at 4.15 p.m.
D. S. Senanayake, the newcomers to ‘A’ Division rugby, lost to the defending champions Isipathana last week, but should be able to overcome the Kingswoodians, who are yet to win a match in the tournament.
This year Kingswood are led by scrum half Imanka Ishara, while Number Eight and footballer Inoon Ihshan will be his deputy.
They have some solid senior players in the likes of Randhila Ranaweera, Afthab Asmy, Tharindu Ishara, and Pramod Fernando.
Kingswood probably had the best years of rugby during the early 2000s, which produced some outstanding players: both Nalaka Weerakkody and Nilfer Ibrahim during the late 90s, while in the early 2000s, Gayan Weeraratne, Roshan Weeraratne, Mohamed Jabbar, Fazil Marija, Jeewa Galgamuwa, and Chamara Vithanage are a few of them who went on to represent the national outfit.
Marija stands out as a legend produced by the Kingswoodians for the country.
Meanwhile, D. S. Senanayake have shown that they have regained their old touch after being demoted from the top tier to the lower division at the end of the 2018 season.
Now back with the top dogs, they are determined to make it count, and remain in the division beyond this season.
A successful season last year, that was marked with a 41-8 win over Zahira College in the deciding match, led to a promotion to Division 1A rugby.
Head coach Asela Deshapriya along with his assistants are leaving no stone unturned having tasted success under his guidance, having lost in the plate finals of the Schools’ Rugby 7s Tournament to Vidyartha College.
With a well-balanced side that consists of eight senior players, D. S. Senanayake could cause problems for their opponents, but with the class of competition ahead of them, they would need more than a handful of those moments to stay in the division.
