CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – The cream of Sri Lanka’s schoolboy rugby talent will be on show when the 2023 Dialog Inter-Schools Under-19 League Tournament gets underway on Wednesday (14).
St. Joseph’s College will take on St. Anthony’s College in the curtain-raiser match of the Division One Segment ‘A’ Tournament, conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) and sponsored by Dialog Axiata PLC.
A total of 14 teams divided into two separate groups will vie for honours and the two top teams of each group will then compete in the Super Round segment to decide the ultimate league champions.
The Group 1A will include the reigning ‘A’ Division league champions Isipathana, last year runners-up St. Joseph’s, Wesley, S. Thomas’, St. Anthony’s, Kingswood and D. S. Senanayake.
The Group 2A will have former league champions Royal, Trinity, Vidyartha, Science College, Dharmaraja, St. Peter’s and Zahira with the preliminary round fixtures to be completed during the last week of July.
Last year, the Josephians missed out a golden opportunity of winning the ‘A’ Division League title by a whisker and they eventually had to be satisfied with the runners-up position behind the ultimate champions Isipathana College.
They had a second chance to make a lasting impression but once again they were deprived of that chance when they went down to Isipathana 22-49 in the President’s Trophy final played at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo.
Nevertheless, St. Joseph’s will look to draw inspiration from last year’s performances where they performed extremely well in the league tournament despite having few injuries to a couple of key players.
This time the Josephians will be spearheaded by the dynamic number eight Naveen Marasinghe, who is set to have another outstanding season following his heroics last year.
The crack third row forward will be their key player this season and is certain to cause some severe damage to the opposition with his clever thinking and smart work in the rucks and mauls.
Another senior player in the team is flanker Sachinthana Waidyanatha, who is a tremendous ball carrier and a good line-out jumper, capable of making heavy inroads into the opposition.
Vihanga Randeepa is also a season campaigner, and he will operate from the base of the scrum and should be a huge asset for St. Joseph’s with his tactical kicking options.
Meanwhile, crack fly half Sahan Keerthisiri will lead St. Anthony’s with prop forward Saduka Athukorala as his deputy.
The Antonians will have some classy seniors, such as Jude Realano, Roshen Kumara, Yasiru Gamage, Tyronne Mariyadas and Sahan Kotelawala in their outfit.
St. Anthony’s are a team that have a rich pedigree of former players, having produced outstanding talents of the calibre of Laxman Ekanayake, Priyantha Ekanayake, Maurice Joachim, Leroy Fonseka, Malith Silva and Imran Bisthamin who had gone on to represent the country.
The Antonians are coached by former Isipathana, CR and FC and Kandy SC and current national player, Srinath Sooriyabandara.
The boys from Katugastota last won the ‘A’ Division League Championship way back in 2001 under the leadership of Tikiri Dissanayake.
