CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – Two former champions, Royal College and St. Peter’s College booked their Super Round spot after the completion of the fifth week of matches in the Inter-Schools Under-19 Division One League Rugby Tournament.
Royal went on to top the Group 2A points table of the Division One Segment ‘A’ Tournament when they outplayed Dharmaraja College 36-18 with a bonus-point at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo.
The unbeaten Peterites were equally brilliant as they hammered the newcomers to ‘A’ Division Rugby this season, Zahira College by a massive margin of 56-7 while running down as many as nine tries in a completely one-sided game at Maradana.
The lads from Bambalapitiya, with two games in hand, now have a great chance of going all the way to top the points table if they could clear their last two hurdles against Science College (July 22) and Vidyartha College (July 29) respectively.
But for this week, Royal, with four wins from five outings, will retain the number one position in this group and their clash against the traditional rivals Trinity College, on Saturday in Kandy, will have a significant bearing on the standings.
The Trinitians are currently placed third in the points table along with Zahira with 12 points each but both teams are very much out of contention for the final round alongside Vidyartha, Dharmaraja and Science College.
Meanwhile, S. Thomas’ College and D. S. Senanayake College have set up a mouthwatering clash this week as both teams are vying for the second Super Round spot from Group 1A with just one point separating the two teams.
Last week, both teams had successful outings with the Thomians pulling off a thrilling 26-24 win over St. Joseph’s on their home grounds and D. S. Senanayake, the newcomers to ‘A’ Division rugby this season, went on to beat Kingswood 31-27 at Havelock Park.
In fact, D. Senanayake have now moved to second place in this group with two bonus-point victories from their four outings while S. Thomas’ are in third place with just one bonus-point win from their four games.
The defending champions Isipathana College, of course, have already secured their spot in the Super Round segment and continue to head the points table with a maximum of 30 points, which includes five bonus points as well.
Last week, they cleared their penultimate challenge and went on to record their fifth successive victory of the tournament while overcoming St. Anthony’s College 37-26 at Longden Place.
With D. S. Senanayake and S. Thomas’ eying the second Super Round spot from this group, the last year league runners-up St. Joseph’s are facing certain elimination with just one game in hand.
The Josephians are currently lying fourth in the points table with 13 points having recorded only two wins from their five matches played so far.
