Isipathana College will face their moment of truth when they take on the unbeaten St. Peter’s College in the Inter-Schools Under-19 Division One League Rugby Tournament Super Round deciding encounter at Bambalapitiya on Saturday. The kick-off is at 4.15 p.m.
The defending champions will take the field under tremendous pressure for the first time this season after their cherished unbeaten record came to an end following a 17-22 defeat at the hands of Royal College last week at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo.
In contrast, St. Peter’s cruised to their seventh successive victory in the league as they romped to a comprehensive 39-0 victory over St. Anthony’s College in the opening Super Round segment fixture on their home grounds last week.
Both teams, of course, have the identical style of playing as they prefer to run with their three quarters more often given the slightest opportunity and have always looked dangerous with their quick passes and interceptions.
However, the Peterites have looked more organised in their defensive structure and the points table gives a clear picture as they have conceded less points to the opposition than Isipathana in this 14-team tournament.
Incidentally, St. Peter’s have a tremendous record this year and they have conceded only six tries in the tournament with only Vidyartha College causing the most damage by crossing their whitewash on two occasions.
Apart from that game, St. Peter’s have given away a try each against Royal, Zahira, Trinity and Dharmaraja and their goal line was uncrossed on two occasions against Science College and St. Anthony’s.
In contrast, Isipathana will be concerned with the amount of tries they have conceded to the opposition in the tournament so far, and only D. S. Senanayake College were unable to cross their goal line.
In fact, Isipathana’s defence was in near shambles as they gave away four tries to St. Anthony’s despite their success and conceded two tries each to S. Thomas’ and St. Joseph’s while giving away one try each against Kingswood and Royal.
But Isipathana will take some heart as the only side in the tournament to have scored four tries or more in all six first-round matches and they have the talent and the potential to upset any opposition on their day.
However, the Peterites will have the advantage of playing on their home grounds for the second successive week and they will be fired up to regain the league title having last emerged champions in 2010 under the captaincy of number eight Keith Gurusinghe.
Last year, Isipathana cruised to a 29-17 win over St. Peter’s at Havelock Park, but the Peterites had the satisfaction of overcoming Isipathana twice in 2019 where they clinched the league fixture 27-21 at Bambalapitiya and won the President’s Trophy semi-final 19-14 at the Royal Sports Complex.
St. Anthony’s v Royal
Meanwhile, Royal College will be chasing an important league runners-up position when they take on St. Anthony’s College in another Super Round segment match at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy on Saturday.
The lads from Reid Avenue are currently third in the points table and they could come on par with Isipathana if they beat the Antonians with a bonus point and provided St. Peter’s emerge victorious without conceding any losing bonus points to their opponents.
In case Royal and Isipathana are level on points after the completion of the Super Round segment, then the former will claim the second place without any doubt as they had earlier defeated the same opponents in a league tournament encounter.
Royal will certainly go in as the clear favourites after last week’s heroics where they ended Isipathana’s unbeaten streak this season with a stunning 22-17 win on their home grounds.
In contrast, the Antonians have plenty of homework to be done as they are still recovering after last week’s heavy drubbing at the hands of St. Peter’s at Bambalapitiya.
In fact, the Antonians will look to produce an improved performance on their home conditions but Royal will be even more determined to conclude what has been a fabulous league tournament for them.
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