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Royal and Isipathana clear initial hurdle in Rugby Super Round

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An Isipathana player tries to break off in the face of opposition from St. Joseph’s.  Pix by Wasitha Patabendige
An Isipathana player tries to break off in the face of opposition from St. Joseph’s. Pix by Wasitha Patabendige

Royal College and Isipathana College have cleared their initial hurdle in the Super Round of the 2022 Inter-Schools Under-20 ‘A’ Division League Rugby Tournament.

Last week, the defending champions Royal came from behind to beat Wesley College 21-16 at Longden Place while the former champions Isipathana pulled off an exciting 16-13 victory over St. Joseph’s College at Havelock Park.

Both Royal and Isipathana have now emerged as the only contenders for the ‘A’ Division league title and their confrontation this weekend will certainly decide the league champions for this year.

Royal, who are chasing a unique fourth successive league title, came under early pressure and were trailing 0-9 at one stage before they reduced the margin to 7-9 at half time, courtesy of a superb try from hooker Danuja Samararatne.

In fact, Samararatne turned out to be the toast of all Royal fans as he went on to add two more tries in the second half to complete a unique hat-trick of tries and to give his side a crucial victory in the end.

Wesley, of course, produced a late try through their dynamic fly half Shaveen Jayawardena, who also put over the three penalties, but his efforts alone failed to change the outcome of this encounter. Meanwhile, Isipathana rallied around magnificently to record a thrilling 16-13 victory against a spirited St. Joseph’s outfit in another Super Round fixture played at Havelock Park. Both teams managed to score a try each but eventually it was the kicking prowess of Rinesh Silva that helped the team from Havelock Park to emerge victorious in a tense encounter. The way both Isipathana and St. Joseph’s played this high-profile game was quite admirable as both teams lived up to expectations as top contenders to clinch the league title.

The contest became even more exciting when the Joes reduced the margin to just three points (13-16) late in the second half, having been completely outplayed during the initial stages.

The loss of two of their key players early in the game due to injuries certainly forced St. Joseph’s to make some changes in the line-up as they struggled to get their act together well.

But Isipathana failed to capitalise on their opponents’ setback and made some basic mistakes despite enjoying a great amount of possession during the first 35 minutes of the game.

St. Joseph’s eventually came out of their shell to play their natural game late in the second half, but it turned out to be too late as Isipathana held on determinedly to register a close victory.

Tuesday, August 9, 2022 – 01:00











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