S. Thomas’ vs Vidyartha pick of the K/O quarter-finals
The clash between S. Thomas’ College and Vidyartha College will be the pick of the quarter-finals when the President’s Trophy Knock-Out Rugby Tournament gets underway at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo this weekend.
Both teams missed out a chance of playing in the Super Round but enjoyed a great amount of success during the latter part of the ‘A’ Division League Tournament and will look to keep the same momentum when they clash in the second quarter-final on Saturday.
In fact, the Thomians ended in fourth place in Group-1 while Vidyartha secured third place in Group-2 of the league points table after both teams had made a disastrous start to the season.
The Thomians are on fire now following back-to-back victories in the League Tournament against St. Anthony’s College (32-25) and Kingswood College (36-8), which was followed by a thrilling 23-22 victory against St. Peter’s College at Bambalapitiya last week.
Meanwhile, Vidyartha narrowly missed the Super Round of the League Tournament as they finished the League Tournament in style while recording three victories from their five outings.
In contrast, the newly crowned ‘A’ Division League champions Isipathana will have a relatively easy game when they take on the wooden spoonists Dharmaraja College in the opening quarter-final fixture of the tournament on the same day.
The third quarter-final of the tournament between Wesley College and Science College on Sunday, should be a close contest after both teams experienced mixed fortunes during the ‘A’ Division League Tournament.
In fact, the Wesleyites had the opportunity of competing in the Super Round stage even though they failed to make an impact in the two outings against Royal College and St. Joseph’s College.
Science College were able to conclude the League Tournament in a spectacular manner as they brought down the more fancied St. Peter’s College 12-10 in their last encounter.
Meanwhile, the League Tournament runners-up St. Joseph’s will have an easy quarter-final fixture when they face St. Anthony’s College on Sunday.