Western Province eye final spot in Under 24 Tourney

Western Province and the North Western Province will figure in a do-or-die battle for a place in the Cup Championship final of the SLR 15-A-Side Under-24 League Rugby Tournament when they clash in a vital game at the Thurstan College Grounds on Sunday.

Both teams completed their preliminary round matches quite successfully with an unbeaten record and ended up on top of the points table having obtained a maximum of six points each.

The formidable Western Province were simply ruthless in their opening encounter while annihilating Uva Province 121-0 at the Vincent Dias Stadium in Badulla and they followed up with an impressive 29-13 victory over Southern Province last week at the Thurstan College Grounds.

Meanwhile, North Western Province also started their campaign in a spectacular manner while demolishing Central Province 56-12 at the Maliyadeva College Grounds in Kurunegala before pulling off another convincing 30-3 win over North Central Province at the same venue.

Both teams certainly have an equal chance of making it to the Cup Championship final although the odds will be somewhat in favour of the Western Province Team as they will be playing in their backyard.

In contrast, North Western Province will be playing their first game in Colombo and that could probably be a disadvantage as they look to keep the momentum following two convincing victories.

Nevertheless, North Western Province has built up a fine team with several former and current players from Maliyadeva College, St. Anne’s College and even promising schoolboys from Kandy as well.

Western Province, of course, has plenty of talent available as the team is studded with a host of schoolboys from D. S. Senanayake College, Ananda College, C. W. W. Kannangara MMV and Mahanama College.

In fact, they are also in line for their second major title having earlier emerged champions at the Sri Lanka Sevens Inter-Provincial Rugby Tournament under the leadership of former D. S. Senanayake Captain and flanker Saranga Udawatta.

Meanwhile, second row forward Chamuditha Chanuka and number eight Sudarshana Athukorala are two other players who could make a big impact for the Western Province in this game.