Isipathana clinch schools under 14 and 16 rugby titles

RUGBY: Isipatana continued their domination in the schools rugby scene by winning the under 14 10 A-side and under 16 15-A side titles in the schools league finals of Western Province played on Sunday.
The Isipatana under 14 team beat S. Thomas, Mt. Lavinia by 5 points to nil in a nerve tingling match, while the Isipatana under 16 beat St. Joseph's College, Colombo by 20 points (4 tries) to nil which was witnessed by a capacity crowd at the Royal Sports Complex on July 15. It was nice to see spectators cheer right throughout the game.
The only try scored for the under 14 Pathana team was by nippy scrum half Thabis Mowlana (the skipper) who had a grand game by planting a superb try brushing aside several defenders while the under 16 Pathanians who played gallantly planted four tries.
The try scorers were M. Rizwan, Thahir Ali, A. Chathurana and Ishun, who scored one try each.
These league matches were worked off from June 12 and Finals were held on 15th July, 15 schools (U 14 & 16) qualified to play in the Finals. The cup final was refereed by D. Nimal.
Vice Rector of St. Joseph's College Father Sugath Gunathilaka , M. A. P. Fernando (Principal Wesley College) and Susantha Mendis (Secretary WPSRFA) graced the occasion.
Under 14: Cup - Isipatana College beat St. Thomas College 5 points to nil.
Plate: Joint Champs Ananda College and Wesley College 14 points all.
Bowl: Mahanama College beat Prince of Wales 49 points to nil.
Shield: D. S. Senanayake College beat Nalanda College 33 points to 5, while the Saucer was won by Asoka Vidyalaya who beat St. Sebastian College (Kandana) 28 to nil.
Under 16: Cup: Isipatana College beat St. Joseph's College 20 points to nil.
Plate: St. Thomas College (Mt. Lavinia) beat Mahanama College 12 points to 8.
Bowl: D. S. Senanayake College beat Nalanda College 17 points to nil.

Isipathana strikes thrice and drowns Trinity

By Aubrey Kuruppu
*Isipathana 18*Trinity 10
Isipathana struck thrice in the first half and then held on to win by 18 points (3 tries, 1 penalty) to 10 (2 tries) in the face of a resolute fight back by Trinity in a fast-paced, open game of rugby at Pallekele yesterday.Trinity strove hard to pierce the Isipathana defence early on but was stalled by the latter’s terrific tackling and the fine linekicking of full back Reza Mubarak. Significantly, Mubarak was injured after about 20 minutes and left the field. Trinity capitalized on that.

The story of the day…..An Isipathana player thwarts another Trinity move (Pic by Shane Seneviratne)

Isipathana entered Trinity territory twice in the first 15 minutes and scored on both occasions. After the fly half had made a side-stepping run into Trinity’s 22, the ball changed hands and winger Kasun Gamage went over. Minutes later, a beautiful three quarter move saw centre Dinusha Chaturanga make the score 10-0.
In the 20th minute, Isipathana’s threes swept into action. This time the other winger Vishvamitra Jayasinghe scored to make it 15-0.
The writing seemed to be on the wall for the lions but they came back well. Minutes before half time, skipper Sean Wanigasekera scored off a forwards rush to make it 15-5 at lemons.
Number 8 Jazeer Hassan brought the house down with a spectacular 35-yard burst down the centre. Only a desperate clearance by a lone defender saved the day for the visitors.
A penalty converted by lock Waruna Priyanthage increased the tally to 18-5. Quick thinking by the Trinity skipper resulted in Trinity’s second try scored by left winger Azver Marzook.
Territorially this was Trinity’s game but they made mistakes aplenty and handed the advantage back to their doughty opponents. Isipathana’s backs were superb and very penetrative, specially early on. Number 8 Sajith Saranga had a terrific game for the winners.
Early on, it seemed that Trinity suffering from post Bradby depression and end of season blues. To their credit however, they got their act together later. This match was played as a friendly and not as a tournament game.
Referee: Orville Fernando.Under 12 – 7 all; Under 14 – 7 all; Under 16 trinity won 46-nil.

Trinity-Isipatana clash on July 7

Ranjeeva Seneviratne
RUGBY: One of the most looked forward to confrontations in the schools rugby calendar - the encounter between Trinity College, Kandy and Isipatana College, Colombo will take place in Pallekelle Rugby Stadium on July 7 (Saturday).
The Trinity-Isipatana encounters have always produced rugby of a very high standard and this year another enthralling encounter is on the cards. With the two teams being evenly balanced a close tussle for supremacy can be expected.
The Trinity-Isipatana rugby series began in 1981 with Ravi Bandaranayake's Trinitians winning the inaugural match by 9 points to 3 at Nittawela while in the following year Isipatana emerged victorious by 7-3 at Longden Place with skipper Dilroy Fernando scoring the match winning try.
This trend continued with Trinity winning in Kandy and Isipatana emerging triumphant in Colombo till 1996 when Bandula Mallikarachchi's Isipatanians broke the Kandy hoodoo with a 20-13 win at Bogambara. Five years later in 2001 Tisal Jayawardena's Trinitians ended the Colombo jinx with a stunning 6-3 win at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
The series tally stands at 12 wins to Isipatana and nine to Trinity with three games ending in draws-1990 (4-all), 1992 (13-all) and 1993 (five-all). In 1991 a friendly match was played between the two schools as Isipatana did not play competitive rugby. While in the year 2000, the match was not played due to a dispute between the two schools regarding the venue.
The Trinitians won last year's match at Bogambara by 17 points to 11 while Isipatana emerged triumphant in 2005 by edging out Trinity 6-5 at Havelock Park. The biggest win in the series was registered by Anuranga Walpola's Isipatanians when they beat Trinity by the staggering margin of 43 points to 8 at Pallekelle while Trinity's highest was recorded two years later when the 'Lions' led by Dhammika Senarath scored a resounding 25-7 win at the Bogambara Stadium.

Isipathana in runaway win over Wesley

RUGBY: Isipathana proved their class when they outplayed Wesley by 47 points (6 goals and 1 try) to 5 (1 try) in their school rugger match played at Havelock Park yesterday.

Isipathana as usual started in grand fashion and seemed to dominate proceedings with their brand of rugby. They opened scoring in the 13th minute when three quarter Dinusha Chathuranga covered good ground to touch down under the post with full back Riza Mubarak adding the extra points with an easy conversion.

Isipathana increased the lead to 12-0 when No. 8 Sajith Tharanga pierced Wesleyites defence to score an unconverted try.

They stretched the lead further in the 22nd minute through a try by centre Niroshan Tharanga which was converted by full back Riza Mubarak. Just before lemons Isipathana who had the better of exchange made it 26-0 when centre Niroshan Chathuranga scampered through for a try which was again converted by Riza Mubarak. At half time the winners led 26-0.

In the second half Isipathana continued their supreme power play to score three tries through winger Kasun Gamage, scrum half Srinath Sooriyabandara and winger Dinusha Chathuranga. All three tries were converted by full back Riza Mubarak. Wesleyites scored a push over try by winger Zaleel Jayah which went unconverted in the 25th minute.

Aruna Jayasekera refereed.

Isipatana take under-20 Singer Sevens title

RUGBY: Isipatana College continued their success in the Sevens rugby game when they became Cup Champions at the schools under-20 Singer Sevens organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association when they defeated Kingswood College by 31 points (3 goals, 2 tries) to 19 (2 goals, 1 try) in the finals played before a large crowd at the Nitawela rugby stadium in Kandy yesterday.
At half-time the Pathans led 19-5.
There was no doubt about Isipatana’s victory as they dominated every phase of the game and the score line does not tell true story.
Isipatana Maha Vidyalaya scored tries through winger Kasun Gamage (1), prop Sampath Suranga (1), fly-half Reza Mubarak (2), and centre Dinusha Chaturanga (1). Fly-half Reza Mubarak goalled 3 of the tries. For the Kingswoodians prop Tilina Manoj (1), scrum-half Roshan Weeraratne (2) scored tries with Roshan Weeraratne adding the extra points to two of the tries.
Aruna Rankothge refereed.
An unwarranted incident with about 2 minutes to go for the final whistle marred an otherwise excellent game full of good moves and excellent rugby.
This incident originated when referee A. Rankothge awarded a penalty for Isipatana MV and fly-half Reza Mubarak took possession of the ball and was contemplating briefly on his next move when Kingsood’s Gayan Weeraratne charged and he fell down.
What followed was not rugby but a brawl with the other players joining. Reza Mubarak who suffered a head injury was carried off the field in a stretcher in an unconscious condition.
Meanwhile referee A. Rankothge showed the red card and gave the marching orders to Gayan Weeraratne It is understood that Reza Mubarak was taken to a private hospital and from there transferred to Kandy General Hospital where he is kept under observation.
Chairman of Isipathana’s Rugby Development Committee Mr. Selwyn Saleem confirmed that Reza Mubarak is kept under observation at Kandy Hospital and he condemned the brutal attack on this ruggerite in the rugby field.
During this incident stones and other missiles were thrown into the field by the spectators.
President of the Central Province Rugby Football Union and former Sri Lanka flanker and Trinity Rugby Lion Iswan Omar was the chief guest. Principal of Kingswood College Mr. Ranjith Chandrasekera was one of the guest of honour.
In the cup semi-finals Isipathana MV beat St. Sylvester’s College 33-5 and in the second semi-final Kingswood College beat their traditional rivals Dharmaraja College 26-0.
Plate championship
Vidyartha College won the Plate championship by defeating Wesley College 40 points (5 goals, 1 try) to 21 (3 goals) after leading 21-7 at lemons.
In the semi-finals Vidyartha College beat Lumbini MV 24-5 and Wesley College beat St. Joseph’s College 14-7.
Bowl championship
Piliyandala Central College won the Bowl championship by defeating Embilipitiya Central College by 14 points (2 goals), to 7 (1 goal). At half-time Piliyandala Central led 7-0.
In the Bowl semi-finals Piliyandala Central scored a shock 12 points (1 goal, 1 try) to 10 (2 tries) win over the more fancied Ananda College.
In the second semi-final Embilipitiya Central triumphed over the more fancied St. Benedict’s College by 17 points (1 goal, 2 tries) to 5 (1 try) after leading 7-5 at half-time.

Isipathana takes schools rugby 7’s title

RUGBY: Isipatana College clinched the Thurstan Rugby Sevens title when they trounced St. Anthony’s College Kandy by 73 points to nil in the Cup final at the Royal College Sports Complex Colombo yesterday. Dinesh Chathuranga and Niroshan Chaturanga strengthened the Patanas with sharing six tries equally.
The knock out round kicked off yesterday. In the Plate final, hosts Thurstan College secured their victory over St. Joseph’s Colombo by 40 points to 14.
Peterites routed Science College by 19 points to 05 to win the Shield final. After a tough battle, Thomians were defeated by C.W.W. Kannangara Vidyalaya 17 points to 14.
A ladies exhibition match added colour to the event.
Twenty four teams made their appearance in this tournament which opened the schools rugby season, which was organised as a part the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Thurstan College Colombo.
The National Lotteries Board were the main sponsors at this prestigious sporting event.

Daily Mirror Friday, January 12, 2007

Wesley, St. Anthony’s and Vidyartha are demoted

Trinity and Isipathana promoted to schools top rugby division

By M. Shamil Amit

Three schools Wesley and St Anthony’s from Group ‘A’ and Vidyartha in Group ‘B’ have been demoted on a decision taken by the disciplinary committee of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Association (SLSRA). Wesley and St Anthony’s have been demoted to Group ‘B’ while Vidyartha has been demoted to Group ‘C’.

Trinity who ended as leaders of Group ‘B’ and Isipathana who had undergone tremendous pressure during the latter part of the schools rugby season last year clearing all the hurdles, have been promoted to the top division this season.

The decision taken on Wesley was for fielding a player who had not sat the GCE O’Level the second time which is against the stipulated rules of the SLSRA and the decision taken against St. Anthony’s was regarding the captain of the rugby team who though was qualified to play for the school was deemed to have taken his school leaving certificates and had registered to enter the University.

Twisted turn

An official of the SLSRA stated that the two cases were proved beyond doubt but in a twisted turn of events Isipathana who too had a player who was not liable to play for the team has been by passed with the official saying that according to the circular issued to them by the Education Department states categorically that the boy is liable to remain in school.

When inquired of the court decision given to the said student, the official said:

“We are going according to the circular that we have been issued. No one has informed us regarding the court decision to which we cannot take any decisions.”

In the case of Vidyartha, the school was suspended for the incident which occurred in their rugby encounter against Ananda where many players were injured.

The official said though this was not a tournament match any school that plays rugby is under the umbrella of the SLSRA so they play according to the rules and regulations set by the SLSRA or otherwise anyone could do a bigger damage for which the SLRSA cannot turn a blind eye.

There were also allegations against the captain of the Ananda rugby team who is said to be not liable to play for the team. The official on inquiry said that no one had officially sent any protest regarding the matter but there is speculation that a protest is to be sent.

When the Daily Mirror contacted the two schools - Wesley and St Anthony’s - for their views on the decision taken by the SLRSA, the two schools were contemplating on taking court action.

According to an official from Wesley College, the player concerned is said to have been injured and that they are in possession of the medical certificate for that period. Meanwhile an official of St. Anthony’s stated that that they are going to courts for the biased decision taken by the disciplinary committee without a proper hearing.

With the GCE ‘A’ Level exam due to start in August the SLSRA is getting geared up to conduct the Singer rugby league tournament this year between late April and early June and the Milo President’s knockout trophy from late June and to be completed by end of July. Nevertheless the new inter-school rugby season is going to be ushered with a lot of suspense.