Saturday, March 5, 2011
Trinity, Peters, Isipathana and Kingswood dictate terms on day one (All Island 7's)
The all-island rugby football sevens tournament which is organized by the Sri Lanka schools rugby football association got underway today with Trinity, Peters, Isipathana and Kingswood taking major honors at the end of day one.
Trinity College and St. Peters in particular had some big performances against some of the mediocre teams with both teams accumulating 84 points in two matches played during the group stages. Kingswood on the other hand recorded the highest score for the day when they beat Zahira College 52 points to nil. Isipathana College who were probably the best sevens team in display, showcased their usual brilliance beating Lalith Athulathmudali and Vidyartha by 40 and 38 respectively while also maintaining a clean sheet in defense.
Prince of Wales College was the brave minnows as they stood tall ending up at the cup quarters beating the likes of Maliyadeva and Royal College Colombo which fielded a junior team. Dharmaraja the dark horse in the cup segment used their heavy players to good effect beating S.Thomas’ College Mt, and D.S Senanayake in the first round.
Day two will start with a cracker match with St. Peters College taking on Isipathana College in the first cup quarters at 8.20 am.
Results
TEAM
POINTS
TEAM
POINTS
St. Peters
43
Nalanda
-
Isipathana
40
Lalith Athulathmudali
-
St. Anthony’s
-
St.Aloysius
w/o
Wesley
36
St.Johns
-
Kingswood
24
Zahira
-
Royal
26
Maliyadeva
-
S.Thomas’
15
D.S Senanayake
10
Trinity
43
Royal College Panadura
-
Thurstan
17
Nalanda
05
Vudyartha
12
Lalith Athulathmudali
07
Mahanama
43
St.Aloysius
-
Lumbini
36
St.Johns
-
Zahira
15
St.Sylvesters
24
POW
22
Maliyadeva
05
Dharmaraja
17
D.S Senanayake
-
Ananda
19
Royal College Panadura
12
St. Peters
40
Thurstan
-
Isipathana
38
Vudyartha
-
St.Anthonys
-
Mahanama
w/o
Wesley
07
Lumbini
-
Kingswood
52
Zahira
-
Royal
05
POW
10
S.Thomas’
-
Dharmaraja
29
Trinity
40
Ananda
00
Day two schedule
CUP QUARTERS
• St. Peters vs. Isipathana
• Mahanama vs. Wesley
• Kingswood vs. Prince of Wales
• Dharmaraja vs. Trinity
PLATE QUARTERS
• Thurstan vs. Vidyartha
• St. Aloysius vs. Lumbini
• St. Sylvesters vs. Royal
• S.Thomas’ vs. Ananda
BOWL QUARTERS
• Nalanda vs. Lalith Athulathmudali
• St. Johns (Walk over)
• Zahira vs. Mahanama
• D.S Senanayake vs. Royal Panadura
www.thepapare.com
Friday, May 14, 2010
Tharindu among the best

At 15 he was in contention for a place in the senior squad and a couple of seasons later he had the distinction of representing the First XV 'sevens' team.
After many years of hard work and commitment Tharindu Siriwardena has emerged as one of the top number eight player in the current inter schools rugby scene.
Tharindu Siriwardena. Picture by Mahinda Vithanachchi
His latest heroics came last week when he spearheaded Isipatana College to a memorable 30-24 triumph against the arch rivals S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia in a key inter school fixture.
This was a fantastic effort considering the fact that the team had earlier suffered two demoralizing defeats at the hands of St. Peter's College and Kingswood College Kandy respectively.
As a result Isipatana were faced with a must win situation and their chances of winning the title was quietly slipping away from their hands. But Tharindu Siriwardena grabbed the opportunity to produce his best performance this season with a great amount of courage and determination.
The skill level and the tactical play that he employed in this vital game certainly had a huge impact in the final outcome as Isipatana bounced back into recognition with a morale boosting victory.
They were almost down and out after the opening two fixtures in which they did not play to their potential where they hacked the forwards too much throughout the game.
But a change in their game plan transformed the entire Isipatana outfit into a formidable one which brought them the desired results at the end. Four tries even before half time and that was the kind of attitude that the lads from Havelock Park adapted to pull off a splendid victory despite the heavy odds against them.
Tharindu Siriwardena was in the thick of every move and he performed that role quite exceptionally while making some vital decisions when his side was under tremendous pressure.
He was able to plan out a superb strategy in the first half that helped them to build up a 30-12 lead and then organized a solid defence during the latter stages when the Thomians had launched a fierce late rally.
But Siriwardena as the pack leader and playmaker held his nerve and motivated his teammates that eventually helped them to come out of a tough situation. This was of course not the first time that he had performed a similar role having served the Isipatana First XV team for the past three years.
In fact his best outing was last year where he mastered one of the finest victories in schools rugby to beat a powerful Kingswood College team at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy. Another effort that would always be in his memory is the try that he scored in the 2008 President's Trophy knock out tournament final against St. Peter's College. Even then Isipatana had to be content with the runners up position on that occasion.
Siriwardena of course started his rugby career as a centre three quarter under the guidance of his first coach A. C. Tennekoon. Thereafter he switched positions and joined the front row as a prop forward while representing the College Under 15 team.
He also had a liking to hockey and was the vice captain of the College under 13 and 15 teams. He was an all round sportsman at the beginning and played a major role in the junior basketball and cricket teams as well. But as time passed he settled with his favourite sport rugby and soon became one of the star players in the First XV team.
He also had the distinction of captaining the under 13, under 15 and under 18 teams respectively. In fact he was able to represent the First XV team at 17 years and from there onwards he went on to make vast strides in the schools rugby scene by playing in his favourite Number Eight position.
Siriwardena said that he obtains a great amount of satisfaction by playing in the third row which is one of the key positions in the lineup. No wonder his favourite ruggerite is the New Zealand skipper and flanker Richey Macko for his powerful tackling and well disciplined play.
Siriwardena has now reached his pinnacle in schools rugby and is hoping to make this season a memorable one by winning the rest of the matches in the Singer division one league tournament.
Siriwardena later came under the guidance of Sajith Mallikarachchi, Bimal Perera and Shamly Nawaz.
In fact he is privileged to be coached and guided by a former Isipatanian Shamly Navaz who himself as a number eight player has rendered all the assistance and the knowledge to become a top ruggerite.
Nawaz believe that Siriwardena is certainly a future Sri Lankan star and has already shown signs of taking the game into the next level.
He is a good lose player with the forwards and his leadership qualities are also quite excellent.
The Isipatana coach was really impressed with the kind of performance which he produced in the must win game against S. Thomas' College at Mount Lavinia.
He said that Siriwardena led the way by making some good decisions at vital stages of the game and was able to motivate his teammates during tough situations.
Nawaz was proud to state that young Siriwardena is now playing even better than he performed some time back after having absorbed all the experience and the knowledge during the last two seasons.
Nawaz said that he first came across Siriwardena during the 2008 inter school season and since then he has been able to make a tremendous improvement both physically and mentally.
Daily News, May 14th 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Isipathana record season’s second win
Isipatana collected their points from two goals, three tries and two penalties after having built up a commanding 28-10 lead at half time. The Wesleyans responded with three unconverted tries.
DailyNews, May 13th 2010
Isipatana bring down Thomians
This was a tremendous effort from Isipatana who went into this important game at the back drop some uncertainly having suffered two shock defeats at the hands of St. Peter’s College and Kingswood College Kandy respectively. But in a dramatic turn of events the lads from Havelock Park produced a different game plan as they went on to avenge their last years 12-28 defeat against the same opponents.
Despite performing away from home Isipatana got off to a flying start as they began to dictate terms against the more superior and heavy Thomian forwards. In fact Isipatana rattled up all their points in the first half and were able to build up a commanding 30 points to 7 points lead at half time.
This was clearly a completely different Isipatana outfit compared to their previous two matches, as they planted four early tries that turned out to be crucial at the end. In fact the early setback was certainly causing great concern in the Thomian camp as they began to regroup and stage a comeback in the second half.
The home team was able to reduce the deficit to a solitary try at the end after a great fight back and that was a creditable performance considering their position at half time.
Nevertheless Isipatana will take it because they have now kept their hopes alive of making some progress during the rest of the tournament.
Trinity v Kingswood
Trinity College Kandy pulled off a thrilling 21 points to 20 points victory over their home town rivals Kingswood College in another Singer inter school under 20 division one league rugby tournament match played at the Bogambara Stadium.
The Trinitians despite going in as the underdogs displayed a great amount of courage and determination to snatch a memorable win under tremendous pressure. They made their intentions clear from the kick off and took an early lead from which point they were able to consolidate their position.
However Trinity College had to survive a fierce late rally from Kingswood who made a great comeback during the latter stages of the game. In fact they almost turned this game in their favour following a spectacular try from skipper Rajitha Sansoni during the dying moments of the game.
However Sansoni crucial conversion went astray and with that Trinity College was able to pull off the game through a single point margin.
Royal v Dharmaraja
The defending champions Royal College cruised to their third successive victory as they trounced Dharmaraja College Kandy by 27 points to five points in another Singer inter school under 20 division one league rugby tournament match worked off at the Royal Sports Complex.
Royal are of course yet to face any stiff opposition this season having earlier played two of the weak opponents of the tournament Prince of Wales College Moratuwa and Wesley College respectively.
This time too they sailed through quite smoothly while scoring five tries that also helped them to collect the extra bonus point which could be decisive at the end. The major concern probably was the fact that they could convert only one of the tries which prevented them from winning the game by a much bigger margin.
St. Peter’s v Prince of Wales
St. Peter’s College playing like a champion side thrashed Prince of Wales College Moratuwa by a mammoth 164 points to nil in a completely lopsided Singer inter school under 20 division one league tournament match worked off at Havelock Park.
The Peterites never showed any mercy to their opponents who were making their A division debut, as they ran down as many as 26 tries out of which 17 were converted.
St. Peter’s College raced to a huge 80 points to nil lead at half time following a dazzling performance from their dynamic centre three quarter Dhanushka Ranjan who ended up with eight tries to his credit.
In addition winger Sandun Herath also grabbed the opportunity to make an impact as he touched down on six occasions.
Wesley v St. Anthony’s
St. Anthony’s College bounced back in style with a morale boosting 51 points to 12 points victory over Wesley College in their Singer inter school under 20 division one league tournament match played at Havelock Park.
The Antonians after two unsuccessful attempts finally got their act together well as they completely outplayed their opponents by running down seven tries during a magnificent performance. They were of course restricted to a certain extent initially but cut loose in the second half as they ran circles around the Wesley defence while conceding only a couple of tries.
DailyNews, May 11th 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Kingswood in stunning win over Isipatana
Former champions Kingswood College Kandy produced a superb second half rally to beat a powerful Isipatana outfit by 22 points to 15 points in a thrilling Singer inter school Under 20 division one league rugby tournament match worked off at Havelock Park yesterday.
The Kingswoodians who were trailing 12-15 at half time came back magnificently and turned the game in their favour while collecting their points from two goals, one try and one penalty.
Isipatana responded with one goal, one penalty try and one penalty.
Isipatana took the lead with a penalty try but came under severe pressure thereafter from the visitors who scored twice to snatch the initiative. First it was centre three quarter Mohamed Fazlin who touched near the corner flag with fullback Rajindra Sansoni adding the extra points.
Few minutes later Sansoni produced a beautiful piece of work to score their second try of the match while adding the finishing touches to a splendid three quarter move.
However Isipatana staged a good recovery and kept their hopes alive while scoring their only try of the match and also putting over a penalty shortly before half time.
Winger Umayanga Sooriyabandara did the honours with a superb dummy and fly half Prashan Attanayake responded with a neat 25 metre penalty as Isipatana went into half time with a slender 15-12 lead.
In the second half Kingswood College changed their tactics and launched a series of attacking moves through their third row which really put a lot of pressure on their opponents.
As a result winger Prabath Jayatilleke was able to slice through the Isipatana defence and score probably the match winning try, few minutes before the final whistle. Oshan Perera made no mistake with the conversion and almost immediately he followed up with a crucial penalty that completely sealed the game in their favour.
Thomians edge out Antonians
S. Thomas’ College went through some real anxious moments before recording a hard fought 15 points to 12 points victory over St. Anthony’s College in their Singer inter school Under 20 division one league rugby tournament match worked off at Mount Lavinia yesterday.
The Thomians collected their points from one goal, one try and one penalty after the scores were level 12 all at half time. The Antonians responded with one goal and one penalty.
Royal in 12-0 win
The defending champions Royal College pulled off a convincing 12 points to nil victory over Wesley College in their Singer inter school Under 20 division one league rugby tournament match worked off at the Royal Sports Complex yesterday.
Even then Royal were given a tough time by their opponents as they managed to score only one goal and one try after they had taken a close 5 nil lead at half time.
DailyNews May 1st, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Isipatana out to redeem lost prestige
They have retained virtually the same team that performed last year and with 13 coloursmen in their ranks they could be considered as strong contenders for the Singer Division One League

Isipatana came very close to creating an upset as they went down fighting 19-22 in the final against S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. Before that they had the better of Dharmaraja College, Kandy (27-21) in the quarter-finals and Wesley College (28-0) in the semi-finals respectively.
In the league tournament last year their finest moment probably came when they outplayed Kingswood College Kandy 25-19 in a key fixture at the Bogambara Stadium. Their success certainly had a great amount of significance as they were performing away from home and it also shattered Kingswood’s hopes of retaining the title for the second successive year.
In addition they defeated St. Peter’s College (22-12), Dharmaraja College Kandy (21-6), St. Joseph’s College and Mahanama College (39-10). But their hopes were

Isipatana College could look back at the past with a great amount of pride having produced as many as 53 national players since they started playing rugby in 1963. This is a fantastic achievement for a school which still does not own a playground of their own. As a result Isipatana are forced to depend heavily on their neighbouring Havelocks Sports Club which has been very supportive in providing the grounds free of charge for practices.
Despite all these setbacks Isipatana College have continued to prosper and more importantly they have been feeding the national squad with some outstanding ruggerites.
Isipatana of course suffered a shock defeat at the hands of St. Peter’s College by 8-27 in their opening match of the tournament at Havelock Park during the weekend.
But that will not be the end of their campaign and they will be even more determined to display their prowess in the remaining matches of the tournament.
In fact Isipatana will face two tough opponents during the next two weeks when they confront Kingswood College, Kandy and S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia respectively.
This will be followed by two traditional games against Royal College on May 29 and Trinity College, Kandy on June 5 respectively.
The Isipatana College First XV Rugby Pool for 2010
Prop forwards: Heshana Sudharaka, Dhanushka Sooriyarachchi
Hooker: Prasad Madushanka, Isuru Fernando, Marlon Hevavitharana, Nipuna Devinda
Second rowers: M. Gayashan, Rukshan Jalil, Muksheed Kuthdoos
Flankers: Sajid Suhayb, Deshanth Subashana, Ashan Kovinda, Kuvendra Dharmadasa
Number eight: Tharindu Anuruddha, Udaya Kumar, Nigel Nadeesha, P. Wickremasinghe, J. Deen
Scrum halves: Shenal de Costa, Mohamed Rizwan
Fly half: Prasad Devinda
Centres: Ashan Chaturanga (captain), Yuresh Fonseka, Mohamed Ali, Nikalanka Promoda, Uditha Shenal
Wingers: Umayanga Sooriyabandara, Prashan Attanayake, Chanaka Kumara, Sumedha Srimal
Full back: Malik Jumath, Shenal Dias
Coach: Shamly Navaz
The tournament fixtures:
April 30: v Kingswood College, Kandy at Havelock Park
May 8: v S. Thomas’ College at Mount Lavinia
May 12: v Wesley College at Longden Place
May 22: v St. Anthony’s College at Havelock Park
May 29: v Royal College at Longden Place
June 5: v Trinity College Kandy at Longden Place
June 12: v Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa at Havelock Park
June 19: v Dharmaraja College, Kandy at Bogambara
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Schools rugby kicks off on April 24
The defending champions Royal College captained by centre Duminda Attygalle will launch their campaign for the title with a home match against Prince of Wales College Moratuwa at the Royal College Sports Complex in Reid Avenue.
However the key match for the first week will be the clash between two former league champions Isipatana College and St. Peter’s College which will be worked off at Havelock Park.
The Peterites of course have already made their presence felt in the current season having clinched the Western Province and the All Island Seven-a-Side tournaments respectively. In contrast Isipatana skipped the All Island tournament with the intention of preparing for the more important league tournament.
Isipatana have been training for the new season since October last year and very recently they had a highly successful training session up in Diyatalawa under the guidance of coach Shamly Navaz.
Isipatana will be captained by speedy centre three quarter Ashan Gallage and the side is further boosted with the inclusion of 13 top coloursmen. The other senior players in the lineup are vice captain and number eight Tharindu Siriwardena, flankers Deshanth Subashana, Sajid Suhayb, second row forward Muksheed Kuthdoose, prop forward Dhanushka Suriyarachchi, scrum half Mohamed Rizwan, fly half Prasad Devinda, centre Mohamed Ali, wingers Yuresh Fonseka, Prashan Attanayake and full back Malik Jamath.
St. Peter’s College who defeated Trinity College in the final to win the sevens title will be led by dynamic fly half Keith Gurusinghe and will have the services of several other coloursmen including number eight Shenal Dias, prop forward Steve Nelson, scrum half Rizwan Meedin, centres Bhanuka Nanayakkara, Dhanushka Ranjan and fly half Anish Fernando.
Meanwhile one of the important matches in the schools rugby calendar the clash between arch rivals Isipatana College and Trinity College Kandy will be worked off on June 5 at the CR and FC grounds in Longden Place.
Before that Isipatana College will lock horns with Royal College for the Major Milroy Fernando memorial trophy in their annual inter school rugby encounter which is scheduled for May 29 at Longden Place.
The defending champions Royal College will have two tough games during the latter stages of the tournament where they will take on the traditional rivals Trinity College Kandy in the first leg of the Bradby Shield on June 12 on their home grounds followed by another important game against S. Thomas’ College on June 19 at Mount Lavinia.
St. Peter’s College will have another tough game in their second outing for the season where they will be up against Trinity College Kandy on May 30 at the Pallekelle Stadium.
In addition the Royal - St. Peter’s clash which is also a much looked after contest in the schools rugby calendar is scheduled for May 22 at the Royal Sports Complex.
The schedule
April 24: Royal v Prince of Wales at Royal Sports Complex, S. Thomas’ v Wesley at Mount Lavinia, Kingswood v St. Anthony’s at Bogambara, Trinity v Dharmaraja at Pallekelle, Isipatana v St. Peter’s at Havelock Park
April 29: Wesley v Royal at Longden Place
April 30: Prince of Wales v Dharmaraja at Royal Sports Complex, S. Thomas’ v St. Anthony’s at Mount Lavinia, Trinity v St. Peter’s at Pallekelle, Isipatana v Kingswood at Havelock Park
May 7: Wesley v St. Anthony’s at Royal Sports Complex, Kingswood v Trinity at Bogambara
May 8: S. Thomas’ v Isipatana at Mount Lavinia, Royal v Dharmaraja at Royal Sports Complex
May 9: Prince of Wales v St. Peter’s at Royal Sports Complex
May 12: Isipatana v Wesley at Longden Place
May 15: Royal v St. Anthony’s at Royal Sports Complex, S. Thomas’ v Trinity at Mount Lavinia
May 16: Prince of Wales v Kingswood Royal Sports Complex
May 21: Wesley v Trinity at Royal Sports Complex
May 22: Royal v St. Peter’s at Royal Sports Complex, Isipatana v St. Anthony’s at Havelock Park, Dharmaraja v Kingswood at Bogambara
May 23: Prince of Wales v S. Thomas’ at Royal Sports Complex
May 29: Isipatana v Royal at Longden Place, St. Peter’s v Kingswood at Bambalapitiya, St. Anthony’s v Trinity at Nittawela, Dharmaraja v S. Thomas’ at Bogambara, Wesley v Prince of Wales at Royal Sports Complex
June 4: St. Anthony’s v Prince of Wales at Nittawela, Dharmaraja v Wesley at Bogambara
June 5: Kingswood v Royal at Bogambara, Isipatana v Trinity at Longden Place, S. Thomas’ v St. Peter’s at Mount Lavinia
June 12: Royal v Trinity at Royal Sports Complex, S. Thomas’ v Kingswood at Mount Lavinia, Isipatana v Prince of Wales at Havelock Park, St. Peter’s v Wesley at Bambalapitiya, St. Anthony’s v Dharmaraja at Nittwela
June 18: Dharmaraja v Isipatana at Bogambara
June 19: St. Anthony’s v St. Peter’s at Nittawela, Kingswood v Wesley at Bogambara, Trinity v Prince of Wales at Pallekelle, S. Thomas’ v Royal at Royal Complex.
DailyNews - April 16th 2010