Lock forward and skipper Ishan Noor opened the account for the Red Shirts when he crashed through for a try by the right corner flag in the 15th minute. Fly half Nalin Kumara added the extra points.

Three minutes later his hooker Arun Kumar ran circles around the CH and FC defence to score a near the post try with Kumara making no mistake with the conversion as CR and FC extended the lead to 14 – 0.

Five minutes before the breather CR winger Kavindu Perera scored an unconverted try to give the red shirts a 19-0 lead. The tough defence of CR did not allow their opponents to penetrate their territory except on one occasion.

Shortly before half time, Danuka Ratnayake scored the only try for the home team with Janith Chandimal being successful with the conversion. At half time CR led 19-7.

A few minutes after the breather Ramanayake scored his first try after dashing through 20 metres. Kavindu de Costa added the extra points.

Ramanayake also contributed with another try in the 13th minute of the second half and Costa added the extra points to make it 33-7 for the visitors.

Minute’s later hooker Kumar scored an unconverted try which helped to increase CR’s tally by five points [38-7].

CR rubbed more salt to CH’s wounds when Jason Dissanayake ran into score a try which was successfully converted by De Costa for the Red shirts to run out worthy winners by 45-7.

Such a scoreline was expected when Kandy had by half time run up a total of 46-3. For Kandy both their forwards and three quarters combined effectively to create this smashing win. In the end they ran circles around the hapless CH side that had no answers to cope up with the enormous attack carried out by the hill capital lads.

The man who created this sensational victory for Kandy was none other than their national centre Gayan Weeraratne who went onto score a hat-trick of tries running amok at the inexperience CH three quarters.

Navy beat Air Force

Navy forwards gave of a brilliant display under the leadership of ex-Navy and national captain Yoshitha Rajapaksa to cruise to a straight forward 38-8 win over Air Force at Navy grounds.

Their three quarters ran through every time they received the ball and scored, with veteran fly half Dev Anand feeding his speedy line at every given opportunity.

Second row forward ex-national player Sathya Ranatunga played a tremendous game scoring two breathtaking tries towards the end.

Havies edge out Police

Havelock’s SC was really lucky to beat the rejuvenated Police side by 28-19 after been led 13-9 at half time. They should owe this win largely to their ex-Royal College prop forward Dushmantha Priyadarshana who single-handedly brought victory to his side by scoring a try and having hand in other two tries where he sent Ganuka Dissanayaka and Sudarshana Muthuthanttri over. New fly half Samantha Lakshan had a good day with the kicks where he successfully put over despite the handicap with the wet ball.

Police who played well in patches lost the game due to their entire forwards not engaged in break downs quickly other than Billal Hassan. They were really slow arriving at the ball.

Police had a good chance of winning this game but their substitute scrum half Mohamad Afzal who had a grand game made a silly blunder where he knocked on while touching down for a try in the in-goal area.

CR and FC down Army

CR made a superb late rally where they came from behind to beat the fighting Army outfit by 35-15 after trailing 6-10 at lemons at Longden Place.

Army shocked the entire crowd present with their fierce tackling and sizzling runs. CR who did not play to their full potential got their act together in the last 18 minutes of the game thanks to their coaching staff getting the combinations right by shifting Ashan de Costa to fly half and bringing in Dilan Zoysa from the bench to operate from the base of the scrum.

Hero for CR was winger Makalanka Pramoda who scored two scintillating tries. The kicking of full back Prince Chamara was exceptional where he put over a penalty from the 50 meter mark. But the unsung hero was their young “Alfred Hensmen” like national flanker Jason Dissanayaka who single-handedly created the opportunities by punching holes at the Army defence to send Mekalanka, Dilan and Shashan over for tries.

They beat four-time winners Trinity College, Kandy 14-7 in a thrilling Cup final to end their decade-long wait for a trophy named after one of the finest rugby products of Isipathana Roger Rodrigo.

One of the most looked forward to sporting events by Lankan expatriates in UAE, this annual rugby tournament attracted a record number of 21 schools and 24 teams.

It was a dream come true for the ‘green shirts’ after success in this tournament eluded them despite being runners-up in the inaugural event in 2005.

Defending champions Trinity were favourites going into the final having topped Group A by edging out Isipathana 7-0.

The Kandy side drew first blood in the title clash with a sweeping move resulting in former CH and FC centre Azarath Deen and Lanka Lions veteran cantering across in the right corner after receiving a long pass.

Patana hit back when skipper Dulanka Gunasekera sent Chinthaka Pothupitiya through a yawning gap to score the equaliser.

CR and FC scrum half Kavindu Anjana Costa scored what turned out to be the matchwinning try shortly before the break with a spectacular dash from midfield to give Isipathana a 14-7 lead.

That scoreline remained unchanged with both sides defending grimly in a tightly contested match refereed by D Nimal.

Former Police and Sri Lanka scrum half Rodrigo was overjoyed after Isipathana won the plum.

“My trophy is coming back to the school,” said Rodrigo who has been running rugby at Lanka Lions for over two decades.

Costa, a double champion (league and knockout) with Isipathana in 2012, treasures this triumph equally highly.

“We practiced for a short time but played well as a team. It is a big achievement,” said Costa who flew in from Colombo as a last-minute replacement for his injured brother Ashan Costa.

“We trained for three weeks. I’m very happy because players worked very hard. Old boys (in UAE) got together and gave their support. The boys were really motivated and were determined to win this time,” said Isipathana coach Milinda Seneviratne.

Former Isipathana cricketer KG Priyantha was elated like many old boys of the school who were present in large numbers to cheer their side.

“I’m very happy because in Sri Lanka we win all the cups. It’s a motivation for us to help cricket and rugby teams and we are hoping to find Isipathana talent in UAE to continue this momentum,” he said.

It was also a result of taking the event seriously and eagerness to prove they are still the kings of rugby.

“We were really expecting to come to final. We put our everything this time. That’s why we played one team. Back home we are kings but unfortunately, none of them took it seriously until now. With Costa’s experience, the young guns did it, ofcourse with Roger’s help,” said Shyam Anver, a member of the newly formed Isipathana OBA in UAE.

Isipathana swept through the pool stages with wins over Carey 15-7, Wesley 21-7, St Anthony’s 40-7 and Zahira 21-0 apart from their blemish against Trinity.

Trinity buoyed by the presence of UAE star Imad Reyal rolled past all opposition until the final.

They trounced former champions Zahira 31-0, Carey 66-0, Wesley A 49-7 and St Anthony’s 56-0 before winning the Cup quarter-final 14-12 with a controversial late try against Wesley ‘Blues’.

Wesley were leading 12-7 until the final minute through tries by skipper Zalique Jayah and Lahiru Prasad.

However, Trinity’s Hilmy Mohammed, also known as ‘Bebo’, conjured a try in the dying seconds of the game to dash Wesley’s hope of an upset.

“We really played our hearts out. An injury to a key player made a huge difference. Also, ref (GaminiIndrasena) said it was last move. Unfortunately, he led the opposition play on which is not right. But we can’t just blame the ref. End of day we lost the match,” said Jayah, a former CH and FC three quarter.

Isipathana beat traditional rivals Thurstan 14-0 to coast into the semifinals where a solo effort from Pothupitiya saw them edge out Lumbini 7-0.

Reyal gave a sizzling display in the semifinals scoring a try and sent Saliya Kumara through with a sweet pass to help Trinity beat Mahanama 14-5 in the other semifinal.

However,Reyal could not replicate his magic in the finals as Isipathana shut him out and Trinity to bask in glory.

Former champions St Peter’s won a thrilling Plate final which went into extra time clawing back after Mahdi Samat scored twice to put Wesley ahead.

Havelocks and Police scrum half Rizwan Meedin kept the Peterites in the hunt with a spectacular try.

Skipper Madisha Silva got the equaliser with a last-gasp effortandscored the winner with a brilliant dash.

Royal won their battle against traditional rivals S. Thomas’ 28-14 but lost in the Cup quarter-final to Lumbini 14-0.

Lumbini produced the Player of the Tournament Thusitha Dushan, a Havelocks stalwart, who scored 11 tries in the pool stages.

Zahira won the Bowl and Dharmaraja the Spoon.

32-year-old Dave had his education at Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.
In 2011 he joined ITM cup team – Canterbury Rugby Football Union as well as Super 12 team – Crusaders, and worked as a Strength and Conditioning trainer till 2014. From 2014 May till end November he worked as a Game Analyst and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Trainer for ITM Cup team – Northland Rugby Union.
Presently he holds the position of Head of Strength and Conditioning trainer for ITM Cup team – Southland Tags since joining them in November 2014.
From Saturday onwards Dave will start working with the entire CR rugby squad which is due to perform in the upcoming local rugby season.
the club president Christopher Jordash  says, first thanked their coach Inthi Marikkar for the really good choice he made in bringing down the renowned head trainer New Zealander Dave Murray to CR and FC. Further he said he wants the club to get back to their winning ways achieving their past glory. Finally he mentioned that his main aim is to win this year’s league and bring back the cup that has been eluding them for the past 17 long years. CR last won the league in 1998 under the fabulous leadership of former Isipathana scrum half Champika Nishantha. Incidentally CR remained unbeaten that year winning all the three major cups, the league, knock-out and the 7’s and crowned the undisputed Triple Champions of Sri Lanka then.
CR and FC was ones known as the Mecca of rugby in Sri Lanka.