Scores: Isipathana: 152 in 40.2 overs (Pethum Nisshanka 50, Ridmika Nimesh 23, Heshan Fernando 21, Hashan Sandeepa 4/19, Heshan Hettiarachchi 3/40) and 84 in 21.4 overs (Heshan Fernando 39, Ayana Siriwardhana 26, Mahela de Silva 3/15, Vihan Mudalige 3/13, Hashan Sandeeepa 3/23)

Mahanama: 240 (172/6 o/n) in 86.2 overs (Malindu Madhuranga 72, Heshan Hettiarachchi 46, Kavindu Munasinghe 30, Vihan Mudalige 20, Lahiru Dilshan 4/65, Heshan Fernando 2/34, Neranjan Wanniarachchi 2/49) – YK

Coming to the final as favourites Isipathana had no answer to the spectacular brand of rugby dished out by the hill capital boys of Kingswood and lost the contest fair and square to give Kingswood a Cup championship victory after a long layoff. Kingswood ended up as the unbeaten champions beating all their opponents by huge margins.

For the victorious Kingswood side the tries were scored by K.M. Kulasekara, J.A. Ratnayake and A.J. Dilshan one a piece Place kicker S.T. Seneviratne displayed fabulous kicking form by slotting in all three conversions. For the losers Nadeesha Jayampathi scored the solitary try.

Kingswood’s unexpected win spoilt Isipathana coach Nilfer Ibrahim’s hopes of departing from the team as coach on a winning note after guiding the green and white shirts to victory in the league and knockout championships during the season.

In the other finals played yesterday at the same venue, Maliyadeva College Kurunegala thrashed Moratuwa MV by 44-0 to win the Shield, Trinity College Kandy grabbed the Bowl beating home town rivals Vidyartha College Kandy by 41-0 and the Plate was won by St Joseph’s College Maradana beating St John’s College Nugegoda by 38-3.

Isipathana reached the final with a hard fought 8-0 victory over St. Anthony’s Kandy in their semi-final while Kingswood beat Zahira College Maradana 17-0 in the second semi-finals.

“We are ready for the final as we have done our homework and played as a team in every match of this tournament,” said ex-Kingswoodian and head coach of Isipathana College Nilfer Ibrahim.

“Kingswood has come to a final after a long time and also as a team they are playing very well so I am not taking them lightly and I expect a tough fight from them. This is my final match as head coach of Isipathana hence we are going all out to win this final. I want to end my coaching stint with Isipathana on a winning note,” he said.

Other finals scheduled for today at the same venue are:

2.00pm: Shield final – Maliyadeva College Kurunegala vs Moratuwa MV

3.00pm: Bowl final – Vidyartha College Kandy vs Trinity College Kandy

4.00pm: Plate final – St Joseph’s College Maradana vs St John’s College Nugegoda.

Isipathana College, St.Anthony’s College Kandy, Kingswood College Kandy and Zahira College Maradana are in to the semifinals of the Milo inter schools under 18 fifteen a side rugby tournament which worked off yesterday at Thurstan College grounds in Reid Avenue, Colombo.

Isipathana and Zahira have received byes while St.Anthony’s beat St.Joseph’s College Maradana by 38 points to 17 and Kingswood thrashed St.John’s college Nugegoda 75 nil in the cup quarter finals to enter the semifinals.

In the semifinals Isipathan College will confront St.Anthonys College Kandy while Kingswood College Kandy will come up against…

What was supposed to be a tightly contested final turned out to be a totally one-sided affair as Isipathana ran circles round the Royal defence to pierce through and score as many as seven tries to Royal’s two. The final scoreline Isipathana 47 (7 tries, 6 conversions) to Royal’s 12 (2 tries, 1 conversion) tells the story of how dominant the Pathana team was.

This victory by Isipathana was one of the best in a Pathana-Royal match for20 years beating the previous best of 40 points to nil win by the Royal in 1976 under Skanda Fernando. Isipathana was captained by Jayantha Ginigalgoda.

Isipathana’s final tally was the highest total score as well as the biggest margin scored by a team in the history of an inter-schools knockout rugby final.

Pathana’s execution in the match was a tribute to their master tactical young head coach Nilfer Ibrahim and his assistant Terence Henry. They laid out a superb plan which in the end, the entire team put into action enabling them to nail the far more superior forwards play of the Royalist.

Isipathana’s entire forwards played like terriers in the loose as well as in the set pieces and the break downs winning abundance of positions through turn overs enabling their much more fancied three quarters to plant all the tries in the end. Even in the rucks, mauls and scrums the entire gallant Pathana forwards matched weight to weight and sometimes out shone the much more fancied Royal forwards.

Isipathana’s front three were the unsung heroes behind this victory with a superb defensive display carried out through the entire 80 minutes. Surprisingly Isipathana dished out this unbelievable display even without a ground, gym or a swimming pool of their own.

Speaking to the Daily News exclusively after the win a jubilant Isipathana head coach Nilfer Ibrahim said, “With this change of date issue of the final Royal created undue pressure and it was a morale booster for us as we did not take any notice of it. We did our planning and practices accordingly and our principal and the entire rugby committee was behind us backing us right throughout. I want to thank our rugby captain, entire rugby squad, principal, the rugby committee, parents, old boys and the supporters young and old for their utmost support given to us to be successful throughout this season.

Royal captain Nikhila Gunadheera (ball in hand), held by Isipathana captain Kushan Indunil (with a head band) and fly half Randy Silva (number 23)

“Most probably this will be my final year as head coach of this fabulous rugby playing school Isipathana, so I wanted to end it on a high and wanted to give something special to the school. I am very happy that under my coaching I enabled them to reach nine finals and win five trophies,” Ibrahim said.

Isipathana opened scoring in the 12 minute when off a three quarter move vice-captain cum centre Sumudhu Rankothge went through the Royal defence to score mid right. Full back Gayan Wickramaratne made the conversion and Pathana went into a 7-nil lead.

Soon after in the 26th minute Pathana three quarters collected a ball and set their three quarter line in motion where the ball changed several hands from skipper Kushan Indunil to fly half Randy Silva who dummied his way through to score far right. Wickramaratne this time missed the conversion and the score read Isipathana 12-0.

In the 37th minute Royal scrum half Ashok Wijeykumar crashed through for a try off a penalty tap and fly half Ovin Askey fired across the conversion to cut down the lead to 12-7 in favour of Isipathana.

Just on the stroke of half time Pathana winger Chamod Fernando collected a ball from a three quarter move and made a daring break and gave a superb off load to Indunil who scampered through for a try close to the right upright. This time Wickramaratne slotted the conversion and Isipathana went into a 19-7 lead at half time.

After the resumption in the 46th minute Isipathana scored again, when off a three quarter move their scrum half Harith Bandara made a spectacular break and gave an inside pass to flanker Adeesha Weeratunge who in return gave an off load to Randy Silva who fell over for a try. Wickramaratne made the conversion and Pathana went led 26-7.

In the 57th minute Royal closed the gap when off a rolling maul their hooker Azmir Fajudeen scored a try. Askey missed the conversion and the score read 26-12 in favour of Isipathana.

In the 65th minute off a ruck the ball came to Randy Silva who scampered through and when challenged off loaded to his vice captain cum centre Rankothge who crashed through to touch down under the post for a brilliant try. Wickramaratne made the conversion to take the score to 33-12.

Within a couple of minutes Pathana further increased their lead when their open side winger Ranindu Padmasanka made a superb break and sent Randy Silva over for his third try of the match. Padmasanka made the conversion and Isipathana increased their tally to 40-12.

Isipathana virtually sealed the match in the closing stages of the game when their dynamic number eight Vageesha Weerasinghe broke through the blind side of the scrum and sent his speedy winger Padmasanka over the Royal defence to score a spectacular try under the post after covering nearly 85 metres. Padmasanka made the simple conversion to take the final score an impressive 47-12.

Isipathana’s young half back Harith Bandara was adjudged the best player of the tournament.

The Royalist has brought in former full back Ovin Askey to play in the pivotal position of fly half at the expense of Lenox Calyanaratne who is expected to play in the second half if needed and will most probably play in his pet position as centre.

In the pack, former hooker Hamza Reeza will play as number eight alongside their flankers Maleesha Madumewan and Pasindu Amarasinghe in the third row. Captain and number eight Nikhila Gunadheera has been moved up to the front row to bind down with Ayesh Maduranga and hooker Ashmir Fajudeen.

The forte of both teams has been their power-packed forwards. The Royal ‘eight’ especially Ayesh Maduranga, Azmir Fajudeen, Harith Lokugamage, Hamza Reeza, Pasindu Amarasinghe, Ashen Fernando, Maleesha Madumewan and Gunadheera are expected to give a terrific display in the loose and secure ball position. If they deliver and get their act together to proceed with the famous rolling maul then the Royalist will have a chance of pulling off this game.

However they face a huge challenge from the Pathana forwards spearheaded by their cracking number eight and Singer league man of the final Vageesha Weerasinghe who will be ably supported by Devin Gunaratna, Lahiru Wishvajith, Kaveesha Madushan, Sharukh Manabarana, Hasitha Mapitigama, Adeesha Weeratunga and Sashmitha Fernando.

In the set scrums the experienced Royal hooker Fajudeen should get the better of his vis-a-vis Mapitigama, while the line outs should be shared between the Royal duo of Ashen Fernando together with Madumewan and Isipathana line out jumpers in Weeratunga and Weerasinghe.

Royal’s new halves combination comprising Wijekumar and Askey are playing together for the first time this season. Everything will depend on how they click as a pair in this crucial match. Royal will hope that their highly talented scrum half cum play maker Wijeykumar will pair off well with his new fly half Askey.

“We have got our momentum and the correct team combination from the start of this knockout tournament, that’s why we were really successful and come into the finals,” Royal head coach Sanath Martis said.

“We have been really hard at practices throughout the week and looking forward to play a competitive final to win this year’s championship,” he said. Meanwhile for the Isipathana lads in all probability, their young scrum half Harith Bandara should try to set his speedy three quarters in motion at every given opportunity, as they have two hard running wing three quarters in Chamod Fernando and Ranindhu Padmasanka together with their skipper and centre Kushan Indunil. This is in addition to the experienced centre cum vice captain Sumudhu Rankothge who has stood out with his powerful runs down the flank. Full back Gayan Wickramaratne is there to join the line and form the overlap.

They will hope that their halves combination of Bandara and Rehan Silva will hit it off today. The halves combination of these two players will have to give a very good performance if Isipathana are to emerge victorious. “They are a good side and we expect a good fight from them in the finals. We know where Royal’s strength lies and done our home work accordingly to counter it down. Finally we are going for an all out victory, enabling us to end the season in high as the unbeaten league and knockout champions,” concluded Nilfer Ibrahim, the head coach of Isipathana College. Referee: Rohan Fernando.

The knockout tournament comprising eight teams will consist of six teams from the Division I Segment A and the top two performers from the B Division. President of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and Principal of Royal College B. A. Abeyratne addressing a press conference at Jaic Hilton for the launch of the tournament on Wednesday said that the tournament will run alongside two other tournaments that will allow them to find the top performers in the lower divisions as well.

“While organizing the President’s trophy in the top division the Prime Minister’s trophy and the Chairman’s trophy tournaments will also be held alongside the main tournament,” said Abeyratne.

The participating are unbeaten league champions Isipathana College, league runner-up S. Thomas’ College ML, Royal College Colombo, St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya, Wesley College and St. Anthony’s College Kandy from the top division while newly promoted Zahira College Maradana and D. S. Senanayake College will fill in the final two slots in the draw.

Defending champions Science College, Mount Lavinia have withdrawn from the tournament sighting financial difficulties while Trinity College and St. Joseph’s College have also pulled out due to player injuries and other reasons. “We were the triple runners-up last year and we were triple champions in 2014, so we know the pain of losing this tourney; hence we will be going all out to win it at any cost to redeem the lost prestige,” said Isipathana College captain Kushan Indunil.

Since its inception in 1995 St Peter’s who were the inaugural winners have won it five times, Isipathana College six and Kingswood College on four occasions.

Both schools have proud histories of their rugby prowess and clashes between them have always provided fans with thrilling fare.

They have proved worthy group decider’s with a consistent display of quality rugby against all their opponents in this year’s league tournament and appear to have peaked at just the right time to provide a grand finale to the present schools rugby season.

The game will be a battle between Isipathana’s speedy three quarters and Science’s mobile forwards.

Science had a fairly lean first couple of matches compared to their own high standards but improved their game as the season progressed and despite ending behind group leaders Isipathana as per the points table, have picked up their game from the second match onwards. In the ongoing league tournament they have four wins in a row over St Anthony’s Kandy (40-28), St. Peter’s (13-10), Dharmaraja Kandy (54-7) and Kingswood Kandy (53-5).

For Science Tharindu Maduranga has been a tower of strength and has led from the front and emerged as one of the leading points scorers this season. Hashan Madumadawa, Nishad Niranjan, Thanuja Maduranga and Supun Dilshan have bonded into a powerful unit.

Meanwhile the high riding Isipathanians also have four emphatic wins on their way to this decider brushing aside Dharmaraja Kandy (61-15), St. Anthony’s Kandy (43-17), Kingswood Kandy (53-05) and then beating St. Peter’s College 36-21 with ease last week. Flanker Devin Gunaratne and their versatile number eight Wagesha Weerasinghe will be the men to watch. Weerasinghe is arguably the player of the season and the Science defence will have their work cut out to keep this talented player shackled.

Scrum half Bandara is a bundle of energy and a good reader of the game and is well supported in the back division by 15-year-old fly half Malinda Ruberu, centres Sumudu Rankothge, skipper Kushan Indunil and wingers Chamod Fernando and Padmasanka. Fullback Wickramaratne has been a revelation in his ability to join the line and his speed has brought him rich rewards this season.

Isipathana who have swept all before them will be the firm favourites but they know that they are up against a strong side and a loss to Science will not only prevent them achieving top spot in their group but will also take away some of the gloss of their grand performances this season.

Be prepared to witness a bruising battle between two great school teams with more than just a point to prove.

Royal probably met a real force in their match against arch rivals S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia last week and after leading 15-14 lost in the very last move of the day by a close 21-15 margin. The story could be the same today against the Joes who are holding back nothing this season as they almost threatened the pride of Wesley College in their last outing played two weeks ago when they went down fighting 19-12.

The Joes will have to watch out for Royal’s forwards and their famous rolling maul and match upto them really hard to prevent Royal from scoring. The two three quarter lines are evenly matched and a close tussle for supremacy can be expected.

St.Joseph’s are coached by former Royal College rugby players Billal Yousuf (Head coach), Ashane Dissanayake (Asst. Coach-Forwards), Asanga Rodrigo (Asst. Coach-Three quarters) along with ex-Isipathana full back Reza Mubarak as their kicking coach.

Royal College team kicked off this year’s season in a superb manner by thrashing D.S. Senanayake College 36-10 and edged out the formidable Wesley College 17-14 before going down to the Thomians.

The players to watch are their captain cum playmaker number eight Nikila Gunadheera, second row forward Harith Lokugamage, prop forward Ayesh Maduranga, scrum half Nikil de Silva, fly half and vice-captain Ashok Wijekumar, two speedy wingers Mahima Gamage and Shabith Feroze, hard running centres Nikhil George and Andrew de Silva, hooker Hamza Reeza, flankers Yohan Kanishka, Pasindu Amarasinghe together with experienced full back Ovin Askey.

This year the Royal College rugby team is once again coached by former Isipathana, Wesley, St. Peter’s and Sri Lanka Under 20 national head coach veteran Sanath Martis and assisted by ex-Royal, CH&FC, CR&FC, Police and Sri Lanka national rugby captain cum number eight Dushanth Lewke. Former Sri Lanka national full back T.A. de Silva will be their kicking coach.

UNBEATEN SIDES CLASH IN KANDY

Two unbeaten sides Trinity College Kandy will host S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia at Pallekelle starting at 4.30pm today. The Trinitians go as favourites to win this encounter but they will have to throw in everything if the Thomians are to be subdued.

The other game in Kandy is between St Anthony’s and Dharmaraja at Bogambara.

The Thomians have not tasted success since 2013 when they triumphed 29-20 at Havelock Park under the leadership of fly half Devin Jayasinghe.

This time they seem to have a great chance of regaining the trophy after being unbeaten having won both their previous games played for the season against St. Joseph’s College Colombo and D.S. Senanayake College at Longden Place.

S Thomas’ are currently enjoying one of their finest seasons in the ongoing Singer division one league tournament under experienced Samoan coach Tevita Tulagaese, affectionately called ” Laga” by all his fans in Sri Lanka. Their best effort probably came earlier in the season when they won the inter-school rugby Sevens trophy under Laga after a lapse of more than one and half decade. In the final they beat the favourites for the title Isipathana to clinch the trophy at Havelock Park.

Last week they scored their second successive victory thrashing D.S. Senanayaka College by 40 points to 6 to go along with their 32-3 win over a hapless St. Joseph side in their first outing.

The Thomians are led by their hardy hooker Pandula de Silva.

Royal of course will be hoping to produce an improved performance after their close call against Wesley College which they narrowly won 17-14 at Longden Place.

Last year Royal under the leadership of Bhanuka Gamage and head coach Sanath Martis had a great season where they emerged the undisputed kings of schools rugby clinching the coveted Singer League trophy after four years. To go along with this they rewrote Royal-Thomian rugby history when they demolished S Thomas’ 52-0 at Havelock Park which is todate the highest score by a team in this traditional encounter. The previous best was 39-3 in 2002 by Royal under Zulki Hameed. The Thomians’ biggest victory in the series is 22-0 under Charya de Saram in 1991. Incidentally last year’s Royal College unsung hero and the highest try scorer in the league tournament, number eight Supun Warnakulasuriya emerged the first and only rugby player from both schools to score a hat-trick of tries. He touched down on four occasions to enable Royal achieve that record 52-0 win.

This season Royal are trying their very best to carry out the same winning momentum even though they are playing with only four coloursmen and 11 freshers. They won their first match of the season against D.S. Senanayake College Colombo 36-10 before being rattled by Wesley.

The Royal College outfit is captained this year by that experienced dashing number eight and Sri Lanka national under 19 prop forward Nikila Gunadeera with another experienced player scrum half Ashok Wijeykumar as his deputy. Royal is coached by Sanath Martis, one of the best known school coaches who is also the head coach of the Sri Lanka under 19 rugby team. Ex-national rugby captain Dushanth Lewke will be his assistant.

T.A. Silva former Army and Sri Lanka national full back will be the kicking coach. This traditional encounter was inaugurated in 1962 and the first match ended in a draw.

Present tally stands at 28 wins to Royal College and 18 to S. Thomas’ College with five ending in draws.

In 1979 this match was not played due to a dispute regarding the date for the encounter.