This victory by the Access team is a fitting tribute to their head coach Nilfer Ibrahim who execute and inflict a superb brand of attacking rugby and dished out a fabulous player substitutions in the crucial moments of the game thus bringing this victory to his team ably assisted by Sri Lanka National Under 18 head coach M.J.M Mushtaq in the end.

In the second minute of play Dialog opened scoring through their fly half Dulaj Perera who scampered through for a try near the right corner flag off a beautiful three quarter move which he himself missed the conversion. Dialog ‘A’ led five points to Nil.

Within the space of two minutes Dialog ‘A’ scored again through forward Soyuru Anthony who dummied his way over to touch down for a try under the post after a well compiled three quarter move. Fly half Dulaj Perera made the simple conversion and they went into a hefty 12 points to nil lead.

In the seventh minute of play Access opened scoring when their scrum half Richard Darmapala sliced through the Dialog defence and darted down to score a fine try mid right and their Fly half Chanaka Chandimal slotted the conversion to cut down the lead to 12-7.

Just on the stroke off half time off a Dialog line out throw in their 22 metre line, the ball was collected by Access winger Danusha Dayan who burst through to touch down for a brilliant try under the post after covering nearly 80 metres .Chandimal made the conversion and Access were leading by 14 – 12 at lemons.

After the resumption Access went in to a further lead in the 19th minute of play off a maul by their dynamic forward Buwaneka Udangamuwa who gave a superb inside pass to his winger Kavindu Perera who scampered through for a try mid right. Chandimal put over the conversion once more to increase the lead by 21-12.

In the very next minute star national centre Danushka Ranjan collected the ball off a three quarter move and ran nearly 70 metres brushing off several Dialog defenders to touch down for a spectacular try under the post and Chandimal made no mistake with the conversion and Access went further ahead by 28 points to 12.

In the final minute of play Access worked their three quarters wide where winger Danusha Dayan collected the ball and sprinted his way over for a try mid right after covering close to 55 metres.

Chandimal who had a magnificent day with his boot made the conversion to have a 100% kicking record in this finals and Access International ran out worthy winners by 35 points to 12 in the end.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily News – Access International head coach the jubilant Nilfer Ibrahim said “The boys played their hearts out and we made the tactical moves accordingly, Especially the substitutions at the right time of the game and that really paid off in the end.

Last time we won this trophy way back in year 2000 which i was part of the winning team then as a senior player and after 16 years the fate was such that i was once again part of the winning team, but this time around as the head coach. So in the end i am really a happy man to have three major tournament wins back to back (Inter Schools league and knock out with Isipathana & Mercantile sevens with Access)” concluded Ibrahim.

The winning Access team comprised of Srinath Sooriyabandara(Captain), Wishvamithra Jayasinghe, Jason Dissanayake, Kavindu Perera, Chanaka Chandimal, Danushka Ranjan, Saliya Handapangoda, Buwaneka Udangamuwa, Kevin Dixon, Chula Susantha, Danusha Dayan and Richard Darmapala. Head Coach-Nilfer Ibrahim, Asst.Coach- M.J.M. Mushtaq

Irshad Cader refereed.

In the plate finals the gallant Nation Lanka Finance edged out the favourites John Keels ‘A’ by 26 points to 22 win the championship.

Meanwhile the formidable John Keells ‘B’ Thrashed Dialog ‘B’ 22-5 to win the Bowl Championship and Brandix won the Shield Championship when they thrashed Pan Asia Bank by 24 points to 7.

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.

Going by the crossovers, new entrants and exodus of players from club to club, Police perhaps have stood to gain more as they look to deploy a star cast of exponents that rival teams may grudge or need to buckle up to challenge.

Like it or not, Havelocks will have to bear the brunt of a Police backlash and face hardcore players like Sharo Fernando, Bilal Hassan, Reza Mubarak and Chamara Dabare who have crossed over from Navy, Mohamed Sheriff and Chula Susantha who quit Army.

“We are expecting our new intakes to take us to the next level with their experience”, said Police Rugby secretary and former Sri Lanka prop Hafeel Marso.

“With these players we are capable of competing against any team in the League and our target is to finish in the top three and that’s not to say we cannot win the title.”

Police have also enlisted a new trainer in former Sri Lanka Number Eight Dushanth Lewke while the team is coached by Lalith Weeraratne with fly half Lahiru Gurusinghe as captain.

Besides facing up to a Police juggernaut, Havelocks will also have to find their feet as they set about to convince their supporters who have had very little to brag about since the Park Club won the League in 2012 after a 31-year lapse.

Flying winger Sandun Herath will have more than just a role to play as he captains Havelocks who have re-enlisted their former charismatic coach Tulagaese Tawita, a Samoan better known as Laga who guided them to the League title in 2012.

Laga will have to be the main driving force behind the scene if Havelocks are to go places and regain lost pride in a season that offers nothing to the lesser mortals and is being touted as anyone’s playground.

“This side is different from 2012. There is more balance and it’s only a matter of motivating them”, said Laga. But while the Havelocks-Police clash is expected to draw most of the fans, Navy and Air Force will actually raise the League curtain on the same day at Welisara in a match that both teams will look to gauge their strengths and weaknesses.

Navy will have to depend on a high element of schoolboys to overcome many voids following the exit of the elite of their players to Police and Kandy.

Among their new faces are former Isipathana College play-maker and Number Eight Omalka Gunaratne and St. Joseph’s College prop forward Steven Gregory.

Apart from Police opening their doors to Navy’s battled hardened players, Kandy have also enticed Srinath Suriyabandara, Soyura Anthony and Wishwamithra Jayasinghe to leave the Welisara club rendering it a team on rough seas under coach Nilfer Ibrahim.