St. Joseph’s outsmart Trinity
St. Joseph’s College outsmarted Trinity College by 14- 5 to clinch the Cup title of the Milo InterSchool Under- 14 Division I 10s Rugby Championship played at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo last weekend.
St. Joseph’s youngsters recorded their points from two converted tries against a solitary unconverted try by Trinity to become wor thy champions. The Josephians had a fruitful first day by topping the group and to reach the Cup quarter-finals with ease.
They reached the semi-final after beating Isipathana 19-14 in a cliffhanger of a game after recording their points from three tries and two conversions against the two converted tries by the opponents. In the semifinal St. Joseph’s overcame Royal College by 19-7 with a tally of three tries and two conversions against a converted try.
The losing Cup finalists, Trinity had a tough game against St. Peter’s College in the semi-final before recording a breathtaking 17-12 win. The points for the winners came off three tries and a conversion while the Peterites scored from two tries and a conversion. Trinity defeated Lumbini College 20-7 in the quarter-final with a tally of four unconverted tries against a converted try.
In the remaining Cup quarter- final matches St. Peter’s and Royal recorded resounding wins despite failing in their semi- final games. St. Peter’s thrashed Mahanama by 38-0 after recording six tries and four conversions while Royal outsmarted Wesley by 19-0 with a tally of three tries and two conversions.
The losing Cup quarter- finalists -Mahanam, Lumbini, Wesley and Isipathana -- were drafted to play in the Plate semi-final as Wesley went on to win the title beating Mahanama 19- 0. Wesley recorded their points in the Plate final through three tries and two conversions. Wesley defeated Isipathana 19- 14 in the semi- final with points coming off three tries and two conversions for the winners and two converted tries for the losers. In the other semi-final Mahanama overcame Lumbini by 12-5 with a tally of two tries and a conversion against an unconverted try.
Vidyartha College recorded a runaway 37- 0 win against Zahira College to claim the Bowl championship. In the semi-final Vidyartha beat D.S. Senanayake College by 17- 12 while Zahira beat St. Anthony’s College by 17-5.
In the Bowl quarter- finals Vidyartha beat Piliyandala Central ( 33- 0), Zahira beat Kingswood College ( 15- 0), D. S. Senanayake beat Science College ( 19- 7) and St. Anthony’s beat Dharmaraja College 19-12).
The Shield title was won by St. Benedict’s College who comfortably beat Maliyadeva College by 22- 0 in the final. The winners recorded their points through four tries and a conversion. In the semi-finals the Benedictines overpowered Ananda College by 29-0 with five tries and two conversions while Maliyadeva defeated Sumangala Vidyalaya 14-10 after scoring two converted tries against two unconverted tries.
In the quarterfinals St. Benedict’s received a walkover from St. Sylvester’s College, Maliyadeva beat St. John’s College Nugegoda ( 12- 5), Ananda thrashed traditional rivals Nalanda College ( 38- 0) and Sumangala received a walkover from Thurstan College.
The tournament was held on August 10 and 11 with the participation of teams from all Division I rugby-playing schools. The tournament was organised and conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association ( SLSRFA) with Nestle` Lanka’s Milo coming in as the main sponsor.