Kingswood stays unbeaten while Isipathana eat humble pie
Defending champions and first leg winners Mobitel Eagles may have to rethink of their game plans for the knockout stage while Kingswood and St. Joseph's colleges put themselves on a label as hot favourites among schools at the second leg of the second Sri Lanka Super 7s Ru g by Championship which kicked off at the Racecourse ground in Colombo yesterday.
Mobitel Eagles managed to secure a solitary win out of three games against EZY Wolves, which was a hard-earned one, while suffering two defeats against Cargills Gladiators earlier on the day and Walkers CML Vipers during the final first round.
Not a single team was able to finish off the first day with an unblemished record, which easily depicts the balance of the sides and the mixture of talent. Joining the Eagles' ranks with solitary wins were Cargills Gladiators, Softlogic Warriors and Etisalat Panthers while Walkers CML Vipers, EZY Wolves, Access Kings and KBSL Dragons recorded two wins each to earn top ranks in the Cup quarter- finals to be played today. EZY Wolves had the chance of becoming the only team to finish unbeaten but defending champs, Mobitel Eagles ruined their record beating them 24-21 in a thrilling encounter.
In the Schools tournament, Kingswood ended the first day with an unblemished record with three straight wins, interestingly all by similar scorelines from Group 'A'. They ended up the day scoring 99 points, 33 from each game while conceding 19 points in all three outings. They are slotted to take on defending champions Warriors 24-19, Access Kings beat KBSL Dragons 45-7, Mobitel Eagles beat EZY Wolves 24-21, Walkers CML Vipers beat Cargills Gladiators 21-17, KBSL Dragons beat Softlogic Warriors 19-10, Access Kings beat Etisalat Panthers 24-7, Walkers CML Vipers beat Mobitel Eagles 17-12, EZY Wolves beat Cargills Gladiators 19-10, Softlogic Warriors beat Access Kings 24-12, KBSL Dragons beat Etisalat Panthers 21-17.
Army SC beat Air Force SC 33-0, Navy beat CR and FC 43-0, Air Force beat CR and FC 26-0, Navy SC beat Army SC 12-7. Isipathana, who ended the day winless, in the first Cup quarter-final match today. Wesley had a fine outing, recording two wins, while St. Anthony's earned a win, leaving Science without a win. Wesley will meet Zahira in the Cup quarters as St. Anthony's are slotted against St. Peter's and unbeaten St. Joseph's will meet bottom seed Science.
St. Joseph's becomes the other unit to watch out for after ending the day with three straight wins and top the Group ' B'. They beat Isipathana, traditional rivals St. Peter's and Zahira. St. Peter's secured two wins while Zahira recorded a win, ag a i n s t Isipathana.
The Women's tournament is eas- ily an affair that is favoured in line for Navy SC, who finished off unbeaten. They thrashed CR and FC before edging out top contenders Army SC, who beat Air Force to record their only win. Air Force recorded a win while CR lost all their matches.
The second Sri Lanka Super 7s Rugby Championship is organised and conducted by Sri Lanka Rugby in association with Dialog Axiata as main sponsors. Mobitel Eagles won the inaugural tournament last year and the first leg of this year's competition, played at Nittawela in Kandy a week ago. The second and final day of the two-day competition will continue at the Racecourse ground today.