Joes could be tested by Anthony’s in school’s rugby curtain raiser

By A Special Sports Correspondent

St. Anthony’s led by fly-half Sahan Keerthisiri will be put to the test against the promising St. Joseph’s College rugby team in the curtain raiser to the interschool 15-a-side league rugby tournament for 2023 which is scheduled to take place at the Bogambara Stadium this evening.

The Anthonians have a strong side this year on paper, but the stakes are high in school rugby as of now and no team can be taken lightly; even when one enjoys the home advantage. St. Joseph’s know this truly well and their coach Nilfer Ibrahim will use his heavy and experienced forwards to the maximum in this grudge battle which is sure to go down to the wire. Much is expected from skipper and big boy Naveen Marasinghe as the side’s playmaker, but St. Joseph’s would also expect a captain’s role from him and see how he handles the 14 others on the field when the pressure starts mounting.

Joes had a strong season in 2022 where they finished as runners up in the league and knockout tournaments, but there were occasions when they lost some focus in the two crucial games which were against Royal and St. Peter’s ; two games that handed them defeats.

This season they are brimming with confidence and some of the players to watch are Janith Marasinghe, Jehan Athukorala, Vihanga Randeepa, Ruchith Rodrigo, Daham Dias and Sachinthana Waidyarathne apart from skipper and number eight Naveen Marasinghe. Should Marasinghe keep running in tries as he did last year or should he focus on upgrading himself to be a more complete thinking player who can walk into the senior national side this year itself? Isipatana’s Hisham Abdeen and Bandula Mallikarachchi were two players who did that while still being schoolboys; but that was during an era where breaking into the national side as teenagers was unthinkable.

St. Anthony’s have to handle their nerves because this game is no limb loosener. Joes have the forwards power, but the season is still in it’s infancy; hence the strengths of all teams is yet to be known or untested. Traditionally the Anthonians have fast backs and this must be anticipated. Up in the hills the Oxygen advantage is there for the hosts and the vociferous Kandy crowd can rattle visiting teams. But rugby at present is not playing entirely up to ones strengths but also involves exposing the weaknesses in the opposition. Joes may have all areas covered in this key encounter; which may demand some individual brilliance from players like skipper Keerthisiri, number eight J. Realando, linkman O. Guneratne, centres Welagedara and Tiron and full-back Mohammed Amjath if they are to keep the Anthonians scoreboard ticking. Coach Srinath Sooriyabandara has done much hard work with the boys and would be expecting a win at the first outing itself.

The tournament is conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association. The other teams in Division 1 Segment A along with St. Anthony’s and St. Joseph’s are Isipatana, Wesley, S. Thomas’, Wesley, Kingswood and D.S. Senanayake.

The squads:

St. Anthony’s College:

S. Kothalawela, T. Gallanga, S. Athukorala, R. Pillai, Y. Gamage, S. Kotuwila, A. Rashik, J. Realando, O. Guneratne, S. Keerthisiri, O. Dissanayake, R. Welagedara, M. Tiran, R. Kumara, M. Amjath, A. Munasinghe.

St. Joseph’s College:

N. Rodrigo, C. Kavindya, J. Athukorala, S. Liyanage, J. Marasinghe, S. Waidyarathne, V. Fernando, N. Marasinghe, V. Randeepa, B. Jayasekara, B. Fernando, R. Rodrigo, I. White, S. Cooray, S. Marc, D. Dias, D. Fernando, N. Guneratne, S. Eran, U. Robinson.