Joes maul Kingswood 34-3 in school rugby opener  

by A Special Sports Correspondent  

St. Joseph’s College started the 2022 Inter-school League Rugby Tournament in style when they squashed Kingswood College Kandy by 34 points to 3 in a lopsided game at Havelock Park on Thursday evening.

The winners ran down six tries in all and saw two touchdowns being converted on a day where Kingswood were seen wanting in ball handling and meeting the brutal onslaught by the heavy Joes forwards. Joes led 19-3 at the short whistle of referee Yatawara. The referee was cautious when players stopped for injuries and warned both sides to wait till the ball was put into the scrum before they started shoving.

Several injuries to Kingswood marked their day as they failed to put up a fight; managing just a solitary three points which came in the first half of the first outing for the season.

Joes were truly the winners in this game and were led well by skipper Teran Karunanayake who scored the first try of the game. The other players who crossed the Kingswood line were Sachintana Vidyana and Sithija Sanjeewa while scrum half Vihanga Randeepa jinxed his way for a try after selling a dummy. His try was a beauty and underscored the Joes style of playing fast open rugby.

St. Joseph’s are coached this season by Nilfer Ibrahim while Kingswood are coached by Buddhika Thalagampola.

Joes are pooled alongside Royal, S. Thomas’, Trinity, Kingswood and St. Anthony’s in Division 1 A segment of the tournament.

The teams in Division 11 A segment are Isipatana, St. Peter’s, Wesley, Science, Vidyartha and Dharmaraja.

Today (Friday) Royal take on St. Anthony’s at Royal Sports Complex while Isipatana battle Science College at Havelock Park. Both matches are scheduled to commence at 4.15 pm.