Peterites dump Royal 10-5 to win schools rugby sevens

By A Special Sports Correspondent

St. Peter’s College did well to beat Royal College Colombo 10-5 in the final of the all-island ‘Elite Rugby Sevens’ and clinch the Cup Championship at Royal Sports Complex in Colombo on Sunday (April 21).

St. Peter’s did well to survive a scary second half where they were down to six men following a yellow card offense. But the Peterites managed to hold a second half charge by Royal, who won the hearts of spectators for playing well after half time and threatening to pull the game away from the winners. Their only hiccup in the final was being unable to score a try when the Peterites were playing minus one player for a few minutes in the second half.

All the scoring in the game was done in the first half which the Peterites dominated. Royal scored first through a try by Yohan Pathirana, but the Peterites came back strongly into the game scoring twice through Gayan Silva and Yumeth Shihara. Both the Peterite tries were scored in a manner which the ball carriers outpaced the opposition with sheer speed and skill. Shihara covered the entire length of the ground before scoring his try on the stroke of half time.

Royal failed to produce the magic they showcased in the semi-final against Isipatana and also throughout the two-day tournament. But Royal had the Peterites missing a beat in their hearts when they attempted a last gasp try with the buzzer having gone for full time which was followed by a scrum won and a well taken penalty; at which moment they opted to run the ball. Unfortunately for Royal the ball carrier who was running well was bundled into touch with the goal line staring at his face. The champion Peterite team was captained by Dulaj Nawodya and coached by Sanath Martis. The runners up Royal team was captained by Thiven Perera and coached by Dushanth Lewke.

Vidyartha took away the Plate Championship by beating hometown rivals Dharmaraja by 24 points to 12. The winners led 19-0 at half time.Ananda College Colombo won the Bowl Championship beating Lumbini College by 24 points to nil.The inter-school rugby sevens tournament was conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and sponsored by Dialog.