Isipatana stun Royal in school league rugby decider

by a Special Sports Correspondent

Isipatana College carried away the inter-school league rugby crown by beating Royal 21-15 in the decider which was worked off at Havelock Park yesterday.The winners came back strongly after being put under pressure in the first half by Royal to earn two glorious tries in the second half and seal the game. Isipatana’s points came through two tries, a conversion and three penalties while Royal collected their points through two tries, a conversion and penalty.

The game was played in a pressure-cooker environment and the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association again failing to control the crowd marred the game with two stoppages. Both stoppages came in the second half because the crowd was stepping into the field.

Royal stole the show in the first half with a try by Pasindu Heshan and went into half time with a score of 10 points to six.

Isipatana controlled the game after the turn around and earned two tries with the best try coming from fly half Navin Kanishka who foxed the Royal defence with a beautiful run. The other try for Isipatana came a few minutes before the end when Praveen Stephen touched down after penetrating run.