School teams ready to throw everything at ‘gladiator style’ rugby challenge

By A Special Sports Correspondent

The inter-school league rugby tournament is expected to draw the crowds for yet another season as the sport of ‘rugby union’ is set to prove that it’s the most popular discipline practised here in the island next to cricket.

The Division 1 Segment A of the league rugby tournament will be worked off this season with 16 teams instead of the14-team line-up adopted last season. The tournament is expected to commence on June 10 and conclude on August 18; according to the rugby calendar released by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA). So far the school’s section of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) has not indicated of any changes to the starting date of this tournament.

The SLSRFA increasing the teams contesting the Division 1 segment of the tournament to 16 teams-eight in each group- is a bold move. But it has its pros and cons. The two teams that ended at the bottom of the group last season don’t see themselves being relegated. This type of decision by the school rugby authorities doesn’t force teams to be on the edge of their seats when the chips are down and they have not fared well. This means teams performing poorly can hang in there without being forced to drop to the bottom of the ‘league’ tournament. Instead the SLSRFA has promoted two teams from the Division 1 Segment B to contest the Division 1 Segment A of the tournament. These two teams which have earned promotions are Thurstan and Sri Sumangala Kandy. Both these teams did well last season in the Division 1 Segment A of the tournament. Thurstan has a long history in the sport of rugby and it would be a welcome return to Segment A; where the cream of the teams fight for the school rugby plum. However all eyes would be on new entrant Sri Sumangala which has to settle itself among the giants of school rugby.

The Division 1 Segment A of the schools tournament is hotly contested and players are forced to think and play the game like semi-professionals. It would be interesting to see how these two teams survive the big knocks in this segment where only the very best will survive. But luckily for the game all teams have taken this school rugby ‘challenge’ very seriously and have employed the best of coaches and support staff. Like its big brother, club rugby, school rugby also attracts massive media attention with games being telecast ‘live’ on a website dedicated to this sport. Most schools have more than one sponsor to back them and last year the main sponsor of the tournament-Dialog-pumped in much money to keep school rugby running like a Swiss made wristwatch.

Reigning champions St. Peter’s are grouped along with Isipatana, D.S Senanayake, St. Anthony’s, Trinity, S.Thomas’, Dharmaraja, Science and Sri Sumangala in Segment A while the other group (Segment B) comprises St. Peter’s, Royal, Zahira, St. Joseph’s, Vidyartha, Wesley, Kingwood and Thurstan.

Reigning champions St. Peter’s stared this season (2024) with two impressive performances. One was winning the Zahira International Invitations Sevens and the other was the School Elite Sevens. The Peterites were in a class of their own and gave enough signs that they will continue from where they stopped last season. Last season the lads from Bambalapitiya bagged the ‘league tournament’ and later the president’s trophy knockout tournament. The only team that posed a threat to St. Peter’s was Isipatana, which was breathing down their backs during the entire season. The two schools initially met in the super round of the league tournament where the Peterites beat the Green Shirts 22-17. The two teams then met again in the school’s knockout final where St. Peter’s ran away winners with a score of 25 against 16. Clearly St. Peter’s was the better side compared to Isipatana; this is despite the crowds wanting to witness an upset towards the end of the league tournament and during the knockouts.

Bradby ‘boys’ Royal and Trinity have already announced the dates for their annual encounter which is played as a home and away two-legged series. The first leg of the encounter will be played on August 24 in Colombo while the return will be played up in Pallakele on September 7. Last year Royal won the ‘Shield’ with an aggregate of 37 points against 30 by Trinity. Royal were led last year by lock forward Randul Senanayake. Trinity had a season of mixed fortunes and even won the first leg of the Bradby Shield, but the side led by Atab Manzil just couldn’t maintain the sharpness on the field need to produce a champion side. Trinity’s last glorious season in school rugby was recorded in 2014 under Tharinda Ratwatte. Trinity last won the Bradby Shield that year.

Last season the schools’ rugby segment continued smoothly without any hiccups; thanks to a sporting attitude displayed by all teams. There was a heart-warming incident last season when an Isipatana College player chose to make himself available for his school’s First XV rugby team despite there being a bereavement in the family. Back division player Heshan Randimal chose to wear the school jersey and play for his team while his loved ones were moaning the death of his mother at home. It later came to light that the player’s mother was one person who nurtured the dream of Heshan reaching great heights in rugby. Isipatana played against St. Joseph’s that evening and the Green Shirts won the encounter with a score of 28 against 18 by the Joes. And after the match, members of the Josephian team visited the funeral house where the remains of Heshan’s mother were kept. Rugby is a brutal game which demands one to be heartless; especially when the tempo in a game is high and no quarter is asked nor given. But rugby produces moments to remember when players show the softer side of human beings.