Former Peterite and national Under 20 Sevens coach Collin Denish has been appointed as the head coach of the St. Peter’s 1st XV side for the 2016 season.

Collin will hence make his return to Bambalapitiya after a lapse of a year in which he took Science College to greater heights along with former Science College player and assistant coach Amila Chathuranga. Under his mentorship, Science College climbed to the peak of the school rugby scene as the Mount Lavinia boys went on to clinch the knockout trophy defeating Isipathana College.

The former Peterite, Collin captained St. Peter’s College in 1989 and will once again take over the coaching duties of the very institution that taught him the rules of the oval ball sport. His appointment comes after a quite a disappointing season for the Peterites who failed to deliver despite having the talent in store. Australian Ben Mac Dougall, who was in charge of them, did not seem to be making ends meet as the Peterites finished sixth behind St. Joseph’s and Science College while losing out to the Joes after 15 years.

Collin’s appointment comes at a crucial stage with less than two months to go for the highly anticipated school rugby league as he will be entrusted with the task of bringing back the glory days for the Blue, Gold and Whites. He served as assistant coach earlier at St. Peters during the years 2006 to 2011 and later had a two year stint as head coach during the 2012-2014 time period.

The most interesting clash this season, with his appointment at St. Peter’s, would be the Science College game as the Peterites have had a disappointing run against the knockout champions with the Science boys massacring the Peterites in the semifinals last year.