The Singer Schools Rugby encounter between D.S.Senanayake College Colombo and Isipathana College Colombo kicked off 5 minutes after the scheduled start at 4.30 p.m. at a decently packed-in Royal College Sports Complex today.
It was always going to be one-sided with Isipathana College going in as evident favourites. This was shown straight after the boys in green kicked off and kept attacking in Senanayake territory. The Senanayakians were put under pressure from the word go and a penalty was awarded in favour of Isipathana and the left footer I.V.Kongahawaththa of Isipathana opted to kick from 22 meters but failed miserably. An easy opportunity missed.
It was a stunning display of working the ball in the line and hitting the right spaces at the correct angles which opened the scoring for the mean green machine when W.A.C.Dilshan scored and Kongahawaththa converted with ease to put first points on the board. 7 nil.
It was a faulty play by Isipathana for which the referee awarded a penalty in the 10th minute of the game when D.S fly half H.Tilekaratne cleared over the uprights from a distance of 22 meters that put the first points on the board for the Borella lads. Score 07-03
The boys in green kept playing a very mature game of rugby on the field, evident they had made alterations to their game after last week’s neck and neck match against Royal where they pierced out a win. They showed a lot of skill in passing and the big strong forwards grinded in quite effectively but, they mainly showed perfection in the simplicity of their game play applying constant pressure on the lads in Black and Gold.
The D.S.Senanayake team on the other hand did really well to fend off their opposition with a good display of defence and the match turned out to be a thriller with a lot of high balls and booting involved by both teams.
A clearance kick by D S Senanayake which was cleaned up by the Pathanians behind the try line was then cleared through an own try which gave possession to DS 30 meters away from the post. They opted to boot it through to take the score to 7 – 6 with Isipathana in lead.
At that point the game bore evidence of going down to the wire, but what happened thereafter was simply a masterful display by the veteran Rugby school. A quick tap resulting from a penalty awarded in favour of Isipathana saw their strong no 3 G.D.Disanayake muscling over the line to score. Flyhalf Kongahawaththa handsomely converted to add two more. 14 – 6.
A stolen scrum ball by DS saw them cover some good ground with the help of quick hands on the line hitting spaces and was, at a point playing advantage inches away from the try line but, play was called back to point and D S Senanayake was awarded a penalty which they slotted easily for 3 points. (14 – 9.)
Evidently an interesting game from the start. Some fantastic play by the Isipathana fullback R.R.Silva who collected a high ball cleanly and created good play with his team mates around to support with some “quick hands”. Kongahawaththa somehow managed to get hold of the ball to cross the line for a superb try which he converted spot on to take the boys in green to a 12 point lead. (21-9)
T.H.S.D.Silva of Isipathana was warned by the field umpire and D.S.Senanayake college was awarded a penalty which was booted cleanly through the post 30 meters away by Tilekaratne. 21- 12.
It was an amazing display of team work as the Isipathana lads kept grinding into the DS 22 and the Green full-back joined the line to add extra men and R.R.Silva scored a spectacular try on the left wing ballooning the score to 26-12.
With the restart Isipathana was awarded a scrum ball and once again Silva the fullback of Isipathana college added numbers to the line which proved effective when they scored yet another try which was unsuccessfully converted though. 31-12 Pathana ahead.
A few phases later,the Isipathana scrum half and kicked out which took the game into the half time with score reading 31 to 12.
Half time score Isipathana 31 DS 12
DS Senanayake College kicked after half time from the Sri Lanka Foundation end which wasn’t cleanly collected by the Boys in green. It was a little sloppy passage of play for Isipathana College right after the break with a few clumsy passes and knock-ons. The Senanayakians kept fighting in good spirit driving into Pathana territory but as a result of a few misguided passes lost possession and missed out on an opportunity to capitalize while Isipathana were still gathering themselves.
The green boys found their momentum once again and it was total carnage from there onwards. The streak began with a cleanly collected line out 5 meters away from the Isipathana try line was which was scored beautifully by G.D.Dissanayake and converted by the fly. 38-12.
Isipathana College was constantly in DS territory in the second half of the game clearly dominating, proving that they are well deserved favourites along with Trinity College displaying some high class schools Rugby. A penalty scrum in favour of the Pathanians was driven powerfully by the strong forwards finally to be whizzed around and scored under the post by S.P.Sooriyaarachchi. The flyhalf doing the needful with the boot to add another 7 on the board. 45- 12.
P.H.H.Maduranga was the replacement scrum half for the men in Green and he showed that the Isipathan side had great depth. A dummy pass to fool the Senanayakians and once again some stunning line work gave the opportunity to G.A.P.Perera to join in on the fun as the Isipathana fly half converted very well from a difficult angle 22 meters away from the post.
The Senanayake bench looked devastated and grey while the Pathanians simply enjoyed every minute of the onslaught. The Isipathana fullback cleared a decently high ball and created some wonderful game play once again working the line very effectively and hitting spaces very well as they have been doing throughout the game. Eventually the big number 8 for the Greens U.P.O.P.Gunaratne shafted his way over the try line to add a try to his name after supporting quite notably in previous tries. An easy conversion literally under the post took Isipathana to a gigantic lead of 47 points. 59-12.
As the game clearly seemed out of DS’s reach Isipathana College mercilessly kept pushing into Senanayake territory. After some powerful hand offs by the Isipathana forwards, D.M.Gallage chipped one over the field to clear grounds, collected it and make a mad dash to score his first in the 67th minute of the pathana dominated game.
This young lad seems to have a lot of promise in the future with a lot of energy running around the field. Sooriyaarachchi continued his successful form with the boots. 66-12. Isipathana kept scoring when W.A.C.Dilshan scored his second which was again converted well. 73-12.
The Isipathana fly half kicked a high ball to clear and Gallage jolted up into the air to collect the ball off the bounce and once again outran the grim lads in Black and gold to score his second. Two delightful tries by this promising rugby player. Although this was one of the very few unsuccessful conversions by Sooriyaarachchi the score read a mammoth 78-12.
To add to the bitterness for the Senanayakians, I.R.W.Jamarawikrama was sent off the field with a yellow card with just 5 minutes to go in the game. With 14 men DS tried to fend off the fierce Pathana attacks but, Isipathana turned around a line out, kicked it to no man’s land, chased it down, even the bounce favoured the green machines and the 13th try was scored by S.P.Sooriyaarachchi and converted by Sooriyaarachchi and the dark 80 minutes for the Senanayakians came to an end with the referee blowing the whistle with the score reading 85 to 12.
Although it was a tough day at the office for the lads in Black and gold it was a spectacular match with the display of some of the finest talent in Sri Lanka Schools rugby. D.S.Senanayake did all they could and was at a stage very effective in defence but was outmatched in the end with a deficit of 73 points to the 800+ kg weighing team.
Full Time Isipathana 85 DS Senanayake 12
ThePapare.com player of the match S.P.Sooriyaarachchi
