The University of Kelaniya and Sabaragamuwa University sides, which are captained by two ex-Maliyadeva players, Gajitha Amarasinghe and Kaushalya Gunaweera respectively, clashed for the bRonze medal at Nittawela Rugby Fortress. After a disciplined play, the University of Kelaniya outmuscled Sabaragamuwa at the Inter-University Rugby XV’s Championship 2025.
Sabaragamuwa University started the proceedings with a deep kickoff, and they were right on the money, as University of Kelaniya players were under tremendous pressure in the early seconds of the game as they knocked on the ball inside their 22-metre area. At the early stage, THE Sabaragamuwa lads were knocking on the door for a try on three occasions, but were unable to convert their brilliant passage of plays into points, especially under the greasy conditions at the grounds.
The first 15 minutes of the play went by without scoring, but once the game progressed, the University of Kelaniya looked more settled than in the initial phase of the game. All of a sudden Kelaniya worked the ball excellently under tough conditions, and their centre managed to spear a gap and run through the defence to score a magnificent try near to the goalpost. The Kelaniya place kicker nailed the easy conversion to add the extras. (UoK 07 – 00 Sabra)
Later the Kelaniya brigade invaded the Sabaragamuwa half, and with a solid play, they marched towards the try line by gaining yard by yard. While the ball was travelling horizontally for a few minutes, their powerhouse second-row player at last crossed the try line and came back near to the goalpost after giving a couple of crunching hits on two tacklers. The Skipper of Kelaniya Gajitha Amarasinghe made no mistake with the conversion. (UoK 14 – 00 Sabra)
After the restart, the Kelaniya fullback made an awful clearance kick at their 22-metre line, and it triggered a counterattack from the opposition. The three quarters from Sabaragamuwa had a brilliant passage of play as they sprinted into the deep of Kelaniya territory with angled runs and side steps with cut back sinside. Finally, the lads from Sabaragamuwa made a bold reply by planting their first try at the left corner of the field. (UoK 14 – 05 Sabra)
Again, the Sabra brigade had a great chance as they got a line out throw inside the opposition’s 22-metre area, by following a 50-22-metre kick. However, the replay showed that clearly the ball was taken inside to their own half before kicking, but the Referee missed the incident and gave the throwing opportunity to the kicker’s side. With that luck, the Sabaragamuwa lads barged into the try line, but the nippy scrum half from Kelaniya, Perera, did well to put his hands under the ball to prevent the grounding and saved his team from a clear try-scoring opportunity.
Half Time: University of Kelaniya 14 (2 T, 2 C) – 05 (1 T) Sabaragamuwa University
In the second half, the Sabaragamuwa side returned to the field in search of redemption, but their progress was hampered as their prop forward had silly play by clearly being in front of their kicker. The Referee yellow-carded him for the offside play, and later the Kelaniya side struck with a new energy.
Kelaniya was gifted with a lineout throw in an attacking position near to the 22-metre line as the Sabaragamu kicker made a mistake by coming out of the 22-metre mark and kicking it in touch on full. It followed a well-excited driving maul, and the No. 08 decided to break while it was moving forward smoothly. Then Kelaniya went for a pick-and-go play with pre-latched forwards, and finally their prop forward gave them the results that they wanted by scoring their third. (UoK 19 – 05 Sabra)
Again, the Sabaragamuwa fullback made a full out kick and gifted a line-out throw to Kelaniya inside their own half. The Kelaniya outfit took the maximum out of it and gained good territory with a brilliant driving maul before Sabaragamuwa collapsed it illegally. Under a penalty advantage, the Kelaniya fly-half put a high hanging kick towards their open-side wing. He dived onto the ball that was in the in-goal area, but the Assistant Referee decided the ball was knocked on. Hence, Kelaniya had a 5-metre lineout throw, and in the typical attacking style, they went for a maul and barged over the line for the fourth try. (UoK 24 – 05 Sabra)
Then the Sabra brigade came up with a good counterattack, but they failed to score as they were penalised for not releasing the ball at a breakdown.
The penalty kick didn’t find the touch, but the charging Kelaniya lads kept Sabaragamuwa under tremendous pressure. Later, the Kelaniya forward did an exceptional job to counter ruck and pinch the ball inside of their opposition’s 22-metre line. Since then, the attack looked dangerous by the looks of it, and Sabaragamuwa failed to produce adequate defensive work. Hence, Kelaniya scored again with a dream try by the wing and managed to put a cherry on the top of their cake at the brink of the full-time whistle. (UoK 29-05 Sabra)
Finally, the University of Kelaniya secured a podium finish by clinching the Bronze with a thumping victory over Sabaragamuwa, battling alongside the adverse conditions of the ground. The ex-Thomian N.C. Perera did exceptional work as the flyhalf to gain valuable territory by creating scoring opportunities.
Full Time: University of Kelaniya 29 (5 T, 2 C) – 05 (1 T) Sabaragamuwa University
