The Eagles Rugby 7s Tournament, organized by the Old Antonians Rugby Football Club, successfully concluded on 31st May at the Havelock grounds. In total, thirteen Old Boys teams representing top Rugby-playing schools in the island, participated in the extravagant event.
The proceedings of the day started with the hosts taking on their hometown rivals, Vidyartha College, and the tigers were able to stun the Antonian Eagles with a final score of 26 – 07.
During the group stage, old boys from St. Peter’s, Royal and Kingswood emerged as the group leaders, and got through to the Cup Semi Finals by winning all of their pool games. In the most competitive group (Group A), Isipathana and Vidyartha emerged as group tops on match points. However, the crucial group stage game between the two sides ended in a 14-all draw. Hence, based on the points scored in the other pool games, the vibrant Isipathana outfit went through to the Cup Semi Finals, while the brave tigers were unluckily relegated to the Plate Semi Finals.
>>13 teams vying for glory at the Eagles Rugby Sevens<<
Alongside the Vidyartha outfit, D. S. Senanayake, Zahira and Mahanama advanced to the Plate Semi Finals as the runner-up teams from their respective groups. Furthermore, the Wesley, St. Benedict’s, St. Thomas’, Matale, and Mahanama old boys were drawn into the Bowl Quarterfinals.
Surprisingly, the hosts – the Hill Country Eagles – were out of the competition after the preliminary round losses to Isipathana and Vidyartha. Their drawn game against Wesley was not enough to secure them at least a place in the Bowl Semi Finals.
Though the opposition displayed some resistance in both attack and defence, the formidable Wesley side went across the Matale Thomians to register a 19 – 00 victory to bag the Bowl Championship.
In the Plate Final, the Vidyartha Tigers dominated against the energetic D. S. Senanayake side and achieved a Halftime lead of 10 – 00. In the second half, the Tigers scored another three tries to extend their lead to 29-00 and clinch the Plate.
In an exhilarating Final, the St. Peter’s winger made an excellent sprint in the second minute and planted the first try near the right corner flag. However, the difficult conversion kick went astray, which was decisive in the latter stage of the game. Then, Kingswood struck back with a converted try to gain the lead at Halftime.
In the second half, Kingswood extended their lead through another converted try, which came from spectacular work by the line. Trailing by 9 points, St. Peter’s played their hearts out and scored a brilliant try to cut the deficit down to 2 points. In the dying stage of the game, the St. Peter’s side was hunting for the winning try, and were attacking from an advantageous position. However, their wingers’ butterfingers suddenly cost them the game as the Referee blew the long whistles after the ball was knocked on. At the end of the day, the proud Kingswoodians proved themselves as the “Kings of Rugby” by clinching another Cup title.
In the Legends Tap Rugby 10s game, the Kandy Legends edged out the Colombo Legends to post their victory after trailing 10 – 05 at Halftime.
Match Results
Group Stage
- Vidyartha Old Boys 21 – 07 St. Anthony’s Old Boys
- D.S Senanayake Old Boys 38 – 00 St. Benedict’s Old Boys
- Royal Old Boys 26 – 12 Zahira Old Boys
- Kingswood Old Boys 24 – 07 St. Joseph’s Old Boys
- Isipathana Old Boys 35 – 10 Wesley Old Boys
- St. Peter’s Old Boys 42 – 00 St. Benedict’s Old Boys
- Royal Old Boys 21 – 12 St. Thomas’ Matale Old Boys
- Kingswood Old Boys 26 – 00 Mahanama Old Boys
- St. Anthony’s Old Boys 05 – 33 Isipathana Old Boys
- Vidyartha Old Boys 33 – 10 Wesley Old Boys
- St. Peter’s Old Boys 22 – 00 D. S. Senanayake Old Boys
- Zahira Old Boys 38 – 00 St. Thomas’ Matale Old Boys
- St. Joseph’s Old Boys 19 – 21 Mahanama Old Boys
- St. Anthony’s Old Boys 12 – 12 Wesley Old Boys
- Vidyartha Old Boys 14 – 14 Isipathana Old Boys
Bowl Semi Finals
- Wesley 14 – 12 St. Joseph’s Old Boys
- St. Thomas’ Matale Old Boys 17 – 00 St. Benedict’s Old Boys
Plate Semi Finals
- Vidyartha Old Boys 33 – 07 Mahanama Old Boys
- D.S Senanayake Old Boys 17 – 07 Zahira Old Boys
Cup Semi Finals
- Kingswood Old Boys 21 – 07 Isipathana Old Boys
- St. Peter’s Old Boys 21 – 00 Royal Old Boys
- Kandy Legends 20 – 15 Colombo Legends
Bowl Final
- Wesley Old Boys 19 – 00 St. Thomas’ Matale Old Boys
Plate Final
- Vidyartha Old Boys 29 – 00 D. S. Senanayake Old Boys
The Final
- Kingswood Old Boys 14 – 12 St. Peter’s Old Boys
