The Inter schools’ ‘Milo’ Under 16 ‘Twelve’ – A – Side Rugby Tournament 2016 which was scheduled kicked off today. As scheduled there were supposed to be 21 matches played on the first day of the tournament but only 20 matches were played at the end of the day. Major rugby playing schools from all around the Island competed across 8 groups featuring 4 teams per group.
Group A consisted of St. Anthony’s, C.W.W.Kannangara, and Maliyadeva College Kurunegala. St. Anthony’s won the group quite easily defeating Maliyadeva College Kurunegala 17 points to nil; the 17 points included 3 tries and a sole conversion. St. Anthony’s next defeated C.W.W.Kannangara with 4 tries and 2 conversions to none (24-00) going to the knockout stages of the tournament undefeated from group A. The fight for the second place in the group took place between Maliyadeva and C.W.W.Kannangara with Kannangara emerging victors 5-0 with the sole try coming in the last minute of the game. St. Anthony’s, unlike the other schools, looked to score through their big boys in the front, they did it quite convincingly.
Milo U16 All Island Rugby Tournament
Group B saw a St. Peter’s, Thurstan, Vidyartha, and Moratuwa MV battling it out to qualify for the knockout stages. St. Peter’s ran riot against the other three teams defeating them with score lines of 61-00 against Moratuwa MV, 26-00 against Vidyartha, and 32-00 against Thurstan accumulating a total of 20 tries. With St. Peter’s being unbeaten the other teams still had a chance to qualify for the Bowl Championship. Vidyartha had no mishaps again as they went through defeating Moratuwa MV 55-00 and Thurstan 24-00. The last match in this group that decided the 3rd and the 4th placed teams saw Thurstan victorious over Moratuwa MV by 26-00. St. Peter’s have some good runners in their ranks and given the opportunity they will punish a side with pure pace.
Group C included Kingswood, D.S. Senanayake, Ananda, and Lumbini College. Kingswood who were the favorites to win the group from the onset went on to win as expected. They defeated Lumbini 59 points to nil scoring 9 tries, Ananda 29 points to zero, and scraped past D.S. Senanayake 10 points to nil. The score line against D.S. Senanayake was mainly due to them not including some of the key players who played in the first two matches. They too had 16 tries to their name at the end of the first day which was only second to St. Peter’s tally. D.S. Senanayake too having played well went into the next round with a victory over Lumbini (24-00) and a draw against Ananda with both teams failing to score. Ananda and Lumbini took the 3rd and the 4th places respectively, while their match concluded with Ananda winning with 13 points to 7. Kingswood looks to be a well balanced team and includes a good place kicker who slots kicks through the posts at given angles in the field.
Group D included Trinity, Piliyandala MV, Royal College Panadura, and St. Thomas’ Matale. Trinity won the group as convincingly as the other tabletoppers. They got a walk over early in the tournament against St. Thomas as the side from Matale was a no show. They next routed Royal College Panadura by 63 points to nil with some fast running rugby; this score line included 11 tries. Next they defeated the lads from Piliyandala (26-00) to qualify to the next round unbeaten. Piliyandala MV won the next match with Royal College Panadura (29-00) securing the second spot of the group and qualifying to the Plate Championship. Trinity too possess the depth in their squad, with some players who played in the U18 featuring in the U16 too.
