Royal College took on St. Joseph’s College on Friday (20th June) at their backyard, i.e. The Royal College Sports Complex, hoping to extend their unbeaten run of the Dialog Schools Rugby Season 2025.
Right off the bat, the speedster of Royal College, Didula Jayasuriya, was able to capitalise on a “loose ball” and score the opener try, which arguably could be the fastest try of the season, with only 12 seconds of match time having been played. (RC 05 – SJC 00)
In the first quarter of the match, Royal College was seen camping on St. Joseph’s College’s half. With Royal College showing its brute physicality in its attacking phases, whereas St. Joseph’s responded with an equal show in physicality in their defence. At the 20th minute mark, Royal College managed to break through the mighty defence of St. Joseph’s College with a brilliance of offloading and keeping the ball alive. The big prop Yoshitha Sithumina was able to penetrate the Joes defence and find himself under the posts of the whitewash. Stand-off Idris Farouk makes no mistake this time in bisecting the posts. (RC 12 – SJC 00)
A handling error from St. Joseph’s College gave Royal College another opportunity to extend their lead. After a brutal 15-phase non-stop ruck attack from Royal College, Centre Hiruka Jayadinu was able to get a try for his name. Farouk adds the extras (RC 19 – SJC 00)
For the first time in the match, Royal College’s defence was put to the test. St. Joseph’s having the first 25 minutes in their half, were finally able to flex their muscles. Pounding on Royal’s mistakes and winning penalties after penalties, the Josephiens took the unconventional “quick tap” rather than opting for a scrum or a lineout. Using their big forwards, the Josephiens were able to attack the unprepared Royal defence and score their first try of the match through their flanker Ashen Kumar. Beeshma Jayasekara adds the extras. (RC 19 – SJC 07)
Half Time: RC 19 (3T 2C) – 07 (1T 1C) SJC
It was a sloppy restart as both teams were making mistakes in infringements. A maul set up with a back-peel left the blind side open for the Royal College skipper Amika Samarasinghe to find the whitewash 15 minutes into the second half. Idris Farouk slots the conversion from the touch line, extending his team’s lead (RC 26 – SJC 07)
A thumping cross kick from the stand-off Idris Farouk to his open-side flanker Senuja Ranasinghe saw him at a try-scoring opportunity in the 53rd minute of the game. Idris Farouk adds the extras (RC 33 – SJC 07)
Indiscipline in the breakdowns from the Royal College gave St. Joseph’s College an opportunity to cut down the deficit. Similar to their previous try, the Josephiens were able to penetrate the Royal defence through their big second row, Janith Marasinghe and score his try under the posts. Jayasekara adds the extras (RC 33 – SJC 14)
Full Time: RC 33 (5T 4C) – 14 (2T 2C) SJC
Points Breakdown
Royal College – 33 (Didula Jayasuriya 1T, Yoshitha Sithumina 1T, Hiruka Jayadinu 1T, Amika Samarasinghe 1T, Senuja Ranasinghe 1T, Idris Farouk 4C)
St. Joseph’s College – 14 (Ashen Kumar 1T, Janith Marasinghe 1T, Beeshma Jayasekara 2C)
 at their backyard, i.e. The Royal College Sports Complex, hoping to extend their unbeaten run of the Dialog Schools Rugby Season 2025.){kind=link}