St. Peter’s College triumphs as champions at the Zahira Centenary Rugby 7’s

Zahira college colombo Centenary Rugby 7s tournament was held successfully at Race course grounds on 2^nd and 3^rd of March 2024. Zahira college rugby union organized this tournament in order to commemorate their 100^th anniversary of  zahira rugby.

One of Sri Lanka’s first schools to play rugby, Zahira College Colombo has participated in the A Division School Rugby League on a regular basis for many years. Since rugby was first played at Zahira in 1924, the college has proudly stood among Sri Lanka’s most prestigious rugby-playing institutions, sharing this illustrious history with institutions like Kingswood, Trinity, and Royal College.

>>Zahira Centenary 7s promises to kick off Schools Rugby Season with flair<<

2024 schools rugby season got off to an exciting start for reigning schools rugby league and knockout champions St. Peter’s, who emerged as Cup winners of the Zahira Centenary Rugby 7s tournament after defeating Isipathana 17-5 in the final played at the Racecourse Ground in Colombo .

>>Zahira Rugby celebrates its Centenary with series of events<<

16 schools participated in the tournament where they were divided into 4 groups to play in the group stage matches. The two days were filled with intense encounters of the schools rugby which happened after a few months of break from last year. 

Zahira Centenary 7s Teams and Pools

Pool – A

• Zahira College
• Dharmaraja College
• S Thomas College
• St Aloysius College

Pool – B

• Royal College
• Siri Sumangala College
• St Joseph’s College
• Lumbini College

Pool – C

• Trinity College
• DSS College
• Wesley College
• Maliyadeva College

Pool – D

• Kingswood College
• Isipathana College
• St Peters College
• Mahanama College

Day 01 Results

The top two teams of each group qualified for the cup segment quarter finals and the spectators were privileged to see some thrilling cup quarters at the 2^nd day of the tournament.

Cup quarters – Final Results

Right after kicking off the day 02 with cup quarters of this 7s championship Bowl and Shield segment semifinals did hold separately.

Bowl Semi Finals

BOWL FINAL – TRINITY against KINGSWOOD

Shield Semi Final

SHIELD FINAL – MALIYADEVA against MAHANAMA

Cup semi finals grabbed the attention of the spectators since it was marvelous to watch how good these young players pulled up some great performances in the game. Also is was followed up by the heated up plate semifinals as well.

Cup Championship – Semi Final

Plate Championship – Semi Final

When it came time for the tournament’s business end, the eagerly anticipated finals were held at the racecourse grounds in a magnificent fashion. The Cup final and the Plate final received the spotlight because they were the long-standing rivals’ in the schools rugby history.

CUP FINAL – ISIPATHANA against ST.PETER’S
PLATE FINAL – ROYAL against ST.JOSEPH’S

The evening session kicked off with the shield final where Maliyadeva went to take on Mahanama. It was followed by the bowl final, plate final, 3^rd place game and the big cup final respectively. Also it was great to see women’s 7s action in between the school matches of the Zahira Centenary 7s for national qualifiers.

Shield Final

SHIELD CHAMPIONS – MALIYADEVA COLLEGE

Bowl Final

BOWL CHAMPIONS – TRINITY COLLEGE

Plate – Final

PLATE CHAMPIONS – ROYAL COLLEGE

The 3^rd place match happened between D.S Senanayake college and Wesley college, where the Dons were able to clinch the victory over Wesley to secure the 3^rd place of the tournament.

Just minutes after that game, clash of the evening took place between Isipathana college and St.Peter’s college for the prestigious Cup championship of the tournament.

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There was fierce competition in the final between two of the island’s top rugby-playing schools. The Peterites piled on the scores with a goal, two tries, and Isipathana put up their score with a lone try, giving the peterites a comfortable 10-0 lead at the first half.

>>Zahira gears up to commemorate 100 years of Rugby<<

In fact, the Peterities were able to continue their winning streak after winning 19–5 in the league match on opening day.
Vishenka Silva was on fire for the Peterites as he scored two tries. Pasindu Bandara scored the other try, while Rahul Peter converted one of them. For Isipathana, Mohamed Zumir scored the lone try.

Cup segment – Final

CUP CHAMPIONS – ST.PETER’S COLLEGE

As the tournament’s finest player, Pasindu Bandara of the victorious St Peter’s team was given an electric motorbike from Sling Mobility together with a cheque for LKR 50,000 for being the best player of the tournament. Tournament’s top try scorer, Menuka Wickramasuriya of St. Thomas’s, also earned a cheque for LKR 50,000.

A historical milestone to be set by diamond milk empowering Rs.2.5 million cash award.

The esteemed event is proudly sponsored by Diamond Milk Moose Clothing, Ride Energy Drink, DASA Group, GNZ BIO SCIENCE, FROSTY, American Water and Sling Mobility.

The media partners will be Hiru FM & Sun FM, The Sunday Times, Daily FT, Dailymirror & Lankadeepa while the digital media and TV partner will be ThePapare and ThePapare TV respectively.

Stay tuned for more sports news on from ThePapare, the number 01 sports channel in Sri Lanka.