The Day 01 of the SLSRFA Under 19 Elite Rugby 7s concluded with 20 first round games being worked out at Havelock Park. The 22 participating teams who were grouped in eight groups played two games each with the exception of the four teams who were grouped in two groups of two teams who only had a solitary game on Day 01.
All Division 1 Segment A teams competing in the tournament booked a spot in the Cup/Plate Quarterfinals with the exception of Wesley college who will be featuring in the Shield Quarterfinals having lost their both their first round games on opening day.
Top seed of each group advanced to the Cup/Plate Quarter final while the second and bottom seeds proceeded to the Bowl and Shield Quarter finals respectively.
Group A & Group H
Vidyartha College (Group A) and D.S Senanayake College (Group H) received the advantage of being drawn into a group with only two teams each and made their way into the Cup/Plate Quarters wining their games against Thurstan College and Ananada College respectively. Both Thurstan and Ananda proceeded to the Bowl Quarter finals.
Group B
St. Joseph’s who were the top seed in Group B impressed as they won both their group games getting the better of St. Sylvester’s and Lumbini. The decider for the second spot in the group was won by Lumbini College against St. Sylvester’s with a closely contested game which ended with a score of 19-12 in favor of Lumbini. Lumbini will be playing in the Bowl final while St. Sylvester’s will compete in the Shield,
Group C
In Group C, Kingswood College and St. Benedict’s College recorded 40+ scores against Devapathiraja College forcing Devapathiraja into the shield quarters. Kingswood were too hot for St. Benedict’s with a 26-07 win against them and grabbed the top seed of the group with St. Benedicts settling for the second spot.
Group D
Isipathana College who were the favorites in the group dominated the group with 52-00 and 47-00 against Moratu Maha Vidyalaya and St. Aloysius’ respectively booking their spot in the Cup/Plate Quarterfinal with St. Aloysius edging out Moratu Maha VIdyala to book the second spot in the group.
Group E
Two Kandy teams Dharmaraja College and Sumangala College squared off for the top spot of the group with both teams having beaten St. John’s College. Dharmaraja College got the better of their home town opponents to book the top spot of the group which will see a promising Sumangala College side competing in the Bowl segment.
Group F
St. Anthony’s announced their arrival in the under 19 shorter format of the game with a bang with massive wins against Siri Piyarathana College and Maliyadeva College. Maliyadeva College ran riot against Siri Piyathana College to book the second spot in the group.
Group G
The most competitive group pre-tournament, on paper, lived up to its expectation. St. Peter’s College one of the tournament favorites did not leave any room for stumbles as they managed to win both their games convincingly to book their spot in the Cup/Plate Quarterfinal as the top seed of the group. Premier trophy winners of last season, Piliyandala Central College delivered the telling upset of the day when they managed to defeat Wesley College competing in Division 1 Segment A, with tyeh scores reading 10-07 in favor of the lads from Piliyandala. In the final game of the day Wesley College faced off St. Peter’s College in a must win encounter to secure a minimum of a second place finish in the group but were battered 40-05 and had to settle for the third spot of the group which will see them compete in the Shield segment tomorrow.
Full Results of Day 01
All teams will feature during Day 02 Cup/Plate, Bowl & Shield Quarterfinals in hopes of booking their spot in the Cup, Plate, Bowl & Shield semifinals
Watch the Day 02 knockout action of SLSRFA Under 19 Elite 7s competition brought to you from Royal Complex from 8.50am onwards ThePapare.com – https://www.thepapare.com/live-slsrfa-under-19-schools-elite-rugby-7s/
