Peterites looking to consolidate

Chris Dhambarage

RUGBY: The reigning champions St. Peter’s College will be hoping to consolidate their position in the ‘A’ division league when they take on Trinity College Kandy in a key Singer inter school rugby tournament match at Bambalapitiya today.

The Peterites are one of the two unbeaten teams in the current season and they are hoping to register their fourth successive victory in the Singer ‘A’ division league tournament.

They have already got off to a flying start having defeated St. Anthony’s College, S. Thomas’ College and the former champions Isipatana College last week.

In contrast Trinity College have experienced mixed fortunes this year and will be looking to produce an improved performance. Last week they came out with their best effort for the season while outplaying Wesley College by a most convincing margin.

The Trinitians also had the satisfaction of scoring more tries and lost both their previous games against S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia and St. Anthony’s College within a margin of four points.

However this time they will be up against a more superior side and will need to put up a tremendous performance to topple the Peterites.

Royal v Kingswood

Royal College will face an acid test when they confront Kingswood College Kandy in their Singer inter school ‘A’ division league rugby tournament match at the Royal Sports Complex, Independence Avenue today.

Royal College have maintained an unbeaten record this season having notched up three successive victories against Wesley College, Thurstan College and Ananda College.

They are currently on top of the points table having accumulated a total of 79 points while conceding only 19 points to their opponents.

However Kingswood College made a fine impact in their previous outing where they thrashed S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia by a massive margin in Kandy.

The former ‘A’ division league champions will be hoping to draw inspiration from that excellent performance as they come out for the first time in Colombo.

The Kingswoodians of course lost their opening encounter 0-6 to Isipatana in a game which was severely disrupted by heavy rain at the beginning of the season. But since then they have improved tremendously and now they seem to be in a good frame of mind to take up the challenge.

Isipatana v Thurstan

Isipatana College will be hoping to register their third victory this season when they take on the traditional rivals Thurstan College in their Singer ‘A’ division league tournament match at Longden Place today.

This match will be of great importance for both teams as they will be also vying for honours for the Abdul Jabbar Shield.

Isipatana of course have dominated the series in the past few years and look set to further extend their dominance.

In addition Isipatana will be hoping to get the maximum from this outing as they have a very tough schedule ahead of them. Last week they really felt the pressure as the former champions suffered their first defeat in the current season while going down to St. Peter’s College badly.

This will be a good opportunity for them to regroup and bounce back into recognition against a much weaker opposition.

They could certainly pile up a big score and get into top gear which will also be a good morale booster ahead of the more important fixtures.