Joe - Pete clash for Fr. Wiratunga Trophy

The Battle of the Saints annual inter school rugby encounter between the traditional rivals St. Joseph's College and St. Peter's College will be played today at Bambalapitiya.

The Joes are fresh after winning the Singer inter school under 20 Division One Group B league title while the Peterites finished third in the Division One Group A league standings.

In fact St. Joseph's College remained as the only unbeaten team in the tournament while St. Peter's College lost two matches against S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia and Royal College respectively.

The inaugural rugby match between the two schools was played in 1955 with St. Peter's College winning the first three matches of the series.

St. Joseph's first victory was recorded in 1958 at Longden Place where they beat the Peterites 11-3 under the captaincy of C. J. Rajaratnam. In 1964 an Old Peterite - Carlo Martyn donated a trophy and it was played for Carlo Martyn trophy till 1966.

In 1968 the St. Peter's Oldboys Union introduced the Rev. Fr. Basil Wiratunga Shield in memory of their late Rector.

St. Joseph's College last won the shield in 1999 under Laksitha Guneratne. St. Peter's College retained the shield last year by a record 101 points to 5 points victory under scrum half Ranuka Jayasinghe.