Peterites out to remain unbeaten

Chris DHAMBARAGE

St. Peter's College with a star studded line up are confident of maintaining an unbeaten record in the Singer inter school under 20 'A' division league rugby tournament.

Their main target is the 'A' division league title and already they have recorded back to back victories against two tough opponents. They have snatched an early lead in the points table following their success against Isipatana and Trinity College Kandy respectively.

St. Peter's College of course started the new season with a good frame of mind having clinched the Western Province and the All Island seven a side tournament after a lapse of four years.

St. Peter's College last won the sevens tournament in 2004 under Renaz Mohamed. They remained unbeaten throughout the tournament and overcame Trinity College in the final encounter. Before that they defeated Kingswood College and S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia on their way into the final.

The star in that tournament undoubtedly was their captain Keith Gurusinghe who planted four spectacular tries and created many scoring opportunities to win the Player of the Series award.

In fact Gurusinghe is one of their most experienced players in the side and had the privilege of been a member of the champion 2008 St. Peter's rugby team that lifted the President's Trophy knock out title.

The feature in Gurusinghe is that he has the potential to switch positions at any given time and has delivered the goods immediately. In fact in the All Island tournament he started as a crack centre three quarter, then played a vital link as the number eight before moving into the front row as a hard running prop forward.

In the league tournament Gurusinghe will operate as the number eight alongside their playmaker Shenal Dias and Asitha Ratnayake which forms a formidable third row combination.

The Peterites are also assured of possession in the line outs with the towering Soyuru Anthony and Asitha Krishan performing the role as the second row forwards.

Another experienced player Steve Nelson and Chaturanga Mendis will form the front row with Shalin Mendis as the regular hooker.

In addition dynamic scrum half Rizwan Meedin will operate from the base of the scrum with Viraj Perera as the fly half.

The Peterites also have tremendous power in their backline with speedy centre three quarter Danushka Ranjan leading the way. He has already made his intentions clear while completing a hattrick of tries in the key match against Trinity College Kandy at the Pallekelle Stadium.

In addition he scored another splendid try against Isipatana College after having covered nearly 85 metres on his own. Last year too he had a successful season where he planted a total of 16 tries including four each against their traditional rivals St. Joseph's College and Mahanama College respectively.

Last year of course St. Peter's College went through a pretty ordinary season except for their success in the Carlton seven a side tournament.

They were pushed into the sixth place in the points table having notched up only three victories against St. Joseph's (41-5), Mahanama and Dharmaraja (61-0).

St. Peter's College last won the 'A' division league title in 2007 where they were unbeaten champions under the captaincy of Ranuka Jayasinghe and in 2008 they went on to clinch the knock out tournament under the captaincy of Purnaka Delpachithra.

The St. Peter's College Rugby Pool for 2010:

Prop forwards: Steve Nelson, Chaturanga Mendis, Johan Anderson

Hooker: Shalin Mendis, Vishwa Alwis

Second rovers: Soyuru Anthony, Asitha Krishan, Ravindu Indrakumara, Shehan Mendis

Flankers: Asitha Ratnayake, Shenal Dias, Kevin Fonseka, Chamath Madurawela

Number eight: Keith Gurusinghe (captain)

Scrum half: Rizwan Meedin, Ruchira Kumara

Fly half: Viraj Perera, Aneesha Fernando, Shehan Weerakkody

Centres: Danushka Ranjan, Bhanuka Nanayakkara

Wingers: Sandun Herath, Lakith Perera, Srinath Perera, Dinesh Perera

Full back: Kevin Wimaladasa

Head Coach: Sanath Martisz

Assistant Coach: Colin Denish

Trainer: Ransilu Jayatilleke

Manager: Mahesh Perera

Sports Coordinator: Rev Fr. Prasanga Silva