Isipatana - Trinity clash on May 20

One of the most looked forward confrontations in the schools rugby calendar, the encounter between Isipatana College, Colombo and Trinity College, Kandy will take place on May 20 (Sunday) at CR and FC grounds, Longden Place.

Isipatana scored two smashing wins over St Joseph’s (29-18) and Kingswood (35-5) in their last two outings having being held to a 19-all draw by Vidyartha in their first match.

The Trinitians who began the season with a hard fought 25-19 win over Science then scored a runaway 54-10 win over home town rivals St Anthony’s before suffering a 29-34 defeat at the hands of the Peterites.

With both teams likely to play fast open rugby an enthralling game is on the cards. In Kavindu Costa and Hirantha Perera, the lads from Havelock Town have an experienced halves combination. In Sharmal Chathuranga and Ashan Kovinda they have two penetrative centres while on the wings they have two daring runners in the seasoned Shenal Dias and Uditha Prematilleke who will pose the biggest threat to the Trinitians in addition to an attacking full back in Sithum Chathusanka.

Trinity's ‘threes’ too have given a dazzling display during the last few matches.

The halves combination of Sanjaya Somasiri and Tharinda Ratwatte have hit it off smoothly while centres skipper Kaneel Seneviratne and Thisila Karunatilleke have sliced through the opponents defence with their side-stepping and speed while on the wing newcomer Dharshana Udalagama has stood out with his poweful runs scoring two fine tries against the Peterites with full back Santhana Sheik joining the line to form the overlap.

The lads from Havelock Town won last year's match by 25-19 at Pallekele with the Trinitians winning the 2010 match by 28-20 at Havelock Park.

The Trinity-Isipatana match has been a regular fixture since 1981 with Isipatana recording the highest score of 43-8 under the leadership of Anuranga Walpola in 2002 while Trinity's best performance was in 2008 with a 29-10 win at Longden Place.