Vidyartha-Ananda clash for Gopallawa Shield

S M Jiffrey ABDEEN, Kandy Sports Corr

The first leg of the 43rd William Gopallawa Shield rugby encounter between Vidyartha College and Ananda College will be played at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium, Kandy, today, July 7 at 4.30 pm.

This was disclosed to the Daily News by the Secretary of the Old Vidyarthians Rugby Development Club Bharatha Dodankotuwa last evening. He said that it was a hurriedly arranged match yesterday. This match was earlier scheduled to be played on June 30 but due to various reasons it could not be played.

Former Minister of Sports C B Ratnayake will be the Chief Guest. Vidyartha College are the present holders of the William Gopallawa Shield having won it by a comfortable margin last. The tally of the series stands at 22 wins by Vidyartha and 20 by the Anandians. The arrangements for the second leg is still not known and it has to be played in Colombo.