Dirty rugby shocks hill capital

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Corr

It was not rugby as the match was turned into an ugly as both teams fought in the middle over a minor incident is the schools under 20 division one segment A rugby tournament match played between between Kingswood College and St. Anthony's College which had to be abandoned early in the second half at he Bogmabara Stadium, Kandy yesterday. At the time the match was abandoned, Kingswood led 6 points (2 penalties) to 5 (1 try) which was at the score at half time.

This being a prestigious clash, the match was played at a furious pace. The Kingswoodians opened in the 22nd minute of play when an Antonian player was penalized for 'killing the ball' and stand off Kosala Perera put over the penalty. A minute later, the Antonians took over the lead when their three quarters moved the ball and winger Gayan Ranaraja went over far left. This try went unconverted. In the 26th minute the Antonians were penalized for not realizing the ball and Kingswoods start off put over the penalty to take a 6-5 at the breather.

The trouble stared in the 4th minute of second half when a Kingswood player was tackled following a time out. All hell broke loose with the players from Kingswood's bench rushing into the field as assaulting their opponents. It was a free for all. A fallen Antonian player was kicked by at least 4 players. The old boys, staff and the police rushed in control the situations.

The police squad was led by two chief Inspectors S. Akila and Edirisinghe who did an excellent job in closing the gates and preventing the public from entering the scene. The match commissioner W.D.O. Wijewansa said that he will be sending a full report on the incident to the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association on this incident.

Three players from the Antonians side and two from Kingswood were rushed for medical attention.