Royal look to continue their winning streak

By Shamseer Jaleel

The unbeaten Royal College Team will face an acid test when they take on Wesley College in their Inter-Schools Under-19 League Rugby Tournament encounter at the Havelock Park in Colombo today. The kick-off is at 4.15 p.m. 

Royal, led by fly half Thivain Perera have made a clean sweep in their three outings played so far but are certain to receive some stiff opposition from a determined Wesley outfit.
Royal of course, started the new season with an emphatic 60-5 victory over Kingswood College on their home grounds with Didula Jayasuriya and Nazeer Mohamed as the outstanding players scoring two tries each. 

Royal came up against a fighting Vidyartha outfit in their second game of the season but the team from Reid Avenue withstood the pressure and came out victorious 25-10 in the end at the Nittawela Stadium in Kandy under tough weather conditions. 

Ayyash Shiyam had a splendid game for Royal with three tries while Naqeeb Mohamed and Senuja Ranasinghe scored one try each. 

Thereafter, Royal made it three-in-a-row as they powered their way to a resounding 34-7 win over Zahira College at Maradana with Naqueeb Mohamed scoring twice while Ayyash Shiham, Yoshitha Jayasekara and Amaan Althaf touched down once. 

Apart from Skipper Perera, Royal will have the services of Naqeeb Mohamed, second rower Buwaneka Senanayake and their Number Eight Ayyash Shiyam who are some outstanding players in their line-up. 

Meanwhile, the Wesleyites, led by flanker Shem Mendis started their season with a hard fought 21-14 triumph over Zahira at Maradana with Kaveesha Dilhara leading the way with two superb tries while Hamdhan Shafraz scored one try and A. Haadhi contributed six points through two penalties.

Wesley had a much easier outing in their second fixture as they outplayed Thurstan 70-3 at Ratmalana where they went on the rampage to score as many as 12 unanswered tries in a completely one-sided contest.  

However, Wesley’s unbeaten run came to an end when they suffered a 10-25 defeat at the hands of the defending champions St. Peter’s at Bambalapitiya.    

The Wesleyites were trailing by just two points at half time (10-12) but they just could not add any points to their tally in the second half of the game.    

Wesley also possesses some outstanding players such as Abdul Hadhi and their Number Eight Sandul Gammanpila who is one of their key players in the line-up. 

The Wesley Team is coached by Terence Henry while Dushantha Lewke is in charge of the Royal outfit.

Referee: Raveen Alexander