Isipathana College may not have had a great last season, but the Green Machine from Havelock Park would certainly be one of the favourites to win the title this season.
Led by second row Janith Serasinghe, Isipathana are playing some breath-taking rugby having already beaten Science College, St. Anthony’s and Trinity College.
They were quite ordinary last season finishing as low as fourth in the league which is a big disappointment for a school that has produced over 70 national players. However, they have certainly turned a corner this season after a strong pre-season.
“We had a very good pre-season. We started off training very early and as the supporting staff our main target was to improve the rugby awareness of players, which we have been able to do. So, I think all the good work we have done so far is down to training really hard and improving rugby awareness among the players,” Isipathana coach Lasintha de Costa told the Daily Mirror.
The Isipathana backs have been in red hot form demolishing sides with their scintillating moves with centre Manelka Ruberu at the heart of their success. Wing three quarters Ramitha de Silva and Manula Rathnayake along with scrum half Kilan Chamath have all done quite well so far while their forwards have contributed decently.
“I think our team in general is slightly smaller than some of the other teams, but both the forwards and backs have played well so far,” added the former Sri Lanka fly-half.
Isipathana would face stiff challenge from teams such as Royal College and St. Joseph’s College in the race for the title, but Costa said they will take one game at a time.
“Every year Isipathana College wants to win all the trophies. That is our target every season, but we would only take one game at a time and see how it goes. I am very pleased with how things are moving right now,” Costa claimed.
Daily Mirror PREDICTION
Isipathana College is back. This is their best team in three years. St. Joseph’s and Royal College would be hard to beat, but the Isipathana backs could land them yet another league title. Champions-elect!
