By Harsha Amarasinghe and Sandun Kodithuwakku

Head coach Nilfer Ibrahim is fully confident that Kingswood College backline would take their team to greater heights during the Inter-School League Rugby Tournament which was kicked off recently.

Having ended a highly successful tenure at St. Joseph’s College, Ibrahim has returned home to guide his team back to the glory days, and has full faith in his side.

“The squad is very good and here we have players who have played for two or three years. So we can play fast and positive rugby with a good combination,” Ibrahim told Daily Mirror.

Kingswood had a very promising backline in the last season, but they could not quite finish in the top four last season. However, they would be eager to do so this time around.

“The biggest advantage is that only one player has left the team in terms of the backline so we have players like Asiri (Senevirathne), Dinal (Ekanayake), Weligampola (Thumula), Cooray (Ishara) and Rahuman (Shazan) who have been playing for such long time and their experience is very important for us. They know each other inside out and there is a good understanding, so I am very confident about them,” added the former triple title winning coach with Isipathana.

Ibrahim also stated that they have hopes of winning the league title although they take on match at a time.

“We have take match by match and try to do our best. Our biggest goal is to eventually win the league title,” Ibrahim said.
Kingswood College captain Asiri Senevirathne believes that his team has the winning mentality to go all the way.

“For me personally it’s a big achievement to be able to lead the first XV having captain all the age group teams in the past. Our team is well prepared and we are going out with the winning mentality to each and every match. We have the players with experience and they know this is an opportunity to create something remarkable,” Senevirathne stated.

Daily Mirror Prediction:

Kingswood is a formidable side and players like Asiri, Dinal, Rahuman, Cooray and Weligampola have been around for a long time, but without any major achievement. So this would be a great opportunity for them to go out on a real high. They should finish inside the top four of the Group A, but can they take on the big boys?