"GREENS" fail yet again... ( Isipathana 10 -- St.Peters 27 )

For the 3rd consecutive year isipathana got off to a horrible or rather dreadful start when they went down to a well knit St.peters outfit 27points (2 goals,2 tries,1 penalty) to 10 ( 1 goal,1 penalty) in their opening match of the singer A division schools rugby league worked off at Havelock park.

The home side was led by no.08 Tharindu Siriwardane as skipper Ashan Gallage was unavailable due to injury.And scrum half M Rizwan and center M Ali whom also did not feature in this game ,always played in patches and they simply couldn’t cope with the speed and power of the SPC back division.

It was isipathana who took the lead as early as the first minute when Prasad Devinda booted over 22 meter penalty. However the peterites then launched wave after wave of attacks and it seemed it was just a matter of time for them to score however pathana just managed to halt them thanks to some last ditch tackeles which were made in utter desperation. SPC then came into level terms when their fly half Dulaj Perera who made his debut for St.peters after crossing over from wesley puting over and easy penalty. 10 minutes later St.peters took the lead after some scrappy defending from the pathana line.Full back Shenal Dias was caught in two minds and decide to kick a ball which was coming at him but kicked it directly at the SPC wing who wiggled his way score mid right.Dulaj missed the conversion.Isipathana then came back strongly and were trying hard to score. But then came a moment of which every pathana supporter felt disgusted of.SPC were awarded a scrum in their own 22. And center Dhanushka Ranjan ran right through the pathana 3 quarter line and sprinted nearly 100 yards to score under the posts.Dulaj made the easy conversion and SPC went into half time with 15-3 lead.

After the resumption pathana seemed to have organized their strategies but gave away possession very cheaply and when they did the peterites came rampaging thus gaining hard and valuable yards for their side.then came a moment of controversy when the peterite back division made a forward pass and the ball fell into the hands of the pathana wing umayanga sooriyabandara who was through but referee Irshad cader called back the play and then awarded a scrum to the home side much to the amazement of every1.SPC then scored yet again when powerful second rower shenal dias sneaked through the defence to score and scrum half Rizwan Meedin made no mistake with the conversion. 10 minutes later SPC seemed to have given the killer blow when another try was scored by their winger by now all hope was lost with the score board reading 27-03 in favor of SPC. pathana did get a concolation try when no.08 Tharindu Siriwardane barged over for a try under the posts with Devinda prasad making a quick conversion.with the game almost over the greens however did come back strongly but it was just too late as the final whistle was blown.

For SPC Shenal Diasz,skipper keith Gurusinghe, centers Bhanuka Nanayakkara and Dhanushka Ranjan were outstanding punching gapin holes in the pathana defense. For the greens they will have to improve in almost every component of the game if they are to prove anything this season. They missed a lot of tackles and seemed to be lacking the stamina. And three quarters seemed poor in defense and slow in attack. It will be interesting to see how the greens will come back in their next game against a strong kingswood side whom also will feature a strong three quarter line up.

Below are the scores of the other matches 

Anthony’s vs. Kingswood – Kingswood won 23-10

Trinity vs. Dharmaraja – Trinity won 44-05

Royal vs. POW – Royal won 35-06

Former manager speaks out ahead of season opener.

  

The Isipathana vs St.Peters match which will kick start the 2010 inter school rugby season is less than a week away and ahead of our key opening fixture ***** KINGS OF RUGBY***** got a hold of one of our former managers of the 1^st XV Mr.Dushan Wickramsinghe about his views and thoughts on the upcoming blockbuster match.

·        What do you think of the pathana side this year?

   “Along with the proper guidance I think its one of the strongest. I have worked with these set of lads when they were in their U-14,s. They seem to have a very good team spirit and understanding”.

·        What do you think of the other sides?

  “Well in general all the sides especially peters seem to be good. And don’t rule out Royal, Thora, Trinity and kingswood.They seem to be formidable as well”.

  

·        What would you expect on this match? (IC vs SPC)

    “St.Peters after their 22-12 loss to us last year will certainly come out all guns blazing for revenge and hence it won’t be easy. I think the game will depend on who will be able to hold their nerve under pressure”.

·        SPC has a good back division. Any comments?

      “Yes they do have some hard runners mainly their centers and wingers. But on the other hand I think we have quality players of our own who could counter this threat. But overall I think the scales will slightly be in favor of the peterites”.

·         Any thoughts on tactics and key points?

      “ well there will be some great individual battles like Shenal vs Muqsith, D. Ranjan vs Ashan and Keith vs Devinda and these would have a major impact on the outcome of the game”.

·        Who do you think will win?

   “Well Isipathana”.

Isipathana vs St.Peters 24^th April 18, 2010 @ Havelock park.

Kick off at 4.15pm

BE THERE TO SUPPORT THE GREENS !!!

CONFIDENT PATHANA RARING TO GO !!!

Isipathana College will come in for the 2010 season with most of their senior players remaining from last year and all of them have been hard at training.

 

They were led by Niroshan Fernando last year and they managed to finish fifth in the league. This year the lads from Isipathana will be led by explosive center Ashan Gallage who will be playing at second inside. The vice captain will be number 8 Thairindu Siriwardena who is tipped to be one of their key players. They will be going in to the season with 12 colorsmen which will surely be an advantage to them. The Pathanians have put in great emphasis on the XV a-side game as they did not take part in the sevens tournament and they are all out to win the league this year.

Captain Ashan will be a vital cog in the Pathana line up and he will be leading the backs this time. His agility, speed and knowledge of the game will strengthen the middle giving the much needed penetration for Pathana. Ashan is very reliable when it comes to attack and defense giving some crunching tackles mid field. Backs will be toughened by star fly half Prasad Devinda who adds a lot of flair to the line. His ability to hit gaps at top speed will be a sight to watch and he will certainly cause a lot of trouble to the opposition. He played a major role last year and was seen as one of their play makers. He will look to continue his super performance on to the coming season. The other play maker to look out for will be scrum half Mohamed Rizwan. He is a genius in creating gaps and will play a major role being the link man in the side. The other three quarters will be Prsahan Attanayake who will be playing both full back and fly, Mohamed Ali playing at center, Uresh Fonseka the speedster on the wing and Maalik Jumadh who will be moved to either full back or wing. When it comes to backs, Isipathana has a number of talented options and they will be sure to fire during game time.

The forwards have a lot of capable players in their ranks and they will be led this year by bulky number 8 Tharindu Siriwardena. His experience will assist the forwards to gain the much needed edge over the opposition. Dynamic wing forward Deshan Subashanarachchi has a crucial role to play this year and looks geared up for the challenge. Pack will also have the services of Danusha Sooriyarachchi who will be playing prop, Prasad playing at Hooker, Isum Fernando who will make up the front row. The main jumper for the Greens will be Mukshid Jaleel while the blind side flank will be taken up by gritty Sajid Suaid. The main strength for Pathana when talking about the forwards is their mobility, and their ability to retain possession. This will prove to be a great advantage complimenting the fast brand of Rugby they play.

The boys from Isipathana Mawatha will be coached by one of the solid third row forwards seen in the recent past, Shamlie Navaz. He captained the Isipthana team in the year 1998 and was one of the few players to have captained the Sri Lanka under 19 national side for two consecutive years (1997/98). He then went on to represent CR&FC and was also seen representing the country. He brings in a lot of experience in to the side and is seen as a coach who feeds in a lot of knowledge in to the young lads. The backs will be coached by another Pathana legend, Sajith Mallikarachchi who captained both the Kandy SC as well as the national side a few years back. His immense  game sense will help the backs greatly. The training staff consists of Sanju, Kumara and Ransinghe while they have two doctors on board with them – Dr. Wijesinghe and Dr. Jayawardena. The overall physical trainer for them will be Talaou Alilimma. One of the main strengths behind Isipathana’s success in the recent past has been also due to their great backing given by the old boys. The Rugby committee is headed by Hassan Nauzeer Sinhawansa has backed the boys along the way and are happy with the current situation of the team.

Isipathana College will go against St.Peters College which is tipped to be one of the thriller games in week one. And they are confident of putting in a solid performance against the Petes on the 24^th; the match will be played at Havelock grounds.

TEAM 2010, S GRIT NO MATCH FOR ALL STARS FLAIR !!!

It could be termed as the most powerful old boys team ever to play against the present team in the recent past and they certainly maintained that tag to their set standards when they completely outplayed the 2010 xv 49 points (2 goals, 7 tries) to 10 (1 goal, 1 penalty) in the annual Isipathana college present vs old boys rugby encounter played at worked off at Havelock park.

The game which saw a virtual CR and FC back division including 5 former captains of our college, Nimesh De Silva(2003),Ashan De Costa(2006),Damith Udayangana(2007),Dinusha Chaturanga(2008)and last years captain Niroshan Fernando taking part in addition to some star players with the likes of Rizah Mubarak, Srinath Sooriyabandara, Wishwamithra Jayasinghe and Lasintha De Costa and dhanushka botheju got off to flying start with the present boys trying to take controll from the start. They got the scoreboard rolling when Prasad devinda put over penalty from the 22. However the lead lasted just 10 minutes as the all stars got their act together and scored when fly half Niroshan Fernando powered his way for a try which was converted by Mubarak. Five minutes later havelocks flanker Ruwan Saranga scored to make it 12-3 for the All Stars.the second chucker proved to be a 1 sided affair where the All stars goin on a scoring spree with Dinesh Kumara, Ravin Romesh and Dinusha Chathuranga scoring to give the All Stars a commanding 27-3 lead At the start of the 3rd chucker the All stars got off to a flying start with the Costa brothers and Wishwamithra jayasinghe touching down for tries and N.Fernando making a glorious conversion for one of them to make it 44-03.however the present boys got their act together in the latter stages and were rewarded with a try when second rower Muqsith Jaleel sent out a neat short pass for Saajid Shuaib to score under the posts with Devinda making the easy conversion. The 4th chucker ended with Srinath Sooriyabandara sidestepping his way for a brilliant try to end the match 49 points to 10

For the All Stars Niroshan Fernando and the Costa brothers were outstanding while the former along with Wishwamithra Jayasinghe kept their fellow opponents at bay with some bone jarring tackles.for the Team of 2010 the forwards especially Muqsith Jaleel, Saajid shuaib, flanker Deshan Subashan and No 08 and skipper for the day Tharindu Siriwardane stood out while the three,s who were minus skipper Ashan Gallage and winger Shanak Poornage simply couldn’t settle down in the match as they were under tremendous pressure from the All Stars back division. The positives which the present boys could take are that they tackled well despite letting down 9 tries and they seem to have reduced the amount of mistakes. However it would be back to the drawing board for Shamly Nawaz and Sajith Mallikaarchi and their boys ahead of their other pre season friendly game against C.W.W Kannangara which is scheduled to be played on the 2nd of April.

PATHANA begins pre-rugby season against ALL STARS

The Isipathana College rugby machine will be coming out for the first time this season when they take on the former greats of our college itself in the annual present vs past rugby encounter which will kick off on the 28^th of March (Sunday) at 4.10 pm. It will be a golden opportunity for the pathana fans whom many of them were quite disappointed as their team did not participate in any of the 7,s tournaments this year due to academic involvements, to get a glimpse of what could be expected from this year’s pathana outfit cometh the 2010 season. A key feature of this match is that the all stars will be hoping to field a very young and star studded outfit with the likes of former college and sri lanka youth captains Dinusha Chathuranga and Niroshan Fernando and other former greats as rizah Mubarak srinath sooriyabandara expected to play for the all stars. The Greens of 2010 will be led by 4^th year coloursmen and center Ashan gallage.this would be the perfect opener for them ahead of a couple of key pre season matches as they will play C.W.W Kannangara  and  take on CH and FC prior their blockbuster clash against the formidable St.Peters outfit on the 24^th of April which will herald the 2010 schools league rugby tournament.

Please note the tentative dates for the scheduled Pre-Season matches/events

March 28^th ISIPATHANA COLLEGE 2010 xv  VS  ALL STARS  @ Havelock park                       

March 28^th OLD BOYS dinner and get together (after match dinner)

April 2^nd      ISIPATHANA    VS C.W.W Kannangara                 @ Havelock park

April 7th      ISIPATHANA   VS CH and FC                                  @ CH and FC

"COSTA" BROTHERS ALL SET TO TO IGNITE THE RUGBY FIELD !!!

The de Costa brothers - Lasintha and Ashan - are a much sought out duo on the rugby field these days. The brothers are the best set of centre three-quarters in the island and their performance for the CR&FC alone speaks volumes of their speed and skills. Hailing from Isipathana the pair played together for the ‘Green shirts’ in 2004 under the watchful eyes of Sanath Martis. In 2005 and 2006 former Sri Lanka skipper Hisham Abdeen, himself an Old Boy of Isipathana, coached their rugby team. That year Isipathana emerged Schools Seven-a-side champions and were placed second in the League. Lasintha too came under the expert tutelage of Sanath Martis from 2002 to 2004 as a fly half and fullback until Sanath Martis sought greener pastures with St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya as their coach. Ashan joined CR in 2007 and the Longden Place Club knowing well his talents fitted him as a centre and he did extremely well to catch the eyes of the Rugby Selectors and was an automatic choice for the Hong Kong Sevens. That year CR was coached by Laga, the Fijian coach, who later went on to train Kandy SC. Before that Ashan represented Sri Lanka at the Doha Sevens and was the only schoolboy to be included in the National team.  Ashan says that he acquired his rugby skills and knowledge at Isipathana and polished them after joining CR&FC. Lasintha - the quieter of the two - before becoming a blazing center for the CR and the National team - worked as a layout designer for the Wijeya Newspapers. He recalls his days at Wijeya Newspapers with a lot of satisfaction and immediately went on to inquire about his old colleagues. Both brothers were full of praise for CR’s vibrant President Jehan Canageratnam and coaches Bilal Yusuf and Viraj Prasanna. They were quite saddened by the state of Sri Lanka’s international rugby exposure and hoped that the AGM would be held soon and they will be able to play rugby at international level soon. “Gaining foreign exposure is very important for rugby. Otherwise we are like frogs in a well,” they said in unison. Speaking about CR&FC’s chances in rugby this year they said that they too were fed up by playing second fiddle to Kandy SC and were just rearing to get their hands on the Kandy team. Kandy watch out! According to them the CR team is a fine blend of youth and experience. “CR will be a good strong side. They are being put through their phases by Bilal and Viraj. They are physically and mentally tough,” said the brothers in unison . Both are attached to MAS Holdings, a firm that is giving all possible breaks to sportsmen and women in the country. *****KINGS OF RUGBY***** WISHES THE ASHAN AND LASINTHA THE VERY BEST FOR THE 2010 SEASON !!!

ISIPATHANA TO GIVE PRIORITY TO STUDIES OVER 7,S

Likely to be one of the top teams skipping the Western Province Rugby sevens along with S.Thomas’



Isipathana College rugby players are likely to skip the upcoming inter-school seven-a-side rugby tournaments which will initially begin with the Western Province Schools Rugby Sevens, which is scheduled for February 14 (Sunday). Isipathana College Principal Punyadasa Kuruppu, who is also the President of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association, told The Island that the school’s rugby players would be undergoing a special education programme and hence were unlikely to contest the inter-school rugby sevens tournaments. "The school’s rugby players have in the past dedicated all their energies to playing rugby. This has contributed to a situation where they have failed to obtain the desired results in education. The school intends to change this trend and make students take more interest in their studies," said Kuruppu when contacted. Kuruppu also pointed out that the education of schools kids is somewhat affected with the conducting of elections. "We have planned for two elections this year and this means studies in schools will be temporarily stopped during elections. The special education programmes that have been lined up are aimed at boosting the education of students, taking into account the number of school days they’d lose due to various reasons," he said. Kuruppu said that these special education programmes would mainly target the students sitting for the Ordinary Level Examination. According to Kuruppu the all island schools rugby sevens tournament has been scheduled for February 20 and 21 in Colombo. However, he said that the dates of the all island tournament would be confirmed only on February 10 (Wednesday). It is also reliably understood that a leading rugby playing school, S.Thomas’ College Mount Lavinai, is unlikely to make the line-up of teams at this week’s Western Province Schools Rugby Sevens. According to Kuruppu, schools that don’t contest the Western Province rugby tournament can still take part in the all island tournament. Though western province schools would benefit from the provincial sevens tournament that’s scheduled for this week, the schools in the Central Province would not have the luxury of playing in a limb-losener, prior to the main tournament. Kingswood College coach Nilufer Ibrahim said that his school would be at a disadvantage by being forced to walk straight into the all-island tournament without playing in a provincial tournament. "There have been so many opinions voiced in having a rugby sevens tournament for Central Province schools, but nothing has come out of them," he said. Kingswood College won last year’s all island schools sevens by beating home town rivals Trinity 29-17 in the Cup Championship final. Kingswood would face stiff resistance from Trinity again this season who have confirmed their participation in the schools sevens tournament. Another school which is the dark horse to win the schools sevens is St. Peter’s which is raring to make up for a mediocre season, last year. The Peterites, however, made rugby fans sit-up and take notice by winning the School segment of the Carlton Sevens, held barely two months ago.