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| Sunday, 20 July 2003 |
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Joes have big leeway to catch up by SRIAN OBEYESEKERE The traditionally cricket fostered 'big match' fever associated with schools has also invaded the rugby field as well. Not that rugby, that fast moving, bustling game, binding brawn and ball of zestful youth in one hour or more of fascination, has not been without its college ties over the years. But the game at that level will get some new dimension when traditional rivals - St. Peter's and St. Joseph's, better known as the Saints, kick off schools' rugby for the first time in Sri Lanka under lights on Saturday, July 26 at Longden Place for the Fr. Basil Wiratunga Memorial Shield at 6 p.m. Dubbed the 'Saints Touch Down' which dates back to 1955, the 35th 'big match' sees St. Peter's, in comparison to St. Joseph's, strongly insulated in the firmament as a formidable force. They have rubbed dirt on some of the big names in the game like Isipatana, Royal, Trinity and S. Thomas'. Perhaps, best reflected by the 22 wins in favour of the Peterites as against the Josephians 9 todate. Heavily outweighed as they might be, St. Joseph's however, could count on a better slice of fortunes this season to draw morale for the big `un. The Josephians have 3 wins under the belt from 7 matches. They beat Vidyartha (36-19), Zahira (26-07) and Thurstan (10-05) while having drawn against Ananda (13-all) having lost to Kingswood, St. Anthony's, Kandy (41-0), Kingswood (29-07) and S. Thomas' (24-12) for the Lady Jayatilleke Shield. The Peterites, on the other hand, have just 2 wins against Nalanda (74-05) and Carey (29-05) from 6 matches having lost to Wesley (13-19), Royal (06-08) and S. Thomas' (06-15) with a 20-all draw against Trinity. The determination of the lads from the Bambalapitiya school to retain the Fr. Wiratunga Shield is best manifested by the words of their captain Rumeiz Ishak who said that despite the setbacks to a great start to the season 'we will be at our best in this all important big `un and fire on all cylinders to retain the shield'. But his biggest worry was losing the services of their heavyweight Mohammed Rinaz. "He has broken his ligaments and will be out for the rest of the matches. But that will not be a damper," said the Peterite skipper. Incidentally, the Fr. Basil Wiratunga Memorial Shield came into being in 1963 after the former Rector of St. Peter's when the shield was donated by its Old Boys Union in appreciation of the services rendered by the late Fr. Wiratunga to the school. First to draw blood in the series was St. Peter's which won the inaugural match 3-0 in 1955. They continued the winning vein till 1957 before St. Joseph's got into the act in 1958 under C. J. Rajaratnam by a 13-03 margin. Since the Fr. Wiratunga Shield was introduced, the Peterites had custody of the coveted symbol from 1963 to `67 before the Josephians took it in 1968. Under the captaincy of the late Shiraz Fernando, St. Joseph's won 13-03 on the back of a hat-trick of tries by Brian Obeyesekere. There was a 5-year break in the series due to St. Joseph's not taking part in competitive rugby from 1973 to `77. It will be from a 31-03 triumph by St. Peter's last year, that the two schools will be looking at this year's `big match' which will be kicked off after the under-17 match for the Rovern Gunasekera Memorial Trophy which St. Peter's go out favourites to retain having annexed it in its inaugural year 2002 winning 5-0. The mini series has been named after the late Gunasekera, the former Peterite ruggerite who distinguished himself in the field going on to don the Havelocks and CH & FC jerseys in the late 1980s before succumbing to a terminal illness. The trophy has been donated by his brother Garry Gunasekera who wore the St. Joseph's and Havelocks jerseys in the early 1980s before migrating to Australia. |
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