The first round of the Singer Schools’ Rugby League was not short of excitement, passion and entertaining rugby. The first round was featured seven weeks of action packed rugby.
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Here’s our take on the action from the 1st round of competition.

1  The air borne try scorers

The first round was a thrilling affair with the white try line crossed 280 times in the seven weeks of action. Some of the youngsters did so in style. Pictured here are Avantha Lee of Welsey, Naveen Henakankanamage of S. Thomas & Akitha Sakalasooriya of Trinity College.

2  Round 1 was never short of passion

Be it a win or a loss, the wholehearted fans were right behind their teams. The seven weeks showed that there is no end to the enthusiasm the league carries.

3  Prayers to the gods

Irrespective of age or gender prayers are often offered to the Gods before a game in hope for some help from the heavens.

4  Spirit of rugby prevailed

At the end of the day, rugby was played in true virtue and spirit by all the teams. Pictured here are two incidents that caught our eye. The first was in Nittawela where the Dharmaraja players helped Samuel Maduwantha when he was brought down and the other at Welisara in the match involving Isipathana and D. S. Senanayake.

5  Trophies retained and regained

The first round saw teams retaining the silverware while being also having to surrender trophies won in the previous year. St. Joseph’s, St. Peter’s and Isipathana retained their titles while Trinity and Wesley got a chance to win back what they lost last year.

6  The Lanthra Manthra

This year’s schools rugby find was definitely the speedster from Maradana; Yuzraan Lanthra. Getting their ticket to the top division, Yuzraan was one in the forefront to take the Zahira College team through to the second round.

7  Disappointment, part and parcel of sport

You do not always end up on a winning side much to the disappointment of the fans. But the Josephians came back from defeat to finish third at the end of the first round.

8  No substitute for guts

A disappointed Mohammed Shabeer of St. Anthony’s is forced off the ground in the match against Royal College after a blood injury while he insisted that he be allowed to play the remaining few minutes for his side.

9  Peterites produce the upset of the year

The St. Peter’s side broke Isipathana’s unbeaten streak by defeating them 32-15 in Bambalapitiya. This ended Isipathana’s 12 match winning record in the schools league.

10  Referee in the middle

10Stuck in the middle
The Zahirans mistook referee Dinka Peiris for an opposition player in the match played against Trinity College and unfortunately, referee Peiris was a victim of a brutal tackle during play at Maradana. He later had to pause play to get reinforcements.
Did we miss out on any other important moment? Comment below to let us know about your best moment.