Thomians grab Peninsula Trophy at Sydney touch Sevens – By Trevine Rodrigo reporting from Sydney
The weather God’s and S.Thomas aligned in Sydney to provide the unexpected at the Sri Lanka Schools Sevens touch Rugby competition graced by an appreciative crowd.
Inclement weather was forecast for the day, and a well drilled Dharmaraja College was expected to go back to back at this now emerging competition in Sydney’s Sri Lanka expatriate sporting calendar.
But the unforeseen was delivered, with sunny conditions throughout, and the Thomians provided the upset of the competition when they stunned the favourites, Dharmaraja in the final, to grab the Peninsula Motor Group Trophy.
Still in its infancy, the Sevens touch competition, drawn on the lines of Rugby League rules, found new flair and more enthusiasm among its growing number of fans through the injection of players from around Australia opposed to the initial tournament which was restricted to mainly Sydneysiders.
A carnival like atmosphere prevailed throughout the day’s competition at Parramatta Eels training ground in Kellyville.
Ten teams pitted themselves in a round robin system in two groups and the top four sides then progressed to the semi finals on a knock out basis to find the winner.
A food stall gave fans the opportunity to keep themselves fed and hydrated while the teams provided the thrills of a highly competitive and skilled tournament.
The rugby dished out was fiercely contested with teams such as Trinity, Royal and St. Peter’s very much in the fray but failing to qualify after narrow losses on a day of unpredictability.
Issipathana and Wesley were the other semi finalists with the Pathaniaians grabbing third place in the play off before the final.
The final was a tense encounter between last year’s finalists Dharmaraja College and S.Thomas. Form suggested that the Rajans were on track for succesive wins in as many attempts. But the Thomians had other ideas.
The fluent Rajans with deft handling skills and evasive running, looked the goods, but found the THomian defence impregnable.
Things we tied until the final minutes when the Thomians sealed the result with an intercept try and hung on to claim the unthinkable.
It was perhaps the price for complacency on the Rajans part that cost them the game and a lesson that it is never over until the final whistle.
Peninsula Motor Group headed by successful businessman Dilip Kumar were the main sponsor of the event providing playing gear to all the teams and prize money to the winners and runners up.
The plan for the future is to make this event more attractive and better structured according to the organisers headed by dynamic Deeptha Perera who’s vision was behind the success of this episode.
“With the powerful backing of people such as Dilip Kumar and a few others the sky is the limit”, says Deeptha.
In a bid to increase interest, an over 40’s tournament preceded the main event and it was as interesting as the younger version.
Ceylon touch Rugby, a mixed team from Melbourne won the over 40 competition beating Royal College in the final.
