Mobitel Eagles defend Super Sevens title

By Shannon Nicholas

Mobitel Eagles were able to defend their title ending up at the top of the points table based on the aggregate of the two legs of the Sri Lanka Super Sevens 2017 which came to a conclusion at the Racecourse Grounds on Sunday.

EZY Wolves opened scoring when Nelson Oyoo touched down early in the game. The Eagles reduced the lead to a couple of points when Marwan Nasalo Jone went on to score the defending champions’ first try. Dinusha Chathuranga made a powerful run by the touch line on the pavilion end to increase the lead to nine points, but Jone made a solitary run to catch up with the leaders once again on the verge of half-time.

The Eagles started off brightly after the turnaround, but their opponents were too hot to handle as tries by Sashan Mohammed and Oyoo saw the Wolves emerge victors 26 -12.

The Eagles lost the cup final to EZY Wolves, who ended up winners of the second leg, but with the points accumulated at the first leg played on Kandy last week, the defending champions were able to finish first overall in the standings. The Wolves were placed runners up while Access Kings and Softlogic Warriors finished in third.

Meanwhile the schools under-16 tournament played concurrent to the franchise fixtures, Kingwood College Kandy grabbed the Cup defeating St. Joseph's College by 7 points to 5 in a scintillating final. The Saints held a 5-0 lead going in to half-time but Apoorva Wijesinghe of Kingswood had other ideas as he crossed the try line to dash hopes of the Joes.

DAY ONE REPORT: Mobitel Eagles beaten twice on first day  

Defending champions Mobitel Eagles suffered two shock defeats on the opening day of the Sri Lanka Super Sevens Franchise Rugby Tournament second-leg which commenced at the Race Course Grounds in Reid Avenue on Saturday (15).

The Cup champions of last week’s first-leg held in Kandy had an awful start to their campaign while going down to the unfanciedCargills Gladiators (14-29) in the opening encounter.    

The Eagles of course recovered to a certain extent and managed to pull off a thrilling 24-21 victory over the EZY Wolves in their second encounter of the day.

However, they were humiliated by the Walkers CML Vipers who were able to snatch an exciting 17-12 victory and secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Cup Championship. 

In the first quarter-final of the Cup Championship Softlogic Warriors will take on the EZY Wolves at 12.20 p.m followed by the clash between Cargills Gladiators and KBSL Dragons at 12.40 p.m.

Meanwhile, Walkers CML Vipers will be up against the Etisalat Panthers in the third quarter-final schedule for 1.00 p.m. 

In addition Mobitel Eagles will meet the Access Kings in the fourth and final quarter-final of the tournament at 1.20 p.m.

Meanwhile, St. Joseph’s College put up a splendid performance to remain unbeaten on the opening day of the Sri Lanka Super Sevens Rugby Tournament schools segment on Saturday (15).

The Josephiansstarted their campaign with a spectacular 17-12 victory over Isipathana College and then followed up with a more convincing 21-12 triumph over their traditional rivals St. Peter’s College.

The lads from Darley Road went on to complete a hat-trick of victories as they trounced Zahira College 33-0 in their third match of the tournament. 

However, Zahira who came into the tournament in place of Trinity College were able to create a major upset as they toppled the favouritesIsipathana 17-14 in an exciting encounter.  

Meanwhile, St. Peter’s had the satisfaction of recording two impressive victories over Zahira (24-0) and Isipathana (36-7) to secure their place in the quarter-finals of the Cup Championship.    

In the first quarter-final Kingswood will take on Isipathana at 11.00 a.m while St. Anthony’s College will meet St. Peter’s at 11.20 a.m.
 
In addition, Wesley will play against Zahira at 11.40 a.m and Science College will take on St. Joseph’s at 12.00 noon in the last two quarter-finals.  

PREVIEW: Second leg of Super Sevens kicks-off on Saturday

By Shannon Nicholas

The second and decisive leg of the Sri Lanka Super Sevens Rugby Tournament will kick-off at the Race Course Grounds on Saturday (15) commencing at 11.00 a.m.

A total of 28 games are scheduled to be played today while the second-round fixtures will take place Sunday (16). 

The defending champions Mobitel Eagles look set extend their dominance in this year’s tournament as well after they were crowned champions of the first-leg beating Softlogic Warriors 19-5 in the Cup Championship final played at the Nittawela Stadium in Kandy last week.

The Eagles were in scintillating form throughout the two days of the tournament which saw them remain unbeaten.

Meanwhile, Science College Mount Lavinia will be looking to maintain their excellent form after they won the Under-18 schools title in the first-leg.

The second-leg of the schools tournament would feature the Under-16 teams, thus paving way for the juniors to compete at the highest level.

The overall champions would be decided based on the points the teams accumulated at the completion of both legs.