The sevens version of rugby union received a boost with all top rugby playing schools in the island contesting the recently concluded inter-school seven-a-side tournament, worked off at Royal Sports Complex, in Reid Avenue.

Inquiries into why there was profound interest for the abbreviated form of rugby this time around revealed that most schools had recruited new coaches and hence they wanted to test the strength of the players. This just goes to underscore once again the role of sevens rugby which is mainly to use it as a tool to introduce this discipline and among other fringe benefits, the ability to test the strengths and weaknesses of your charges.

Rugby sevens is a game of skill and speed and St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya showed that they were blessed with all this by winning the coveted Cup Championship trophy, beating Trinity College Kandy 38 points to 10, in the final. The lads from Bambalapitya fielded all their ‘runners’ and hence had everything going their way in the tournament except in the quarter final match against Kingswood.

Here the Petes were forced to pull it off during extra-time. When this writer states that they had things to their liking in the tournament this also reflects that the Petes got the opportunity to feature in more matches than most other schools, making their appearance in the sevens a fruitful experience.

Take for example Kingswood College Kandy, the team which won the tournament last year and the favourites to take home the cup this year. According to Kingswood College coach Nilufer Ibrahim, the team had reached Colombo as early as Thursday. There was no rugby for them on Thursday. They idled the whole day on Friday, the first day of the tournament, and made their exit from the tournament after playing the Cup Championship quarter finals against St. Peter’s. What would a team feel if they came to contest a two day tournament and got just one match for all their trouble?

Ibrahim told Sportstar that he wasn’t pleased at the rate at which changes were made to the draw and how some teams pulled out at the eleventh hour. Ibrahim also said that he was displeased with the standard of refereeing at the tournament. However, he took this opportunity to thank the Peterites for winning the tournament.

Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) Secretary Denzil Darling accepted the fact that certain teams would have been at a disadvantage due to teams pulling out at the last hour. "The SLSRFA will have its next meeting on March 12 and I expect to propose that teams which can’t honour their commitment to take part in future tournaments, pay a fine," Darling told Sportstar.

He also accepted the fact that changing the draw many times to adjust the line up and meet the challenges posed by pullouts, would have greatly inconvenienced teams. "I apologize for all the loopholes in the tournament. We hope to rectify our errors and have better tournaments in future," he said.

St. Peter’s looked the side to watch in the tournament and demolished S.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia 39-7 in one of the semi finals while Trinity overcame Ananda 41-0. The Cup Championship final looked lopsided with the Petes raking in as many as six tries from which four were converted. Trinity laboured to collect 10 points which came off two tries.

St. Peter’s College assistant coach Colin Denish said, "The boys were hungry for success and that’s the reason why the team excelled. We built the momentum for this tournament with the Carlton sevens and have continued the victory trend. This win will help us to prepare for the league tournament. I must mention the input by skipper Keith Gurusinghe who has done well to keep the boys together. The unity within the team is commendable," he said.

The Plate Championship went to Wesley which got the better of St. Sylvester’s Kandy (38-0) in the final. "I wanted the boys to contest the sevens tournament because I have just taken over the team and want to know their strength and weaknesses. From what I have seen, I believe that these boys have it in them to challenge the best of teams during the upcoming season," Mohammed Mushtaq, Wesley College coach told Sportstar.

Royal College, Panadura won the Bowl Championship by beating St. John’s College by 33 points to nil. Royal Panadura lived up to the expectations of being an emerging side and ran down five tries from which four were converted.

"The hap-hazard way of organizing the tournament really affected our performance in the tournament. There should have been more matches for all the teams that contested the tournament. I am happy that we were able to win Bowl Championship despite all these challenges," Pradeep Fernando coach of the Royal College Panadura team said after the final.