Petes demolish Joes to regain Fr. Basil Wiratunga Shield
The second half burst put in by St. Peter’s College was too much for St. Joseph’s College as the former coasted to a comfortable 50-19 victory in their Dialog Schools Rugby League 2026 encounter played at Bambalapitiya yesterday. Apart from being a tournament fixture, the game between the two schools was also fought out for the Rev. Fr. Basil Wiratunga Shield, which St. Peter’s regained after 2024 and increased their win tally to 45 against 16 by St. Joseph’s.
St. Peter’s, having taken a comfortable 28-12 lead the breather, made up their points seven tries, six conversions and a penalty against the three tries and two conversions posted by St Joseph’s. St. Peter’s made the first move in the third minute through a try by lock Hashara Madugasge, with centre Geon Rajit adding the extra points.
The Josephians, undeterred, gave the Peterites some anxious moments and they succeeded to breach the defense to reduce the deficit in the 11th minute from an unconverted try posted by lock Sathika Gunatilleke. Buoyed by the try scored, they continued to put the Peterites defence under pressure and succeeded to take over the lead with flyhalf Bryan Fernando going over for a try in the 16th minute, With Fernando himself making the conversion, the Joes took the lead 12-7.
St. Peter’s changed the complexion of the game and went on the attack on a scoring spree whilst succeeding to post three tries. The first, in the 22nd minute by flanker Lakindu Ranasinghe, followed in the 28th minute by lock Revone Perera and in the dying stages of the first half by hooker Cheval Goonawardena. Centre Geon Rajit made no mistake with the three conversions as St. Peter’s went into the halftime with a lead of 28-12.
The Peterites were clinical in their performance at home - Pix by Eshan Fernando
On resumption it was the Josephians who made the first move with lock Sathika Gunatilleke going over for his second try and Fernando making the conversion to cut down the deficit to 28-19. That was all the Josephians were able to achieve, as the Peterites went on a scoring spree again by posting tries within a space of seven minutes. The first came in the 48th minute with center Rashwin Sabar intercepting a pass and sprinting over 30 metres to touch down under the post, giving Rajit an easy kick at goal. Then flanker Madugaspe went over for his second try two minutes later, with Rajit adding the extra scores, and the third, an unconverted try by centre Sabar.
Centre Rajit, who was in full form with his kicking, sealed the game for the Peterites by booting over a penalty for a 50-19 victory, their second successive of the tournament.