Royal, Trinity ‘Bradby’ thriller on the cards

Dinesh WEERAWANSA

It all points to a thriller when the night-riding Royal College, Colombo scrums down with Trinity College, Kandy in the first leg of their 64th Bradby Shield rugby encounter at Royal Sports Complex grounds, Colombo this evening.

Prior to the kick off of the senior game at 4.45 p.m., the three junior games under 12, 14, 16 and the Under-18 encounter for the C.E. Simithrarachchi Trophy would take place.

The Bradby Shield is considered the most looked forward to school rugby match and the enthusiasm and excitement it has been generating for over six decades even surpasses any key club game or an international match played here.

The Royal-Trinity rugby series commenced way back in 1920 and it was only in 1945 that the Bradby Shield was introduced in honour of former Royal Principal, the late E. L. Bradby.

The Reid Avenue boys would march in to the first leg brimming with confidence. The morale of the team is high after their stunning 17-12 win over unbeaten St.Peter’s at the same venue last weekend.

Royal went in to this crucial game as underdogs but turned tables and made the Peterites eat humble pie. St. Peter’s were heading smoothly towards the league title before Royal shattered their dreams. That win has given tremendous confidence to the Royalists who are looking forward to even a greater time today.

Leading the ‘right Royal’ lads from Cinnamon Gardens would be centre three quarter Suvindra Lenaduwa.

Royal would be looking forward to win the Bradby as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of that great champion team of 1988, led by Lasitha Gunaratne (who went on to captain Sri Lanka with distinction) and coached by renowned surgeon Dr. Fred Perera (who led Royal in 1971 and his team included fellow surgeon Dr. Maiya Gunasekera who later represented Sri Lanka and also coached Royal).

Similarly, Trinity celebrated their 20th anniversary of that 1987 champion team, led by Rugby Lion Tyrell Rajapakse, last year.

Royal forwards have always been the key to their success this season. With the return of their regular fly half Naren Dhasan, the regular vice captain, since the last game, the Royal ‘three’s too have come in to

action with a smooth halves combination.

If they could maintain the same rhythm and make the best use of the good ball won by the forwards, then the Reid Avenue boys could keep their ‘Bradby’ chances alive.

Despite opening the season with a bang, narrowly going down to Kingswood (7-13) and Isipatana (12-17), Royal have shown vast improvement to be in the right shape in the ‘Bradby’. Their win over much fancied Peterites in the last game speaks volumes of the improvement Royal has made in the last few weeks.

Royal team is coached by C. P. Abeygunawardena who is assisted by Nizam Jamaldeen and Viraj Prasanna.

Trinity, opened the season with a runaway 60-0 win over town mates Vidyartha, will rely on youth. Though they don’t have too many experienced players, the Lions have been shaping well this season.

Burly flanker Milinda Gunawardena, who leads the hill capital team, is the only coloursman in the side. But Anil Jayasinghe and Pradeep Basnayake have coached the boys into a fighting unit which is capable of handling any tense situation.

Despite the fact that the team lacks experience, Trinity has been shaping well this season.

They have lost just one game, that too a narrow 10-15 defeat at the hands of defending league champions St. Peter’s. The Lions would depend more on their speedy back division and Royal must make sure that the Trinity three quarters are not fed quite often. Vishwajith Wijesinghe and Ruzni Ramzeen have been outstanding players and the booming kicks of Kenan Armstrong would certainly be a blessing for Trinity.

Whatever the result, the Bradby would certainly dish out some entertaining rugby for the capacity crowd which is expected. Fast and open rugby would be the order of the day and the spectators would certainly be on the edges of their seats most of the time.

On the other hand, ‘Bradby’ has turned out to be an annual meeting point for the Royalists and Trinitians both young to old and recall their past memories. Hence, the rich traditions of the Bradby series are sure to continue this time too.

Of the 63 previous two-leg Bradby encounters, Trinity takes the lead with 34 wins to Royal’s 28 with one tie.

The only tie in the Bradby Shield series was witnessed in 1992 when the

first leg ended in a nil-all draw and the three-all second leg too failed to break the deadlock.

Royal’s 1967 captain Brian Lieversz, who also excelled in cricket, will be the chief guest. The teams:

ROYAL COLLEGE:

Nikira Senanayake, Udara de Silva, Shamir Fajudeen, Shehan Pathirana, Kalana Amarasinghe, Hasthika Bandaranayake, Ashik Bari, Bilal Hassen, Rameez Rafeek and Naren Dhason, Suvindha Lenaduwa, (captain), Duminda Attygalle, Shamil Ahamed, Nabeel Faizer, Mushin Faleel.

TRINITY COLLEGE:

Mohamed Riyazie, Damith Dissanayake, Isurath Singalaxana, Rishan Vidanagamage (Vice captain), Hasindu Dassanayake, Idris Omar, Milinda Gunawardena (captain), Ruzni Ramzeen, Abeeb Hamid and Nimesh Yatawara, Vishvajith Wijesinghe, Samreen Sameem, Shanon Armstrong, Kenon Armstrong, Adul Fahad.

Referee: Priyantha Gunaratne