A Royal revenge or Trinity repeat?

The much looked-forward to schools rugby encounter between traditional rivals Trinity College Kandy and Royal College Colombo, for the Bradby Shield, will get underway tomorrow with the first leg of the 76th edition at the Royal Sports Complex in Reid Avenue at 4:00 p.m.

Royal are the current holders of the shield, having won the last three times the two teams squared off in the encounter (2017, 2018 and 2019) while Trinity will look to take the shield to Kandy for the first time 2014.

Trinity will seek a repeat of the most recent match-up between the two schools, in the school’s rugby league tournament, where they edged Royal 21-20.

With the Shield not contested for in the last two years, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and despite the result of the league match, this year’s encounter will have the added significance of being played in Royal’s 150th year since being founded – an occasion Trinity will no doubt look to highjack, considering they won the 150th encounter between the two teams in 2008.

Looking back at the performances of the two teams this season, the Lions led by centre Lithmal Moragoda has had a fairly successful season but were unfortunate as they could not proceed beyond the first round of the league tournament.

Royal meanwhile, led by this season flanker Harsith Peiris, though suffering a defeat to their arch rivals, went further in the league tournament – though they had to surrender the league title they won over three successive season to Isipathana College.

Peiris is also a doubtful starter as he has not been able to play his team’s three previous matches due to an injury sustained during a practice session -- Second Row Kaveen Sasanga the likely stand-in skipper if Peiris is deemed unfit.

Royal has the knack of imposing themselves in the second half of play, as seen right through the league tournament, though it did not materialise in the crucial match against Isipathana.

They have a host of players in their ranks in the likes of scrum half Hasnaka Higgoda, flanker Buwanaka Senanayake, wingers Pasindu Heshan and Navin Perera, prop Supun Gamlath, full back Nabeel Yahya, centre Bimsara Peiris, second rowers Rahil Wijesekera and Abdulla Yusuf and dual purpose player Sasanga.

Trinity skipper Moragoda will have in his ranks players in the calibre of centre Anuhas Kodituwakku who has been in the thick of their efforts, prop Loshitka Wijekoon, full back Kovoda Wickramasinghe, flanker Yasiru Ariyawansa, second row Shaveen Premaratne, number eight Chamendra Dhanapala, hooker Kaveesha Edema, center Ashen Wijesuriya and Yehan Bulathsinghalage,

All in all as mentioned the supporters of both the sides are assured of a closely contested game and Trinity will be seeking to regain the Bradby Shield which they last won in 2014 and Royal looking forward to retain the Shield for the fourth successive year have been winners in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

From the 75 matches that have been played so far, Trinity are way ahead with 39 wins to the 34 for Royal, with two matches in 1992 and 2016 ending in a tie.

The biggest margin of victory is the 83-00 aggregate victory Royal achieved in 2002 under Zulki Hamid while Trinity has recorded the most consecutive wins of six between 1952 and 1957. By M. Shamil Amit