Trinity College, who suffered their first defeat in the current Inter-Schools Under-19 League Rugby Tournament last week at the hands of Isipathana College, would look to bounce back immediately with what has been described as a ‘balanced squad’ by their Head Coach Inthisham Marikar.

Trinity had a winning start to the season having defeated Zahira College 22-11 in the opening week, but their 15-27 defeat to Isipathana leaves them with an uphill task in their pursuit to land their first league title in over three decades.

Despite the early season blow, Marikar claimed that, they ‘are looking at a game at a time and are not looking that far.’

The Trinitians are led by full back Reshan Bandaranayake who was outstanding against Isipathana last week while that backline is comprised of some deadly players such as Amith Kulatunga, Geeshapa Kulatunge and Shayam Robinson.

Geeshapa Kulatunge in particular is having a very good season, having chipped in with a couple of tries last week clearly showing the quality of that backline.

However, Trinity have also got some very good forwards in the shape of Nimesh Ekanayake, Damian Tennakoon, Dhiren Ratwatte and Lennox Calyanaratne.

“We have a balanced squad. It is a squad with experience and youth, willing to learn and work hard,” said the former CR and FC and Kandy Sports Club player.

In addition to the league campaign, one of the most significant encounters for Trinity is the traditional Bradby Shield game which they have not been able to win since 2014.
“Yes, we have not won the Bradby in a while; however we are taking a game at a time. It’s exciting as it’s the 75th Bradby, but that is a long way off, Marikar stated.

When asked of their target for the season, Marikar claimed it is “to grow as good people and good rugby players, who can be proud ambassadors for Trinity College.”

Daily Mirror PREDICTION

The defeat to Isipathana College means Trinity’s chances of winning the League title now seems like a tall task and it would be difficult to consider them as a team challenging for the title so they should settle into a mid-table finish.