By A Special Sports Correspondent

Royal College proved on yet another occasion that they have the knack and the resources to prepare better than their opponents when it comes to the Bradby Shield in rugby. Last Saturday (August 5) they proved it on yet another occasion when they produced a thumping 27-17 win in the second leg of their annual encounter and took home the shield with an aggregate win of 37-30. For the record Royal take the shield once again to their trophy cupboard at school for the sixth time after having given it away to Trinity in 2014.

This encounter between the two schools is undoubtedly the ‘big match’ in the school rugby scene because of the rich history associated with the encounter and the interest in the game shown by players of the two schools, their parents and the entire rugby fraternity of the island. In the past years, most school rugby administrators ensured that no other rugby match was played on the day the Bradby was played. Before the television became better organized and the internet was born rugby fans caught the action from the Bradby by keeping their ears glued to the radio; a medium of communication that gave listeners the feel that they were at the ground itself. That was the level of skill displayed by radio commentators in the 1980s and 1990s, but not necessarily by commentators who aired their commentaries on television in the selected few years the Bradby was shown on television.

Coming back to this year’s encounter Royal really prepared for Trinity in the return leg and undid their opponents with resolute tackling and a defence that was so hard to break. Trinity earned just one try through their own efforts and played with some aggression only in the first half. The visitors’ first try came very early in the game through the efforts of SachinduWanasekara. But Royal responded with three brilliant tries in the first half; one coming off their famous rolling maul with Farook Akram carrying the ball over the try line. The winners led 17-10 at the short whistle of referee GihanYatawara who many thought controlled the game well; given the pressure cooker atmosphere in the middle.

There seems to be no stopping this Royal forward in the second leg of the Bradby Shield encounter which the lads from Reid Avenue won 27-17.

Royal, despite the control they had in the game, gave away a penalty try early in the second half. A Trinity player was almost over the line, but he was forced to let go of the ball when a stiff arm from a Royalist caught him in an illegal tackle. That was a yellow card offence by the defender and the Royalists were reduced to fourteen men for the second time in the game. All in all, Royal gave away three yellow cards while Trinity gave away one in the first half. Royal also had some anxious moments in the game when they gave away their third yellow card five minutes from the end. However, they didn’t suffer any damage to their goal line despite playing with a player disadvantage in the last five minutes of the game.

Royal skipper Randul Senanayake had a memorable game scoring a hat-trick of tries while Thiven Perera, Farook Akram and Nabeel Yehiya crossed the Trinity goal line once each. Royal’s kicking at goal was flawed throughout the game with their kickers missing four conversions.

Many a critic opined that Trinity could have made the game tighter if they had opted for kicks at goal instead of opting for set pieces when penalties came their way. First-leg hero for Trinity fly half Shan Althaf had his hands on the ball on many occasions, but he couldn’t do anything significant in the second leg of the Bradby.

Royal skipper Senanayake received the Bradby Shield from Feroze Suhaib who graced the occasion as the chief guest. Suhaib is a former Royalist and last played for the Reid Avenue boys in 1987. Former Trinity skipper and scrum-half Ashan Ratwatte, who captained the side in 1983, was the chief guest in the first leg of the Bradby.

Trinity last won the shield in 2014 after which Royal retained it in the years 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. There was a tie in 2016 and the match was not played in the years 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic. This year marked the 77th rugby encounter between the two schools.