The knockout tournament comprising eight teams will consist of six teams from the Division I Segment A and the top two performers from the B Division. President of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and Principal of Royal College B. A. Abeyratne addressing a press conference at Jaic Hilton for the launch of the tournament on Wednesday said that the tournament will run alongside two other tournaments that will allow them to find the top performers in the lower divisions as well.

“While organizing the President’s trophy in the top division the Prime Minister’s trophy and the Chairman’s trophy tournaments will also be held alongside the main tournament,” said Abeyratne.

The participating are unbeaten league champions Isipathana College, league runner-up S. Thomas’ College ML, Royal College Colombo, St. Peter’s College Bambalapitiya, Wesley College and St. Anthony’s College Kandy from the top division while newly promoted Zahira College Maradana and D. S. Senanayake College will fill in the final two slots in the draw.

Defending champions Science College, Mount Lavinia have withdrawn from the tournament sighting financial difficulties while Trinity College and St. Joseph’s College have also pulled out due to player injuries and other reasons. “We were the triple runners-up last year and we were triple champions in 2014, so we know the pain of losing this tourney; hence we will be going all out to win it at any cost to redeem the lost prestige,” said Isipathana College captain Kushan Indunil.

Since its inception in 1995 St Peter’s who were the inaugural winners have won it five times, Isipathana College six and Kingswood College on four occasions.

Royal are the firm favourites to win the game and retain the Shield as they are already enjoying the luxury of a five point lead in the bag having won at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo a fortnight back.

If historical statistics mean anything then the odds are stacked heavily against Royal. Going down memory lane in the history of the Bradby Shield, Trinity have come back and won the Bradby after losing the first leg on four occasions.

In the first ever Bradby Shield encounter in 1945, Trinity led by Robert Sourjah lost the first leg 0/3 to Royal led by C.D.L. Fernando, and came back to take the second leg 6-0 at Bogambara.

The second occasion was in 1962 when Trinity led by Noel Brohier lost to Royal 0-5 in the first leg, but won the return leg beating U.L. Kaluarachchi’s team 9-0 at Bogambara.

Next Athula Unantenne’s Trinity side of 1972 having lost the first leg 8-9, came back to beat Gamini Gunasekera’s Royalists 10-3 at Nittawela.

Finally in 2011 that granite prop forward/hooker Murad Ramzeen did it for Trinity, after losing 25-33 at Bogambara they came back all guns blazing to virtually rout Shehan “Lema” Pathirana’s Royal side by 40 points to 5 at Royal’s own den at Reid Avenue.

Royal has achieved this feat only twice in 1979 and 1998.

Out of the four Trinity teams that have made come backs to win the Bradby, three have done it at home in Kandy and the only time they did it at Colombo was Ramzeen’s boys in 2011.

Now it’s the turn of Rahul Karunathilaka’s boys share a piece of history by turning it around today.

Both teams look equal on paper though Royal should have a slight overall advantage due to having a five point lead. If Royal can adjust themselves to the conditions early in the game, they could always head towards a good lead. Much will depend on how their heavy and mobile pack, which includes two-try hero of the first leg Azmir Fajudeen who occupies the all-important hooker’s berth.

If their halves combination of vice captain Ashok Wijeykumar and Lennox Calyaneratne link effectively, then they should be able to feed the Royal three quarters more often.

Royal College head coach Sanath Martis said, “We are going in to the second leg leading only by five points but we have got all our minor points sorted out after several practice sessions. We will go really hard at the Trinitians and we are definitely going to retain the Bradby.”

At the same time Karunathilaka returning for today’s game (after having to sat out a one match suspension in the first leg) as a third row forward – his presence in the ‘pack’ should make exchanges even in the forwards’ play. Karunathilaka will pair off with Rukshan Dhammapala and Shalindra Alahakoon as the number eight. Trinity over the years, have always produced penetrative back divisions and it is no exception this time.

Sean Wijesinghe the newly appointed head coach of the Trinity College said, “After our loss to Royal in the first leg we were very sad because honestly it was our game. Rahul is a captain and the best player who gets the entire team to rally around him. Today it’s going to be a different ball game as Rahul is back and playing for us leading the team. We are definitely going to win by a very big margin and regain the Bradby.”

Royal have already finalized their team for the big game while Trinity is yet to decide one final slot in the three quarter line up. Vice captain cum fly half Thisila Perera looks a doubtful starter and if he fails to make it, Lashan Wijesuriya would join the rest to form the Trinity ‘line’.

The season’s track record does not matter much in the ‘Bradby’ series. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to have a look at how the two teams have fared.

Royal have won three matches but two of those wins have been close games – 22-17 in the Bradby first leg against Trinity and 17-14 against Wesley. Royal came from behind to pull off an exciting draw against St. Joseph’s (27-27), but their season’s record is enriched with a convincing win against D.S. Senanayake College (36-10). Their only loss is to arch rivals S. Thomas’ 15-21.

In contrast, Trinity too has an almost equally good record, except for that shock 20-23 defeat at the hands of S. Thomas’ College and the first leg loss to Royal in the Bradby. Except for those two surprise losses Trinity has shaped up well this season, winning their remaining three matches. They had two good wins against Wesley 7-5 and St. Joseph’s over 40 points but their rich harvest came in the game against D.S. Senanayake which the Lions won 65-nil.

The Reid Avenue boys are the current custodians of the coveted Bradby Shield. Of the 71 encounters played, Trinity leads with 39 wins to Royal’s 31. The only tie in the series was witnessed in 1992.

Teams:

ROYAL COLLEGE (PROBABLE XV): Ayesh Maduranga, Azmir Fajudeen, Mohamad Nabeel, Ashen Fernando, Harith Lokugamage, Maleesha Madumewan, Pasindu Amarasinghe, Nikila Gunadheera (Captain), Ashok Wijekumar and Lennox Calyaneratne, , Nikil George, Thuleb Hassen, Janidu Dilshan, Andrew de Silva or Shaqir Nawfer , Ovin Askey, Head Coach: Sanath Martis, Asst. Coach: Dushanth Lewke, Kicking coach: T.A.Silva

TRINITY COLLEGE ( PROBABLE XV ): Shaveen Ekanayaka, Kanchana Wimalasiri, Nathan Yee, Aveesha Piyankara, Rishane Madena, Rukshan Dhammapala,Rahul Karunathilaka (Captain), Shalindra Alahakoon, Anuka Boyagoda and Thishila Perera or Lashan Wijesuriya, Geshan Pethiyagoda, Diluksha Dange, Avishka Shiek, Ayesha Edirisinghe, Sanushka Abeywickerema, Head Coach: Sean Wijesinghe , Asst.Coach: Saliya Kumara.

Royal probably met a real force in their match against arch rivals S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia last week and after leading 15-14 lost in the very last move of the day by a close 21-15 margin. The story could be the same today against the Joes who are holding back nothing this season as they almost threatened the pride of Wesley College in their last outing played two weeks ago when they went down fighting 19-12.

The Joes will have to watch out for Royal’s forwards and their famous rolling maul and match upto them really hard to prevent Royal from scoring. The two three quarter lines are evenly matched and a close tussle for supremacy can be expected.

St.Joseph’s are coached by former Royal College rugby players Billal Yousuf (Head coach), Ashane Dissanayake (Asst. Coach-Forwards), Asanga Rodrigo (Asst. Coach-Three quarters) along with ex-Isipathana full back Reza Mubarak as their kicking coach.

Royal College team kicked off this year’s season in a superb manner by thrashing D.S. Senanayake College 36-10 and edged out the formidable Wesley College 17-14 before going down to the Thomians.

The players to watch are their captain cum playmaker number eight Nikila Gunadheera, second row forward Harith Lokugamage, prop forward Ayesh Maduranga, scrum half Nikil de Silva, fly half and vice-captain Ashok Wijekumar, two speedy wingers Mahima Gamage and Shabith Feroze, hard running centres Nikhil George and Andrew de Silva, hooker Hamza Reeza, flankers Yohan Kanishka, Pasindu Amarasinghe together with experienced full back Ovin Askey.

This year the Royal College rugby team is once again coached by former Isipathana, Wesley, St. Peter’s and Sri Lanka Under 20 national head coach veteran Sanath Martis and assisted by ex-Royal, CH&FC, CR&FC, Police and Sri Lanka national rugby captain cum number eight Dushanth Lewke. Former Sri Lanka national full back T.A. de Silva will be their kicking coach.

UNBEATEN SIDES CLASH IN KANDY

Two unbeaten sides Trinity College Kandy will host S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia at Pallekelle starting at 4.30pm today. The Trinitians go as favourites to win this encounter but they will have to throw in everything if the Thomians are to be subdued.

The other game in Kandy is between St Anthony’s and Dharmaraja at Bogambara.

The Thomians have not tasted success since 2013 when they triumphed 29-20 at Havelock Park under the leadership of fly half Devin Jayasinghe.

This time they seem to have a great chance of regaining the trophy after being unbeaten having won both their previous games played for the season against St. Joseph’s College Colombo and D.S. Senanayake College at Longden Place.

S Thomas’ are currently enjoying one of their finest seasons in the ongoing Singer division one league tournament under experienced Samoan coach Tevita Tulagaese, affectionately called ” Laga” by all his fans in Sri Lanka. Their best effort probably came earlier in the season when they won the inter-school rugby Sevens trophy under Laga after a lapse of more than one and half decade. In the final they beat the favourites for the title Isipathana to clinch the trophy at Havelock Park.

Last week they scored their second successive victory thrashing D.S. Senanayaka College by 40 points to 6 to go along with their 32-3 win over a hapless St. Joseph side in their first outing.

The Thomians are led by their hardy hooker Pandula de Silva.

Royal of course will be hoping to produce an improved performance after their close call against Wesley College which they narrowly won 17-14 at Longden Place.

Last year Royal under the leadership of Bhanuka Gamage and head coach Sanath Martis had a great season where they emerged the undisputed kings of schools rugby clinching the coveted Singer League trophy after four years. To go along with this they rewrote Royal-Thomian rugby history when they demolished S Thomas’ 52-0 at Havelock Park which is todate the highest score by a team in this traditional encounter. The previous best was 39-3 in 2002 by Royal under Zulki Hameed. The Thomians’ biggest victory in the series is 22-0 under Charya de Saram in 1991. Incidentally last year’s Royal College unsung hero and the highest try scorer in the league tournament, number eight Supun Warnakulasuriya emerged the first and only rugby player from both schools to score a hat-trick of tries. He touched down on four occasions to enable Royal achieve that record 52-0 win.

This season Royal are trying their very best to carry out the same winning momentum even though they are playing with only four coloursmen and 11 freshers. They won their first match of the season against D.S. Senanayake College Colombo 36-10 before being rattled by Wesley.

The Royal College outfit is captained this year by that experienced dashing number eight and Sri Lanka national under 19 prop forward Nikila Gunadeera with another experienced player scrum half Ashok Wijeykumar as his deputy. Royal is coached by Sanath Martis, one of the best known school coaches who is also the head coach of the Sri Lanka under 19 rugby team. Ex-national rugby captain Dushanth Lewke will be his assistant.

T.A. Silva former Army and Sri Lanka national full back will be the kicking coach. This traditional encounter was inaugurated in 1962 and the first match ended in a draw.

Present tally stands at 28 wins to Royal College and 18 to S. Thomas’ College with five ending in draws.

In 1979 this match was not played due to a dispute regarding the date for the encounter.

Sampath has proved beyond doubt that he is the best in the trade today, and his proven skill speaks for itself. He learnt his cricket at D.S. Senanayake College and captained the side in 1993. In the 1994 season he scored 1,000 runs for his school, which included three centuries and eight fifties. His appearance at club cricket was at BRC from 1992 to 1994 and for Bloomfield C&AC from 1994 to 1999, before taking wing to Melbourne, Australia to qualify as a cricket coach at Cricket Australia, where he also had a stint with Burwood Cricket Club and did well for them.

He coached his alma mater from 1999 to 2008 before coming to Kandy. At Trinity in his first year itself he produced the expected results in registering seven outright wins in the season, which surpassed the record of six wins in the 1920s. In 2009 also Trinitians recorded seven outright wins and in 2010 they recorded a similar number of wins again. The year 2011/12 was their best when they won 11 matches.

In club cricket Sampath Perera coached the SSC under 23 side which finished runner up in the 2003 league. In 2004, SSC entered the semi final of the same tournament. The next year he took up coaching NCC which entered the semi final in the under 23 tournament. They did better the following year finishing runner up. By the year 2008 NCC finished champions in the under 23 Premier.
Sampath Perera has proved beyond doubt his ability as a cricket coach and Trinity College is indeed lucky to have him in that capacity.
He pays more attention to fitness, and after completion of a match indulges in rugby and other games to keep the boys fit.
He himself is an epitome of fitness. He still plays club cricket in the local tournaments and has done well, though nearing his forties.