Prince of Wales won according to points against St. Anthony’s College ‘A’ Katugastota at Katugastota and Royal ‘A’ also recorded a similar win against De Mazenod College ‘A’ Kandana at Reid Avenue in their quarterfinal matches.

Sineth Jayawardhane of Royal ‘A’ scored his third century in the tournament scoring an unbeaten 104 off 195 balls with 15 fours and a six. Prince of Wales ‘A’ will meet Royal ‘A’ in the semi-finals next week.

+At Reid Avenue: Royal ‘A’ won according points)

Royal: 243/3 decl. in 64 overs (Sineth Jayawardhane 104 n.o., Nethin Panapitiya 76, Pramod Rajamunindra 2/39)

De Mazenod: 107/8 in 31 overs (Lester Jayaweera 33, Ruveen Fonseka 23, Kanika Dayaratna 5/37)

+At Katugastota: Prince of Wales ‘A’ won according points)

Prince of Wales: 150/8 in 64 overs (Vinuja Ranpul 36 n.o., Sandun Ranatunge 21, Mahinsa de Silva 19, Dinindu Bandara 3/24, Asitha Wanninayake 2/25, Lahiru Abeysinghe 2/30)

St. Anthony’s: 101/6 in 33 overs (Bimsara Jayasekara 33, Hasthika Bandara 26, Mahinsa de Silva 4/18)

What was supposed to be a tightly contested final turned out to be a totally one-sided affair as Isipathana ran circles round the Royal defence to pierce through and score as many as seven tries to Royal’s two. The final scoreline Isipathana 47 (7 tries, 6 conversions) to Royal’s 12 (2 tries, 1 conversion) tells the story of how dominant the Pathana team was.

This victory by Isipathana was one of the best in a Pathana-Royal match for20 years beating the previous best of 40 points to nil win by the Royal in 1976 under Skanda Fernando. Isipathana was captained by Jayantha Ginigalgoda.

Isipathana’s final tally was the highest total score as well as the biggest margin scored by a team in the history of an inter-schools knockout rugby final.

Pathana’s execution in the match was a tribute to their master tactical young head coach Nilfer Ibrahim and his assistant Terence Henry. They laid out a superb plan which in the end, the entire team put into action enabling them to nail the far more superior forwards play of the Royalist.

Isipathana’s entire forwards played like terriers in the loose as well as in the set pieces and the break downs winning abundance of positions through turn overs enabling their much more fancied three quarters to plant all the tries in the end. Even in the rucks, mauls and scrums the entire gallant Pathana forwards matched weight to weight and sometimes out shone the much more fancied Royal forwards.

Isipathana’s front three were the unsung heroes behind this victory with a superb defensive display carried out through the entire 80 minutes. Surprisingly Isipathana dished out this unbelievable display even without a ground, gym or a swimming pool of their own.

Speaking to the Daily News exclusively after the win a jubilant Isipathana head coach Nilfer Ibrahim said, “With this change of date issue of the final Royal created undue pressure and it was a morale booster for us as we did not take any notice of it. We did our planning and practices accordingly and our principal and the entire rugby committee was behind us backing us right throughout. I want to thank our rugby captain, entire rugby squad, principal, the rugby committee, parents, old boys and the supporters young and old for their utmost support given to us to be successful throughout this season.

Royal captain Nikhila Gunadheera (ball in hand), held by Isipathana captain Kushan Indunil (with a head band) and fly half Randy Silva (number 23)

“Most probably this will be my final year as head coach of this fabulous rugby playing school Isipathana, so I wanted to end it on a high and wanted to give something special to the school. I am very happy that under my coaching I enabled them to reach nine finals and win five trophies,” Ibrahim said.

Isipathana opened scoring in the 12 minute when off a three quarter move vice-captain cum centre Sumudhu Rankothge went through the Royal defence to score mid right. Full back Gayan Wickramaratne made the conversion and Pathana went into a 7-nil lead.

Soon after in the 26th minute Pathana three quarters collected a ball and set their three quarter line in motion where the ball changed several hands from skipper Kushan Indunil to fly half Randy Silva who dummied his way through to score far right. Wickramaratne this time missed the conversion and the score read Isipathana 12-0.

In the 37th minute Royal scrum half Ashok Wijeykumar crashed through for a try off a penalty tap and fly half Ovin Askey fired across the conversion to cut down the lead to 12-7 in favour of Isipathana.

Just on the stroke of half time Pathana winger Chamod Fernando collected a ball from a three quarter move and made a daring break and gave a superb off load to Indunil who scampered through for a try close to the right upright. This time Wickramaratne slotted the conversion and Isipathana went into a 19-7 lead at half time.

After the resumption in the 46th minute Isipathana scored again, when off a three quarter move their scrum half Harith Bandara made a spectacular break and gave an inside pass to flanker Adeesha Weeratunge who in return gave an off load to Randy Silva who fell over for a try. Wickramaratne made the conversion and Pathana went led 26-7.

In the 57th minute Royal closed the gap when off a rolling maul their hooker Azmir Fajudeen scored a try. Askey missed the conversion and the score read 26-12 in favour of Isipathana.

In the 65th minute off a ruck the ball came to Randy Silva who scampered through and when challenged off loaded to his vice captain cum centre Rankothge who crashed through to touch down under the post for a brilliant try. Wickramaratne made the conversion to take the score to 33-12.

Within a couple of minutes Pathana further increased their lead when their open side winger Ranindu Padmasanka made a superb break and sent Randy Silva over for his third try of the match. Padmasanka made the conversion and Isipathana increased their tally to 40-12.

Isipathana virtually sealed the match in the closing stages of the game when their dynamic number eight Vageesha Weerasinghe broke through the blind side of the scrum and sent his speedy winger Padmasanka over the Royal defence to score a spectacular try under the post after covering nearly 85 metres. Padmasanka made the simple conversion to take the final score an impressive 47-12.

Isipathana’s young half back Harith Bandara was adjudged the best player of the tournament.

The Royalist has brought in former full back Ovin Askey to play in the pivotal position of fly half at the expense of Lenox Calyanaratne who is expected to play in the second half if needed and will most probably play in his pet position as centre.

In the pack, former hooker Hamza Reeza will play as number eight alongside their flankers Maleesha Madumewan and Pasindu Amarasinghe in the third row. Captain and number eight Nikhila Gunadheera has been moved up to the front row to bind down with Ayesh Maduranga and hooker Ashmir Fajudeen.

The forte of both teams has been their power-packed forwards. The Royal ‘eight’ especially Ayesh Maduranga, Azmir Fajudeen, Harith Lokugamage, Hamza Reeza, Pasindu Amarasinghe, Ashen Fernando, Maleesha Madumewan and Gunadheera are expected to give a terrific display in the loose and secure ball position. If they deliver and get their act together to proceed with the famous rolling maul then the Royalist will have a chance of pulling off this game.

However they face a huge challenge from the Pathana forwards spearheaded by their cracking number eight and Singer league man of the final Vageesha Weerasinghe who will be ably supported by Devin Gunaratna, Lahiru Wishvajith, Kaveesha Madushan, Sharukh Manabarana, Hasitha Mapitigama, Adeesha Weeratunga and Sashmitha Fernando.

In the set scrums the experienced Royal hooker Fajudeen should get the better of his vis-a-vis Mapitigama, while the line outs should be shared between the Royal duo of Ashen Fernando together with Madumewan and Isipathana line out jumpers in Weeratunga and Weerasinghe.

Royal’s new halves combination comprising Wijekumar and Askey are playing together for the first time this season. Everything will depend on how they click as a pair in this crucial match. Royal will hope that their highly talented scrum half cum play maker Wijeykumar will pair off well with his new fly half Askey.

“We have got our momentum and the correct team combination from the start of this knockout tournament, that’s why we were really successful and come into the finals,” Royal head coach Sanath Martis said.

“We have been really hard at practices throughout the week and looking forward to play a competitive final to win this year’s championship,” he said. Meanwhile for the Isipathana lads in all probability, their young scrum half Harith Bandara should try to set his speedy three quarters in motion at every given opportunity, as they have two hard running wing three quarters in Chamod Fernando and Ranindhu Padmasanka together with their skipper and centre Kushan Indunil. This is in addition to the experienced centre cum vice captain Sumudhu Rankothge who has stood out with his powerful runs down the flank. Full back Gayan Wickramaratne is there to join the line and form the overlap.

They will hope that their halves combination of Bandara and Rehan Silva will hit it off today. The halves combination of these two players will have to give a very good performance if Isipathana are to emerge victorious. “They are a good side and we expect a good fight from them in the finals. We know where Royal’s strength lies and done our home work accordingly to counter it down. Finally we are going for an all out victory, enabling us to end the season in high as the unbeaten league and knockout champions,” concluded Nilfer Ibrahim, the head coach of Isipathana College. Referee: Rohan Fernando.

The Royalists have an immaculate record after five matches and their cause has been severely bolstered by the presence of ever reliable forwards who are scoring try after try through their famous rolling maul in this League tournament to go along with the dependable place kicking of their young 17-year-old full back Ovin Askey.

They have had no challenge against D.S.Senanayaka College(36-10), Wesley College(17-14), St.Joseph College(27 all draw), Trinity (winning the 1st leg 22-17). Royal went down to Trinity in the return leg in Kandy by 13-18. Last week they stage a spectacular come back where they were trailing 0-19 down to win 33-24 against the fighting Peterites.

Their only blemish this season coming against arch rival S’Thomas College, Mount Lavinia where they were leading till the last minute and lost in the end by 22-16.

On the other hand St.Anthony’s College possesses Samuel Maduwantha their ever reliable fly half who can play in the pivotal position of full back also is the highest point scorer in this year’s on going ‘Singer’ League but has been blowing hot and cold and is savouring the sting of two straight defeats in the past two weeks. Unbeaten Thomians came from behind to invoke their spirit against Anthonians. Isipatha didn’t need any invitations to thrash the Katugasthota outfit last week as well. Also they lost to St. Peter’s in kandy.

These were preceded by two victories over two Kandy Schools, Darmaraja College and Kingswood College but the bite has been taken off their campaign later on and it could be worse for them after this week.

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.

Chairman of the Bradby Fiesta Committee, Rizan Nazeer stated, “As the Royal College Union celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, the Bradby Fiesta is scaling up to reach even greater heights than the last two events. This year’s fiesta will see an inclusion of an exclusive rugby zone with exciting rugby games courtesy of HSBC.

“Furthermore, former Wallabies captain and HSBC Rugby Ambassador George Gregan will meet and greet rugby fans young and old at the HSBC rugby zone. This will be first time Sri Lanka will witness a world class rugby zone and rugby legend in one location. All this is made possible by HSBC, the main sponsor of the Fiesta for the third consecutive year”.

Tharanga Gunasekera, Head of Marketing and Communications for HSBC Sri Lanka, said, “Rugby is one of the popular sports supported by HSBC globally and we are delighted to leverage on our global rugby footprint as an international bank to introduce a world class rugby experience to fans here in Sri Lanka.” Softlogic Holdings PLC will join in as one of the main sponsors of the Bradby Fiesta 2016 for the first time. Ford, the iconic US automobile brand would be present showcasing its line up of sought after vehicles from the Ford Everest to the Focus.

A special game zone for kids will be set up by Milo for the young ones to enjoy throughout the day. The fiesta will kick off at 10.00 am and go on until 12.00 mid night at the Bloomfield grounds, Reid Avenue.

The Bradby Shield encounter will be telecast live on LED screens at Bloomfield.

Furthermore, all HSBC credit cardholders will be allowed free entrance to the Bradby Fiesta. Other partners of the Bradby Fiesta 2016 include; Nestlé, CEAT, Elephant House Ice Cream& MyCola.

Arshad Jamaldeen was the last rugby player from the school to win the Royal Crown in 2012.

Along with this award Warnakulasooriya received his college rugby colours for the year 2015 for helping Royal win five trophies namely Bradby Shield (v Trinity), Michael Gunaratne trophy (v. S. Thomas’ ML), BC Anghie trophy (v St Peter’s), Major Milroy Fernando trophy (v Isipathana) and becoming League champions.

Royal College also had the distinction of clinching two other trophies – D.S. Senanayake trophy for winning the Royal-Thomian cricket encounter 2016 and the Bradby Shield for winning the Trinity-Royal rugby encounter 2015-16.

Incidentally Royal College won both these two trophies together after a lapse of 20 years. It is indeed a special occasion in their sporting history. – WA

Right extra Liyal Tillakawardana and left extreme Vishaya Perera scored a goal each for Musaeus College. For the loser centre forward Sandamika Chathurangi scored the solitary goal.

Maithri Dissanayake and Y.C. Witharana umpired.

These two schools along with Panadura Balika Vidyalaya and Gothami Balika Vidyalaya have qualified to play in the all Island championship to be played in Matale shortly.