BY DINESH Weerawansa

HISTORY will be created in the Lady Jayatillake Shield rugby series when three brothers - Namal, Yoshitha and Rohitha Rajapakse, turn out for S. Thomas' against St. Joseph's at Havelock Park this evening.

What is even more significant is that all three of them would play in the Thomian 'pack'. Leading S. Thomas' will be No. 8 Namal Rajapakse, who captained Sri Lanka Under-19 team, while his brothers Yoshitha and Rohitha play as a flanker and a prop forward respectively.

The youngest of the three, 16-year-old Rohitha Rajapakse played briefly in the first half of their previous game against Kingswood.

But the young prop forward is set to play even a greater role today, following the footsteps of his elder brothers who have been regular members of the Thomian first XV team.

Having played at the under-15 and 17 teams with distinction, he is set to prove his class, giving mobility to the Thomian 'pack'.

Skipper Namal looked a confident man as his team go out firm favourites to register their fourth win for the season. He said S.Thomas' would give more opportunities for their budding youngsters in today's game.

"We are going to try out some of our young players as well. That is important as we have to think about next year and groom a few talented youngsters to fill the vacancies which will be created after the current season," he added.

The Thomian captain said they would try out some new faces in the back division too. "We will play a few players in the three quarter line too. While winning our matches this season, we want to give experience to the youngsters and groom a team for next year as well," he added.

Namal, Yoshitha and Rohitha are the three sons of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse who has been a close follower of Thomian rugby during the last couple of years.

Their parents - Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Madam Shiranthi Rajapakse, have the honour of heading two of Sri Lanka's leading national sports associations - athletics (AASL in 1997) and netball (NFSL in 2004) respectively.

S. Thomas' came out with their best performance this season when they trounced traditional rivals Royal in the Michael Gunaratne trophy rugby encounter. They also beat St. Peter's and Wesley, who are ahead of them in the Singer 'A' division inter-school league championship points table.

The Mount Lavinia school is currently placed third in the 'A' division league championship standings behind Kingswood and Wesley while their opponents in today's game - St.Joseph's, are placed last.

Hence, the Thomians are well set to put extra pressure on the Josephians in today's encounter, which would also be counted as a league match of the Singer 'A' division schools championship.

St. Joseph's will have to come out with new ideas and strategy, if they are to contain the try-hungry Thomians today. St. Joseph's have lost all their matches in this year's league and will face an uphill task.