Royal needs a superlative performance to hold Trinitians
 

BY DINESH Weerawansa

ONLY a miraculous performance by Royal College, Colombo could prevent Trinity College, Kandy taking the prestigious Bradby Shield back to the hill capital after five years as the two traditional ruby rivals clash in the second leg of their 61st annual encounter to be played at the Royal College Sports Complex grounds this evening.

Once again, the proud sponsor of the much looked forward to event in the local rugby calendar will be Singer Sri Lanka, one of Sri Lanka's leading rugby promoters which has played a significant role in fostering many sports other than rugby.

For the benefit of those who are not fortunate of making it to the venue, Singer Sri Lanka will also sponsor the live television coverage of the Royal-Trinity Bradby Shield encounter on Sirasa

TV commencing from 4.45 pm today.

The lions will travel down to Colombo with their heads high. They have every reason to do so, having thrashed Royal 36-6 in the first leg played at Bogambara Stadium a fortnight ago.

The morale of the Trinity side is high as they enjoy a handsome 30-point lead. Hence, they know that the Reid Avenue boys must prove that the miracles do happen with a victory margin of 31 points or more.

But considering the poor show painted by Royal, even a realistic die-hard Royal supporter too could not expect such a great comeback, unless Trinity makes a 'surprise gift'.

But Trinity will make sure that they would not make any mistakes this time around as they are well set to take that valuable shield back with them, having lost to Royal in the last four successive years. Royal too are aware that they do not have Christmas all the time.

Having won the 'Bradby' since 2001 for four years in-a-row, Royal are in a team building process with one of their youngest ever first XV sides in the history of Bradby Shield. But that is not an excuse and the Royalists will have to come out with a vastly improved performance, if they are to tame the lions.

But Trinity lions looked too ferocious and were unstoppable in their own den. But this time around in Colombo, the Reid Avenue boys are not ready to suffer the same fate. Of course, Royal would make every endeavor to stop Trinity scoring as often as they did in the first leg and satisfying their home supporters.

But Royal will have to overcome that gigantic task, if they have any hopes of even a consolation win. It looked like Trinity has done their homework well, studying all weak links in the Royal side. It was just that they exposed and capitalised on in the first leg. Whether Royal is going to put any kind of pressure on rampaging lions would greatly depend on their 'eight'.

But Royal three quarters have often failed to make use of the good ball and that they would prefer to keep the ball within their forwards. Royal have also not found a reliable place kicker.

In contrast, Trinity 'threes' would not show any mercy once they get in to action.

They have speed and power to make some penetrative moves and keep Royal under constant pressure.

Of the 60 two-leg encounters played in the Bradby Shield series, Trinity takes the lead with 32 wins to Royal's 27. The only series tie was witnessed in 1992 when both matches ended in draws.

Though the Bradby Shield was introduced in 1945 in honour of the former Royal Principal, the late E.L. Bradby, the Royal-Trinity series began way back in 1920. One of the four houses at Royal College Hostel too is named after the late Bradby.

The longest sequence of wins in the series is held by Trinity, winning the Bradby Shield from 1952 to 1957 - six wins in a row. Royal's best effort has been from 2001 up to last year, winning the title for the last four successive years.

Trinity are the holders of the Simithrarachchi trophy awarded for the Royal-Trinity Under-17 series. In last year's encounter, Trinity won the first leg 23-0 but were held to a 10-all draw in the second leg.