Schools Rugby Review: Trinity on their way to retain Bradby Shield

Chris Dhambarage

SCHOOLS RUGBY: Trinity College, Kandy have cleared their first hurdle in their attempt to retain the Bradby Shield for the second successive year.

Last week they defeated their traditional rivals Royal College by 21 points to ten points in the 62nd annual inter school rugby encounter at the Royal College Sports Complex, Independence Avenue.

Trinity's success in the Bradby Shield first leg was even more significant as they also emerged unbeaten champions in the Singer inter school under 20 'B' division league tournament. The Trinitians recovered splendidly after an early set back and collected their points through three goals while Royal managed to score just one goal and one penalty.

Even then the Trinitians could not dominate the game but the most striking fact was that they scored a try every time they got their act together well. They came in with a lot of confidence but just could not carry on with their game plan as most of their key players were heavily marked by their opposite numbers.

Royal of course did well to take the initiative as they drew first blood with a crucial penalty through fly half Omar Hassen who had earlier failed with a similar effort.

However the Royal forwards kept on pounding on the Trinity defence but they just could not convert that pressure situation into points.

Trinity College however staged a remarkable comeback almost immediately while scoring their first try of the match shortly before half time. This was no doubt a superb counter attack move from the Trinitians who took full advantage to capitalize after one of the Royal players were penalized and had been sent on sin bin.

This was a similar situation to their previous outing against Isipatana at the same venue where two of their key players were sent off at a vital stage which ultimately cost them the game.

The Trinity forwards who had gone into a shell really got their pacers correct for the first time with hooker Mahen Wickremasiri scoring a typical forwards try under tremendous pressure.

In fact Wickremasiri had a fantastic game where he rose to the occasion and scoring their second try as well to seal the game in their favour.

Earlier Royal College were rewarded for all their hard work with dynamic flanker Bilal Hassen scoring a spectacular try in the first half.

Royal carried on with the good work during the early stages of the first half and came closer to scoring on more than a couple of occasions.

But they dropped the ball at some vital stages and also kicked too deep into the Trinity territory which prevented them from retaining possession. Royal's number eight Diren Warnakulasuriya was easily the most outstanding player where he initiated a number of good moves and certainly led his pack well and was always behind the ball.

But the Trinitians delivered the final blow in style with flanker Sean Wanigasekera scoring their third try following some great work by the forwards who played much better than they did in the first half. They also made certain that they converted all three tries which was a bonus as they will have a healthy eleven point lead while going into the second leg in Kandy in two week's time.

St. Peter's v St. Joseph's

St. Peter's College went through some anxious moments before overcoming their traditional rivals St. Joseph's College by 27 points to 15 points in their 38th annual inter school rugby encounter played at Bambalapitiya last week.

The Peterites who had already clinched the Singer inter school 'A' division league title retained the Rev. Father Basil Wiratunga Shield for another year while collecting their points from one goal and four tries. However they were under tremendous pressure at the beginning and were trailing at half time following an improved performance from the Josephians.

The lads from Darley Road really gave their more fancied opponents a tough time with some hard tackling and even counter attacking with their three quarters. But once the Peterites settled down in the second half the game took a different direction where they used all their experience to turn the match in their favour.

Ananda v Vidyartha

Vidyartha College scored a thrilling victory over their traditional rivals Ananda College in their annual inter school rugby encounter played for the William Gopallawa Shield in Kandy during the weekend.

Even then the match was marred by some unruly crowd behaviour soon after the game where some of the members of the Ananda College team were severely injured following this free for all.

As a result the relations between the two schools certainly fell to a low ebb and the second leg of the William Gopallawa Shield which was scheduled for Saturday did not come off.