Royal determined to regain Bradby, but Trinity could upset

Dinesh WEERAWANSA

RUGBY: It should be a close battle for the supremacy as Royal College, Colombo scrum down with Trinity College, Kandy in their second leg of the 63rd annual Bradby Shield rugby encounter at Royal Sports Complex grounds today.

With a valuable eight-point lead from the first leg at Bogambara a fortnight ago, the Reid Avenue boys will walk into their home grounds, brimming with confidence.

Trinity went into the first leg with a slight edge but it was Royal who turned the form book upside down.

Royal, with home advantage and morale boosting eight-point lead, have a better chance of winning the ‘return’ leg as well. Last weekend’s exciting win over S.Thomas’ to win the Gunaratne Trophy has boosted Royal’s confidence tremendously and they are out to regain the coveted ‘Bradby’ after three years.

Nevertheless, Royal cannot take things for granted as the Lions could roar any moment. True that they will not be in their own den, but still, they have the ability to spoil that right Royal dream.

The proud history of the Bradby, which began way back in 1945 to honour former Royal Principal, E.L. Bradby, has several instance where a team had made great comebacks to win the shield after losing the first leg.

But the last such occasion was witnessed nine years back when Royal, with a far superior side, suffered a shock defeat in the first leg 18-20.

But they recovered in great fashion to win the second leg by a handsome margin of 42-11 under Shanaka Perera at Bogambara Stadium.

Hence, the 2007 Bradby is still an open deal. But the first 20 minutes of the game is going to be crucial.

If Royal could take and early advantage and extend their lead by another 12 points by mid first half, then the Lions would face a tough task.

At the same time, Trinity could wipe out the deficit quickly and take a lead by the short whistle, they could well put Royal under pressure in the second half. The team which draws first blood would have a distinct advantage in determining the fate of this year’s ‘Bradby’.

Royal have retained their victorious first leg team. The key to their success this season has been the heavy and mobile set of forwards.

Trinity has a few injury worries. Skipper Sean Wanigasekera who missed the first leg due to an injury, has shown a vast improvement during the last couple of weeks. But whether he is 100% fit to take the field is highly doubtful.

Besides Wanigasekera’s fitness, Trinity has a few other injury worries but team authorities were tight lipped. Indications are that Trinity could play a few juniors in their final XV.

The Lions will have to come out with fresh ideas and a new strategy to stop the Royalists. If Trinity could dish out something special, as they did against Kingswood three weeks ago, then they should be able to give a testing time to Royal.

Though the Bradby Shield was introduced in 1945, Royal-Trinity rugby series has a proud history since 1920. Of the 62 Bradby Shield encounters played so far since 1945, Trinity takes the lead with 34 while Royal has won the title on 27 occasions with one tie.

The Lions have been keeping the ‘Bradby’ in their trophy cupboard for the last two years with back to back 21-10 and 26-5 wins last year.

Prior to that, Royal won the Bradby Shield for four successive years from 2001 to 2004. The Reid Avenue boys last won the title in 2004 beating Trinity 41-6 and 10-0 under Lakshman Dissanayake.

The ‘Bradby’ has been ‘the meeting place’ for the Royalists and Trinitians young and old, along with their supporters. The excitement that is generated even surpasses all key club matches and could easily attract the biggest local turnout for a rugby match.

At the same time, the Royal-Trinity series has dished out fast and open rugby at all times, keeping spectators on the edges of their seats most of the time. Whatever the result would be, those who pack Royal College Sports Complex are assured of an exciting rugby treat.

The teams:

Royal: Manil Abeyratne (Captain), Ayesh Rajapakse, Nikira Senanayake, Thushan Perera, Janith Samarasinghe, Hasthika Bandaranayake, Eranjan Punchihewa, Bilal Hassen, Vinod Malwatte and Naren Dhason, Asiff Hussain, Sujith Adihetty, Suvinda Leneduwa, Duminda Attygalle, Shilendra Chandrasekera. Trinity: (probable) Fazal Zawahir, Mahen Wikremasiri, Ishara Singhalakshana, Pasindu Dassanayake, Naveen Perera, Milinda Gunawardena, Idiris Omar, Jazeer Hassen, Adeep Hameed, Cinci Siegertsz, Azwar Marzook, Vishwajith Wijesinghe, Shamrin Zaneer, Rangika Ailapperuma and Lasantha Samarasekera.

Referee: Orville Fernando