Memorable moments of the Royal-Thomian rugby match

One of the most looked forward to confrontations in the schools rugby calendar is the clash between Royal College, Colombo and S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia for the Michael Gunaratne Trophy which will be worked off at the S. Thomas College Grounds, Mound Lavinia today.

Rugby of a very high standard

The Michael Gunaratne Trophy was offered for competition between the two schools in 1962 and since then this encounter has produced rugby of a very high standard especially during the last two decades including several memorable moments.

In 1989 in a closely fought out game Thomian prop forward Mark Ratnayake fired across a 35 metre penalty to give them a 3-nil win and in the following year the lads from Mount Lavinia retained the trophy with a convincing 13-0 win.

In 1991 the Thomians led by Charya de Saram crushed Royal by 22-nil at the Sugathadasa Stadium to register the highest score by the Thomians in the series.

In the following year the Royalists wrested back the trophy with a 12-10 victory in a close game but in the following year surrendered the trophy to the Thomians who triumphed 10-5.

Rain-marred game

In 1994, in a rain-marred game the Royalists edged out Thomians by 5 points to 3 but in the following year the Thomians wrested back the trophy by emerging victorious by 8 points to nil.

In 1996, Royal regained the trophy with a hard fought 15-10 win while in the year (1997) the game turned out to be a kicking duel between the two place kickers Ahamed Rahaman (S. Thomas') and Royalist Rananja Gonaduwa, who fired three penalties each with the match ending in a nine-all draw.

The 1998 match turned to be a thriller. The scores road 16-all three minutes before the final whistle when a move begun by flanker Pavithra Fernando in mid field ended with centre Kishan Samarasinghe scoring under the posts to give Rananja Gonaduwa an easy kick at goal to give Royal a 23-16 win.

In 1999, Dinesh Rahim's Royalists came up with a gallant display to score a grand 26-12 win over the more fancied Thomians. In the year 2000, the Thomians led by burly Gavin Jayasekera wrested back the trophy after a lapse of five years by edging out Royal by 14-11.

Dazzling display of open rugby

In 2001, the Royalists turned in a dazzling display of open rugby to score a smashing 30-nil win at Longden Place and in the following year Zulki Hamid's invincible Royalists ran riot at Reid Avenue to score a runaway 39-3 win to notch up the highest score in the series and in the following year Royal's full back Shehab Bahudeen emerged the hero by firing across four penalties and scoring a try to give them a 17-6 victory at Havelock Park and in 2004 the lads from Reid Avenue made in four in a row by emerging triumphant by 18-8.

In 2005, after being led 0-5 midway in the first half the formidable Thomians led by No. 8 Namal Rajapaksa came back storming to score a smashing 20-5 win to wrest back the trophy after a lapse of four years.

In 2006, in a mud larker's game at Reid Avenue Royal led by Chamika Sandaruwan scored a runaway 35-nil win to regain the trophy.

The lads from Reid Avenue emerged victorious by 22-18 and 22-5 in the last two years to retain the Gunaratne Trophy for the third successive year.