Close battle for Bradby as Royal takes on Trinity

Dinesh Weerawansa

It could be yet another close battle for supremacy AS Royal College, Colombo scrums down with Trinity College, Kandy in the second leg of the 69th Bradby Shield rugby encounter to be played at Royal Sports Complex grounds, Stanley Tillakaratne Mawatha this evening. The junior game for the E.C. Simitharachchi trophy will be played prior to the first XV match.

Will the Trinity Lions remain ferocious even out of their own den? This will be the question that the rugby fans along with young and old Royalists and Trinitians be seeking an answer as they pack to capacity at Royal rugby grounds today. If the Lions could produce the same class they dished out at Pallekele, they could well be in an advantageous position to win the ‘Bradby’.

Trinity will travel down to Colombo with a handsome lead of 12 points, having beaten Royal by 37 points to 25 in the first leg played in Kandy a fortnight ago. It means the lions could even afford to lose the second leg by a margin of 11 points or less and still carry away the coveted shield offered in memory of former Royal principal, E.L. Bradby.

But that does not mean the lions could relax. The Reid Avenue boys could well bounce back, using their favourable home conditions. It was Royal which made the first blood in the first leg, storming in to a good 18-8 at half time. If not for that great Trinity fight back, the Royalists would have well returned to Colombo with an advantageous lead.

But it was not so as Royal made too many mistakes after the short whistle at Pallakele and continued overplay with their superior set of forwards. Ultimately Royal paid the penalty for playing too much with its forwards who appeared to be exhausted at the end. Had Royal ‘threes’ played a better supportive role, at least in the second half, they could have well capitalised on that ten-point lead they enjoyed by half time.

In contrast, the Trinity back division looked impressive, especially in the second half, and made the full use of the good ball. True that Royal had the edge in the line outs and set pieces but even on the few occasions the Trinity forwards won the ball, the Trinity three quarters made sure that they take the maximum advantage, running down as many as four tries in the second half.

However, Royal have done their homework well and would not make the same mistakes again, especially before their home supporters. They have taken stock of what had gone wrong in the first leg and will make every effort to win today’s game by a margin of 13 points or more.

It will not be an uphill task for the Reid Avenue boys to achieve that goal, if their back division makes the optimum use of the hard work of their forwards. Royal’s heavy and mobile pack is set to continue its dominance and if their ‘line’ could rise to the occasion and make some penetrative moves, they could keep Trinity under pressure.

It all depends on the volume of control Royal could gain within the first 20 minutes of the game. If they play fast and aggressive rugby and wipe off that deficit of 12 points early, then they could well exert pressure on Trinity. However, Royal must make sure that they do not tax their forwards too much and get their back division also to make their presence felt.

Place kicking too could play a decisive role in a close battle and Trinity fly half Tharinda Ratwatte is determined to have another fruitful game with his kicks. Nevertheless, Rimzi Jamaldeen led Royal with example with some neat place kicking in the first leg.

It is almost customary to see a heavy Royal pack and a speedy Trinity back division in the Bradby shield series. This year too, Royal’s forte has been their superior set of forwards who have been key to their success. But Trinity’s strength lies in their three quarters. Any extraordinary effort by Royal three quarters or Trinity ‘eight’ it could well be a bonus for either side.

Royal cannot afford to make too many mistakes in the second leg, though they had conceded nine points through three penalties in the first leg. It was Tharinda Ratwatte’s 35-metre drop goal in the second half that turned the match in Trinity’s favour as it reduced their deficit to 16-18. With the three penalties and the drop goal, Trinity earned 12 points through place kicking - exactly the number of points they lead in the first leg. Had Royal made less mistakes, they could have well cut short that deficit even though Trinity ran down as many as five tries in the match.

Royal are enjoying a moderate season having won three matches against Kingswood (13-7), Wesley (31-12) and St. Joseph’s (14-7) and lost three against Science College (19-36), St.Peter’s (19-31) and St. Anthony’s (22-24) while losing to Trinity (25-32), S.Thomas’ (15-29) and drew with Isipatana (20-20 in a controversial game).

Trinity has a better track record this season, with six wins to their credit under Science College (18-11), Kingswood (38-23), St. Peter’s (35-25), Wesley (22-19), St. Anthony’s (22-14) and Royal (32-25). Trinity held Dharmaraja to a 34-all draw. St. Joseph’s is the only team that had beaten Trinity this season in a 15-16 thriller.

Though the Bradby Shield was introduced in 1945, the history of Royal-Trinity inter-school rugby series goes way back to 1920. But it was only after the introduction of the Bradby Shield that it turned out to be a ‘two-leg’ affair. Trinity had a runaway 26-0 win over Royal in the first ever game played in 1920. Trinity won the first ever Bradby encounter with a 0-3 loss and 6-0 win in 1945 as the shield is awarded on aggregate of points after two matches in Colombo and Kandy.

Trinity are the current custodians of the coveted Bradby Shield, crushing Royal by convincing margins last year. Trinity to spring such a big surprise beating Royal 34-11 in the first leg and then won the second leg at Pallekele by 36 points to 20 last year.

Trinity takes the lead with 37 wins to Royal’s 30 after 68 previous Bradby Shield encounters with the only tie in the series being recorded in 1992 (three-all and nil-all).

The Bradby Shield is much more than a mere inter-school rugby match and it has a rich history which runs down to almost centenary years. The superior quality of rugby that is dished out could only be witnessed in the Bradby shield series, played in true sportsmanship as the Royalists and Trinitians, young and old make it an annual meeting point to go down memory lane. Whatever the outcome of today’s game may be, the spectators are assured of a grand treat of fast and open rugby. Michael Muller, who captained Royal to Brabdy victory in 1973 will be the chief guest. Under his leadership, Royal won the first leg 18-4 but lost the ‘return’ 4-12.