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Bradby Shield, the blue riband of school rugby
By Bernie Wijesekera
Today school rugby unlike in the past has spread its wings far and wide in the country which augurs well for the development of this sport.

But the Royal-Trinity Bradby Shield take pride of place in the calendar. People from all walks of life wend their way to watch this traditional encounter - be it in Colombo or in the Hill Capital.

This much looked forward to encounter is here again. The first-leg will be played on July 13 at the Royal College Sports Complex, Reid Avenue.

Both schools have produced high quality rugby and have maintained the true spirit of sportsmanship on and off the field.They have produced some outstanding players who have done proud to their schools and the country.

Some of them have made a supreme sacrifice for the country too. Late Lt. Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwe, Cdr. B.J. Bahar, Lt. Cdr. A.T. Dissanayake, D.B. Weerasekera, Flt. Lt. T.P.K. Seneviratne just to name a few.

The likes of Mahes Rodrigo - a double international - cricket and rugby Summa Navaratnam still continue to help Royal rugby, despite years rolling by.

'Lions' reigned from 1952-57: Trinity had greats like late Nimal Maralande, Denzil Kobbekaduwe, Kavan Rambukwelle, (who passed away recently) Rudra Rajasingham (who still makes a trek to watch a game), Ajith Abeyratne, Brig. Jupana Jayawardena etc.

Ajith and Jupana still continue to help their old school in their hour of need.
Trinity College, reigned supreme in the Bradby games defeating Royal in 1954 under Lucky Vitharne 11-5 and in 1955 won the tie 6-0 led by Mahinda Ratwatte. From 1952 to 1957 the 'Lions' roared. During this era Trinity had the like of Mervyn Panditharatne, Kavan Rambukwella, Lucky Vitharane, A.Bandaranayake, Rajah Williams, Wilhelm Bulthazaar, Raji de Sylva, David Frank, Franklyn Jacob, Ken de Joodt, Sena Sylva, Mike de Alwis, and Nimal Mavalande.

This year it will be the 54th encounter and Royal with an unbeaten record led by scrum-half Zulki Hamid go out favourite. A team packed with 14 seniors.
But they nearly met their Waterloo against Isipatana and survived to hold them to a thrilling 5 all draw.

Hamid, who was interviewed by The Sunday Times said, "We can't underestimate any team but have to go game by game. Though Trinity has fared poorly they are a no pushover side when it comes to this traditional encounter".

This year Trinity will be led by Sajeewa Mendis (No. 8). They have five coloursmen and the squad include several second year players but they have failed to live up to the reputation by losing all their matches. But when it comes to Bradby they are a different kettle of fish. The Trinitians are coached by Hemantha Yatawara.

Last year Royal won the first leg at Bogambara 12-6, and the second- leg 16-0, under Heren Kaluarachchi. For the record Trinity lead the series by 32 to Royal's 24.

Royal has in their fold six Jnr. national players Zulki Hamid (h/back), Dushantha Lewke (No. 8), prop. Shamil Mohamed (son of 'Ganja' Mohamed who played for Royal), Rajeeth Jayasundera (centre), Varuna Wijewardena (brother of Dev, an Under-17 youth player).

The rest of the squad looks quite formidable on paper, but they must have total commitment and planning.

This was solely lacking in the Isipatana match and was lucky to survive in the end. The rest of the squad is as follows - Channa de Silva (flanker), Nafes Ismail (hooker), Bilal Yusuf (winger,youngest son of Javid Yusuf), Lakshman Dissanayake, a strongly built lad (son of late Dr. Lakdasa), Nanda Abeysekera (towering second rower). He suffered a shoulder injury in the Isipatana match, but will be fit to play), Venura Perera, (prop), Raqeeb Bary (second rower), playmaker Ishan Perera (fly-half) and takes the spot kicks too. Indika de Silva (winger), Champath Danawansa an attacking full-back, who could also take the spot kicks.

The Stand-bys - Pujitha Jayakody, Buddappriya Bandaranayake, S. Dilushan, Omar Alif, Nirmal Siriwardena, Zakir Kamil, M. Wijeratna.
Royal's record this season - bt. Zahira 56-7, St. Peter's 24-12, S. Thomas' 38-6 (a record) Ananda 20-0, Isipatana 5-all draw, St. Anthony's Kandy 38-14.
Trinity has an unenviable record in the Bradby Shield winning - 16 - in - a - row (1920 to '39). The 1920 Trinity team was led by G.C.A. Perera while G.H. Senaratne led Royal.

Patron Saint of Royal rugby
Late M. T. Thambapillai, the Patron Saint of Royal rugby from (1947 - 70). Better known as "Thamba" was a master par excellence and a foster father to the players. He led by example. Mahes Rodrigo, who led Royal in 1946 was one of them, who was nursed and nurtured by late "Thamba". Todate Mahes leads a simple life, taught to him by his "Guru".

ABC group beat DFCC Bank in a thrilling finish
MCA 'F' Division Match between ABC Group and DFCC Bank played on 30th June at the Health Ground produced a thrilling one run win for ABC Group.

ABC Group scored 162 in 30 overs while DFCC scored 161.

At this encounter between two evenly matched teams, Rasika Abeydheera batted best for ABC Group with 64. Other support batsmen were Damith Maiarachchi 27 and Chaminda de Silva 27. (Udara Fernando of DFCC bowled best with 03 wickets for 26 and Sanjeewa Fonseka 02 for 37).

In the DFCC total of 161, those among the runs were Miqdad Marzook 30, Reshan Kurukulasuriya 27 and Terence Ethugala 24 not out. (Of the ABC Group bowlers, Suranga Perera took 03 wickets for 23, and Dinuka Madapatha 02 for 22).

The Night of the Royal Rugby Knights
The Bradby season is fast approaching. The first leg will be played on July 13 in Colombo and the return at Bogambara on July 27. On July 12 night, all Old Royalists Rugby Knights of yore will fore-gather for their jolly old 'Come Together' at the annual Old Royalists Rugby Dinner.

This year the Diners will be meeting for the 27th time. The dinner which 'kicked off' way back in1966 in a moderate manner, has grown itself into a marvellous institution, built around true Royal rugby tradition, with Old Royalist ruggerite, young and old, eagerly awaiting the opportunity to swap stories of yesteryear. Invariably it is the same story all over again, yet they are offered and devoured with the same zeal every year, sometimes hotly contested as to who did what, who missed which tackle, who failed to pass or see the blooming gap at the right time etc. As the evening progresses, those who had never scored a try end up scoring at least one at some point in the dim, distant past, while those who actually should not have scored, if not for the others around them.

Dinner time is also the time to remember absent friends, some of them dearly departed team mates, as well as to toast the Game and the School, 'garnished' with the most robust rendering of the college including Drs.Larry Foenander, R.K. Thas, Gamini Nanayakkara, inter alia.

All in all a large gathering will join the scrum, rally round the piano and sing along recalling happy memories. It is the 12th Night: The Night of the Royal Rugby Knights. - The Touch Judge

Rover Pin Points

Heard this?
Rugby players are posing a threat to the Association in refusing to play for the country at the Commonwealth Games.

The Minister making a bold statement has requested the Union to field an 'A' team at the Games. No doubt Sri Lanka Rugby will be put to shame with cricket scores.

What a Mockery?
The Public Schools Swimming & Diving Champions were announced at the recent Meet, declaring Royal as overall champions. On a protest made by S. Thomas' the decision was reversed and S. Thomas' were proclaimed as champions. At whose lapse was this decision taken?

Where is the SLBF Money?
Rover is informed by members of the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation that the opening balance shown as at 01 January 2002 is Rs. 2,70,860.92 but the balance shown as at 20 May 2002 is Rs. 26,935.79 only. Where has the balance money gone? Over to you Minister of Sports for a Government Audit as most of the monies were given by the Ministry/Director of Sports for promotion of Basketball and not to the pockets of the officials.

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