The second leg of Sri Lanka schools most famous rugby encounter, the Bradby Shield that took place last weekend in Colombo in which Trinity trounced the Royalists by 40 points to 5 and clinched the shield - was nearly not played.
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| Dilroy blowing at the Bradby |
Trinity's Acting Principal, Brigadier (Retd) W.G.K. Aryaratne wrote to the Royal College Principal Upali Gunasekera immediately after the first leg played in Kandy where the Royalists pulled off a surprise victory over the Trinitians by 33 points to 25 and threatened to cancel the second leg in Colombo unless a particular referee, Dilroy Fernando blew the whistle in that game.
In his letter dated 1 June, Brig. Aryaratne wrote to Principal Gunasekera following a telephone conversation and asked that the Royal Principal make a formal request to the Sri Lanka Society of Rugby Football Referees Association "to make arrangements for Mr. Dilroy Fernando to referee the Bradby 2nd leg" in Colombo, to which the Royal Principal replied the next day saying that Royal College "that as a long standing policy of Royal College we have not been requested to appoint any referee by name" from the Referees Association.
This drew an angry response from his Trinity counterpart who on June 3 in a six paragraph letter insisted on Dilroy Fernando refereeing the 2nd leg "to put to rest purported allegations of unethical factors, biasness and vested interest that could tarnish the significance of the Bradby Shield".
He then went to say that unless Dilroy Fernando was picked to referee the game he had no alternative but to ask for an IRB (International Rugby Board) accredited foreign referee for the match, and then went to say this; " I wish to state that a favourable consideration on this concern would be much appreciated for otherwise, I shall be compelled to forfeit the game, which drastic step I shall sadly take..".
With the game scheduled in five days time, i.e. Saturday (June 11), the Royal Principal replied the same date (June 6) re-iterating that they will leave the nomination of the referee to the Referees Association and they had no objection to Dilroy Fernando blowing if he was their nominee for the game. The Royal Principal hit back by saying that such interference in the appointment of a referee by name is "unprecedented" and that he was "appalled" by the Trinity Principal's threat to call off the game unless his request was acceded to.
Eventually, Dilroy Fernando got to control the second leg in Colombo last Saturday even though the Referees Association had originally picked another, Priyantha Gunawardene to blow the whistle. A member of the Referees Assignment Committee explained how this happened.
He said that the Trinity Principal had originally asked the Association to submit the names of three referees from which they would select one to referee the first leg of the match in Kandy. The association had point blank refused saying that the Kandy leg was a schools tournament match and it was their sole prerogative to appoint the referee. They had thus appointed D. Nimal for the first leg. Priyantha Gunaratne was picked as the referee for the second leg. He is the coach of St. Anthony's College, Kandy but as the second Bradby was a friendly encounter the Referees Association felt it was permissible that he referee. At the last minute, however, Gunaratne had pulled out saying his presence was required at the St. Anthony's-Science game in Kandy that clashed with the Colombo leg Bradby, and the Association then called on Dilroy Fernando to control the second leg Bradby.
Brigadier W.G.K. Aryaratne, Acting Principal of Trinity when contacted on Friday said that to all accounts, Dilroy Fernando ‘blew’ the game extremely well. “The quality of refereeing had dropped and we made a request to Royal to have Dilroy (Fernando) for the second leg since we believed that he was the best at the moment. Royal replied back saying that it was not their business to appoint a referee but it was the task of the Rugby Referees Association. We did in fact write to the Referees Association but received no reply.”
Brig. Aryaratne said that next year they hope to get referees from the International Rugby Referees Board to officiate at the Bradby. “The standard of refereeing is at a very low ebb right now. Our referees should be sent abroad and trained. They can start at ‘B’ Division games and should be gradually promoted to ‘A’ Division games,” said Brig. Aryaratne.
The Referees Association Assignment Committee which comprises of Metha Abeygunewardena, Vipula Dharmadasa, Vimal Perera and Vimal Senanayake. A member of the Committee speaking on grounds of anonymity confirmed that they were under "intense pressure" to appoint Dilroy Fernando - for both games, but they took their decisions independent of these pressures.
Royal’s Principal Upali Gunasekera said "the match is over now and it is now history. That is all I have to say to you.” |
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