Royal Rugby Fiesta 2018 on Sunday

The Group of ’91 will hold its annual touch rugby tournament, the Royal Rugby Fiesta 2016, on 21 January at Havelock Park from 8.30 a.m. 

The Group of ’91 is an alumni association comprising classmates who passed out from Royal College Colombo in 1991 and is affiliated to the Old Boys’ Union of Royal College.

“We created a carnival of rugby popularly known as the Royal Rugby Fiesta, a fellowship for the rugby fraternity of all ages which is in its 17th consecutive year. This is probably the only tournament of this nature conducted in the country where rugby fans and players rally together to celebrate both the school and the game. The first Royal Rugby Fiesta was organised in 2002 with the prime objective of bringing various groups of past students together in order to promote goodwill and togetherness. This has been an exciting event for the Old Boys to get together as well as to try their hands at their favourite sport at college. The Royal Rugby Fiesta has become one of the most important rugby events on the event calendar of the Royal College Union from the inception of this tournament,” the event’s organisers stated.

“With a membership of over 500 across the world, we pride ourselves as a group that cares about our alma mater though we parted way back in 1991. We started our journey by building an overhead water tank for the junior section which was a much-needed requirement at that time. We constructed a staff room for primary teachers to enjoy their break and gave a facelift to the rifle shooting and weightlifting arena which gave a boost to these two not so popular sports. We further invested in restoring the connecting bridges of main college buildings and a part of the main parapet wall, while preserving its colonial ambience.”

Due to the fact that it’s the 17th Royal Rugby Fiesta, this year’s event is set to be held on a grand scale. Rugby matches will start at 8.30 a.m. and go on until 6.00 p.m. Spectators can witness exciting touch rugby throughout the day. An estimated 25 rugby teams and 600 spectators are expected for the event. In the past this event has been patronised by leading rugby players from Royal College, some of whom later went on to represent various clubs and the country too. The participants include leading personalities from the corporate world and other distinguished professionals such as doctors, engineers, aarchitects, accountants, academics, etc.  

Matches will be played under the age categories of 20-30 years (Junior Category for the Summa Navaratnam Challenge Trophy), 31-40 years (Mid Category for the Group of ’91 Challenge Trophy) and 41 plus (Senior Category for the Senior Challenge Trophy). 

Each successive year the organising committee had made sure that novel items were introduced to make the event more attractive. This year too several new items will be included. 

This is an event for the entire family with several competitions for the ladies and children. There will be a special entertainment area for kids as well as adults. A magic show, face painting, bouncer, popcorn hut, magic balloons, clowns, beer garden, BBQ stations and cocktail bars. Renowned DJ music will be available from the beginning and a popular live band will be in action in the evening. Food stalls will also be present at the grounds.