Neither side holds clear edge

73rd Bradby Shield encounter 

By Shamseer Jaleel 

The second leg of the 73rd Bradby Shield encounter will take place on 3 June at the Royal Sports Complex with the Under-20 encounter scheduled for 4.15 p.m. 

Royal has won the battle but the war is still to be won. Whether they will be able to keep the Bradby Shield safely at Reid Avenue will be decided this weekend. Two weeks ago Royal stamped their class with a win in the Singer League while securing a five-point advantage going into the second leg in Colombo.

Once again the outcome is expected to be a close one as both teams look even. The difference is that Royal possesses a fine three-quarter line plus an equally mobile set of forwards who were omnipresent even with a lesser weight compared to their opponents. While Trinity’s forwards look good their technique needs to be improved and a lot of homework has to be done by their forwards coach. Their scrum-half needs to set the line in motion at lightning speed, allowing the fly-half to pass the ball down to the speedy wingers without keeping them hungry for the ball like in the first leg.

The Trinity team had a good run in the first round of the school competition, having kept a clean sheet after going down to St. Peter’s and Royal in the first leg. Shaveen Ekanayake, Avishka Priyankara, Rishen Madena, Pasan Samarawickrema, Kaneesha Alwis, Keshawa Palayangoda and skipper Nathan Chang dominated in set pieces and loose play. Scrum-half Anuka Boyagoda led the way, pairing off well with Lashan Wijesuriya. The centre combination of Diluksha Dange and Warren Weerakoon showed its penetrative power with hard runs, finding gaping holes in their opponents’ defence. Naveen Rajaratnam, Amith Kulatunge, Ghavurava Bandara and the Bandaranayake brothers also stood out for them this season. Trinity is unlikely to start with their regular Number 8 Rishen Madena, who is down with dengue. Their main problem in the first leg was that Dange and Rajaratnam failed to gain enough touches on the ball. The line was slow and even their scrum-half had a poor outing.

Royal has improved with every game. They always save themselves for the latter half. This season there are plenty of matches where they showed their superb second half rallies. The games against St. Joseph’s, St. Anthony’s, S. Thomas’ and Wesley are such examples. 

Led by the dynamic Orvin Askey, their team boasts top-notch players Lennox Calyanaratne and Nikhil George. Hooker Hamza Reza and Winger Shabith Feroze stood out for Royal this season. The pair played match-winning roles in many games this season. Feroze is lightning fast and unstoppable. This was evident in the first leg when he was playing alongside Reza.

Again the battle between the coaching staff led by Sanath Martis for Royal and Lote Raikabullah for Trinity will continue for yet another game. Martis is a tough coach who reads the game extremely well having coached over a number of years at the school level. He has not only coached many outstanding Peterite and Royal sides but has also served at the national level, guiding the Under-20 team. 

Trinity is coached by former New Zealand Sevens sensation Lote Raikabullah, one of the most feared Sevens players from New Zealand. He too has an acute understanding of the game and has given ample opportunities to the bench whenever possible, which has given the team’s youngsters much-needed exposure. He has had a good season so far with Trinity losing only two games this season. The school will be expecting the Bradby Shield to return to Kandy.

In the history of the Bradby since the ‘80s, except for 2011, teams that won the first leg in Kandy have won the Bradby, even though they lost the return leg in Colombo. Trinity won on 10 occasions (1981, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2013) while has Royal won on seven occasions (1989, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009 and 2015).

Royal’s 1980 rugby skipper Sujantha Kumar will grace the occasion. Leading referee Rohan Fernando will officiate this game, which will serve as his Bradby debut. Overall Bradby tally: Trinity College 39 wins and Royal College 31 wins. Two games have ended drawn.

Probable line-ups

Royal College - Himantha Hirushan, Hamza Reza, Rishmal Fernando, Samadhi Induwara, Sasitha Siyath, Dilanga Rodrigo, Nikhil George, Maleesha Madumevan, Lennox Calyanaratne, Nikhil de Silva, Ovin Askey (Capt), Shabith Feroze, Thulaib Hassen, Janidu Dilshan, Pasindu Fernando and Mohamed Shakir

Head Coach - Sanath Martis

Trinity - Aveesha Priyankara, Hasiru Weliwatte, Shaveen Ekanayake, Rishen Madena, Pasan Samarawickrema, Keshava Palayangoda, Bevishan Wijewickrema,  Kaneesha Alwis, Nathan Yee (Capt.), Anuka Boyagoda, Akitha Sakalasuriya, Lashan Wijesuriya, Amith Kulatunga, Warren Weerakoon, Diluksha Dange, Naveen Rajaratnam, Reshan Bandaranayake and Rashen Bandaranayake.

Head Coach - Lote Raikabullah