- RC breach Lions’ Den after 2019
Royal College defied all odds to beat red-hot favourites Trinity College 15-5 yesterday (23) at the 79th Bradby Shield – 1st leg played at the Trinity College Rugby Stadium in Pallekele.
Royal’s last victory at the ‘Lions’ Den’ was in 2019 under Thulaib Hassen (RC 34-17 TCK) in the 1st leg.
Senani Gunaratne, the 1986 Trinity skipper, was the Chief Guest this year.
Trinity are the holders of the shield after their emphatic win last year under Thisanga Dissanayake.
Yesterday (23) Royal played without their playmaker and Vice Captain Idris Farouk, who was ruled out due to injury.
Royal were a completely different team and Trinity were a totally different team as well at this match compared to the 34–12 hiding they gave Royal at this year’s league encounter at the same venue in July.
Royal skipper Amika Samarasinghe opened the scoring at the 79th Bradby through a left corner flag try in the sixth minute to silence the home crowd. Five minutes later Disas Pathirana powered his for Royal’s second try. Simak Shafeek converted.
Abdul Malik scored a beautiful try in the 26th minute to get first points on board for Trinity. With just five minutes for lemons, Shafeek scored a penalty to put Royal up by 10 points and nobody guessed they would be the last points of the entire game.
Half-time: RC 15-5 TCK
The hosts Trinity came storming into the second half with much vigour; however, they didn’t take the kickable kicks at goal.
Trinity were trying to do too much without implementing the basics as they missed multiple scoring opportunities in the second half. They also had a massive 13 handling errors, which made a mess of their game plans in a stop-start affair.
Meanwhile, Royal stuck to their basics and the heavily physical battle to pip their opponents, who went into an almost self-destructive mode.
It was a scoreless second half, as Royal’s defence stood rock solid in a defensive masterclass, making 106 tackles against 65 (TCK), which kept the hosts – who had almost 30 minutes of possession in the second essay – at bay.
On the other hand, Royal played with 14 men for 30 minutes of the game due to three yellow cards, but still managed to keep their heads high without letting the game slip away.
The talismanic Captain of Royal, Samarasinghe, was spectacular in marshalling his troops to secure the famous win at the ‘Lions’ Den’ against the much-fancied League Champions and holders of the shield.
Senuja Ranasinghe and Aman Althaf, the two flankers for Royal, put on an outstanding performance with an excellent work rate.
Trinity were lucky to escape a last-gasp try to seal the game by Royal as the visitors had a ‘double movement’ with the try line in smelling range.
With this win the Royalists will carry forward a handsome 10-point aggregate advantage into the second leg at their home ‘Jurassic Park’ at Reid Avenue.
Full-time: Royal 15 (2T 1C 1P) beat Trinity 5 (1T)
Second leg: 6 September at the Royal Complex
Bradby Shield – series tally
Trinity: 40
Royal: 36
Bradby wins after losing the 1st leg
Trinity: 1945, 1962, 1972, 2011
Royal: 1979, 1998, 2023
79th Bradby Shield (1st leg) – Junior Games
Under 12 (A): TCK 35–0 RC
Under 12 (B): TCK 17–0 RC
Under 14: TCK 15–0 RC
Under 16 (Simithrarachchi Trophy): RC 20–5 TCK