Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) President Asanga Seneviratne goes down to his Bradby Shield memories. As Royal and Trinity College set for their 74th traditional encounter which consists of two legs.
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My first experience of the Bradby shield
was atLongdon place, the home of rugby, one hot
Saturday afternoon in June 1982.The grounds were packed to capacity and
the match was played on a knife's edge. Both teams defence was
outstanding. The score stood at 9-6 to Trinity. In the last
minute of extra time, Royal scrum-half, Sriyan Cooray made a break and was clear
and seemed certain to score with no defence in sight.As he dived for the line,
Trinity full-back Dushanth Wijesinghe came from nowhere and made
an unbelievable tackle that saved the try and the match for Trinity!Both
players were carried off to hospital. The 2nd leg at Nittawela was even
closer, with Trinity managing to sneak through a 6 - 4 win
in the pouring rain.
The Bradby Shield is the blue ribbon of Sri Lanka
Rugby, easily the most look forward to Rugby encounter in the country.The
73 year old tradition will very soon see over 20,000 spectators converge
on the Royal and Pallekale stadiums.The players representing their
respective schools in this iconic encounter follow a
rich tradition of camaraderie, loyalty and sportsmanship
and are the envy of every single school boy and fan.
There is no doubt that Royal and Trinity have
produced the finest Rugby Union players this country has seen. I love the
passion with which Trinity play the game, always making it look easy
and effortless. Some of Sri Lanka's finest ball players have been produced by
them and rugby is second nature to them. Royal has always excelled at whatever
sport they compete in and will never give away an encounter without a
fight. They are always the side to beat and have handled the pressure
over the years with true Royal grit!
In the 1980's the local rugby scene was dominated
by Royalists and Trinitians, as they have done since the 50's. While it is
unfair to single out a few, I have to mention some of the gentlemen who
have played an influential role in my life, helped so many sportsmen,
and contributed immensely to the development of rugby in
our country.
My first coaches at CR & FC were all Royalists.
Lionel Almeida, probably the finest three-quarter, the "fastest man in
Asia" The perennial Summa Navaratne, taking care of fitness and
Malik Samarawickrama, planning and taking sessions and getting the side
together.AjithAbeyratne (Trinity) was my first National Coach and Pastor. CPP
Abeygunawardena (Royal), my first Captain at CR and RohanthaPeiris (Royal),
DilipAdihetyy (Trinity) are just some of the legends I played under.
My teammates included HiranMuttiah, SriyanCooray, KapilaAriyaratne,
JanakaLenaduwa, AjithWeeratunge, AjithGunasekera, WimalEpparachichi,
MahendraNavaratnam, SarindaUnamboowe and LasithaGuneratne (all from
Royal), PradeepAdihetty, InthiMarikkar, Shah Doole and ThusharaWeerasooriya
(Trinity). We also had SamanJayasinghe, IqbalHassen, HaroonMussafer,
SujanthaSukumar, Junaideen, Srideran, Seyyad, RabbaGunasekera turning out for
CH & FC and Sri Lanka. I used to play touch-rugby with most of them daily before
cricket practices at the CCC!
This rich and varied blend of Royalists and
Trinitiansdid have some things in common which I believe set them
apart from the crowd.They were loyal, honest, hard-working, had a great sense
of humour and never gave up, character traits we struggle to come by in this
day and age. I am honoured to have known and associated with so many of
them.
The Bradby is marked by great festivity and
traditional gatherings. I am probably the only non-old boy to
have attended the Royal-Bradby Dinner on no less than four occasions in my
capacity as President of Sri Lanka Rugby and it has always been a night to
remember! In one of his speeches, Stanley Unamboowe, who had been a classmate
of my Father's brother, questioned my credentials to be a Thomian
when my Father's entire family attended Royal!
Sri Lanka Rugby was built round the Bradby
Shield. The contribution from both institutions is legendary
and shall never be forgotten!
I wish both teams the very best for the match and may
God bless you.
Esto Perpetua Royal and Trinity!
Asanga Seneviratne
President Sri Lanka Rugby
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