Confident Royal look to wrap-up fourth Bradby in-a-row
Trinity College will look to draw inspiration from their 2011 performance while Royal College will be keen to wrap-up another Bradby Shield triumph when the two traditional rivals clash in the second leg of the 76th annual Inter-Schools rugby encounter at the Pallekele Rugby Stadium in Kandy today..
Royal will be more than confident as they will start the game with a cushion of 29 points following their tremendous performance in Colombo two weeks ago and are well on course to retaining the coveted Shield for the fourth year in-a-row.
Meanwhile, Trinity will look to emulate their 2011 heroics where Murad Ramzeen spearheaded probably one of the the greatest comebacks in the Bradby Shield history to win the second leg 40-5 in Colombo after having been outplayed in their backyard 25-33 in the first leg encounter.
This time Trinity will have their home advantage as well but need to produce their best performance this season if they are to regain the Bradby Shield having last emerged victorious way back in 2014 under the Captaincy of Tharinda Ratwatte.
Even then, the odds are heavily against the Trinitians because they need to lift their game to a much higher level and outplay their opponents by a big margin.
There were few cardinal errors in the first leg that Trinity cannot afford to repeat those once again and they need to show a great amount of intent from the kick-off to beat this confident Royal outfit. In contrast, Royal will not have that scoreboard pressure on them but will look to keep the momentum and simply consolidate their position despite going in with a comfortable 29-point lead.
In fact, Royal scored four tries during their dominant first leg performance with dashing centre three quarter and playmaker Kaveen Sasanga leading from the front along with hooker Dhanuja Samararatne, place-kicker Nabeel Yehiya, flanker Navin Perera and prop forward Thineth Gamage. Trinity’s main concern will be to find a reliable place-kicker after they squandered few genuine chances during their pathetic performance in Colombo.
The teams
Royal: Shenal Adhikaram, Danuja Samanaratne, Supun Gamlath, Abdullah Yoosuf, Rahil Wijesekera, Navin Perera, Buwaneka Senanayake, Randul Senanayake, Hasnaka Higgoda and Tivain Perera, Pasindu Heshan, Kaveen Sasanga, Philio Calyaneratne, Harsith Peiris (Captain), Nabeel Yehiya.
Trinity Squad: Thenuk Fernando, Kaveesha Edama, Loshika Wijekoon, Jayageeth Basnayake, Thisanga Dissanayake, Harith Samaraweera, Shamendra Dissanayake, Chamedra Dhanapala, Sheveen Premaratne, Anuhas Kodituwakku, Upek Gammudali, Lithmal Moragoda (Captain), Abdul Kaleel, Bashara Wijesinghe, Aathab Manzil, Sheshan Zakir, Kovida Wickremasinghe, Ashen Wijesooriya, Senula Alexander, Yasiru Ariyawansha, Bihindu Pananwala, Ravin Ilangaratne, Venuka Kumarage, Lakindu Herath, Sachindu Wanasekera, Rushen Bandaranayake, Amdan Faizal.
Referee: Gihan Yatawara