Defending champs Royal out to retain Gunaratne Trophy

Royal College will look to retain the Michael Gunaratne Trophy for the fourth successive year when they take on the traditional rivals S. Thomas’ College in their annual Inter-Schools Under-20 rugby encounter at the Royal Sports Complex in Reid Avenue today.

This game will have a great amount of significance as the defending champions Royal are hoping to bounce back after last week’s setback while S. Thomas’ are keen to register their first win of the ‘A’ Division League Tournament.

Last week, of course, Royal had a nasty experience as their unbeaten record was shattered following a close 20-21 defeat at the hands of Trinity College on their home grounds.

Royal, who are chasing a record fourth successive ‘A’ Division League title, had earlier recorded back-to-back victories against St. Anthony’s College (22-12) and Kingswood College (53-0) respectively.

In contrast, the Thomians are coming out after a two-week layoff as their third-week fixtures were put off for August due to the prevailing situation in the country.

The lads from Mount Lavinia figured in two exciting games before losing both against Trinity (13-20) and St. Joseph’s College (28-30) but will be determined to get back into winning ways. However, on paper Royal will start favourites with their heavy set of forwards likely to dominate the proceedings while the Thomians will look for their Skipper and Number Eight Chariya Kurukulasuriya for another outstanding performance.

The two teams will face off after a lapse of two years with Royal pulling off a magnificent 17-10 victory when the match was last played in 2019 at Mount Lavinia.

Royal have also dominated the Gunaratne Trophy series during the past few years, and they had the satisfaction of recording a 55-0 win in 2018 under the captaincy of Sabith Feroze.

In contrast, S. Thomas’ last won the Gunaratne Trophy in 2016 when they triumphed 21-15 but their best performance in the series came when the team led by Charya De Saram defeated Royal 22-0 in 1991.

Wesley vs Science College

Meanwhile, Wesley College will face a tough task when they take on giant-killers Science College in another ‘A’ Division League Tournament match at Longden Place today.

Science College are confident of creating another upset after having held Dharmaraja College to a thrilling 15-15 draw at Nittawela while the Wesleyites will come out at the backdrop of a 0-10 defeat against Isipathana College.