OLD THOMIANS' RUGBY FOOTBALL UNION

S. Thomas' College Vs Royal College - 2006 (STC - Nil : RC - 35)
played on Saturday, the 16th September 2006 at the Royal College Stadium - Colombo 07

Royal regained the Michael Gunaratne Trophy which was in Thomian custody for one year when they beat their traditional rivals by 35 points (7 tries) to nil in a terribly lopsided game at the Royal College Sports Complex grounds yesterday.

It was the second biggest win in the series after the 39-0 win in 2002 under Zulki Hamid for Royal.

Thomians would have given one of their worst displays in rugby as they went down without much resistance with repeated forays by Royal.The Thomians started off with a promise but simply sank into oblivion when Royal scored their try in the 23rd minute of the game.

It was the Royal forwards number eight Dharin Warnakulasuriya, fly half Bilal Hassan, Gayan Wijesinghe, and Manil Abeyreatne that made the difference. They drove intoi rucks and mauls and drove the Thomians into submission. Their forwards combined effectively with the back division and the Thomian did not have much of a chance.

Royal after their energy draining battle against Trinity in the first ‘leg’ of the Bradby Shield stuck onto their guns with a determined effort to regain the Gunaratne trophy. However, the Royalists cannot be entirely happy about their performance as they lacked a reliable place kicker.

Their full back Isuru Perera was unable to convert a single try. If he had done it the scoreline would have been much more embarrassing for the Thomians.

Royal opened scoring through their skipper Chamila Sandaruwan and thereafter it was the case of Royal crossing the Thomian line almost at will.

Royal led 15-0 at half time.

On resumption Royal went on to plant four more unconverted tries through Kavinda Weeraratne, flanker Bilal Hassan, Gayan Wijesinghe, Dhiran Warnakulasuriya, Naren Daron, Manil Abeyratne.

Royal wrested back the Michael Gunaratne Trophy in a typical smash and grab style of play when they drubbed S. Thomas’, Mt. Lavinia 35-nil in their annual rugby encounter at the Royal Complex yesterday. The Royal points were made up of seven tries. As one Royal rugby pundit put it: “Who needs a place kicker when Royal can score seven tries!”

With this victory the Royalists also flashed a warning to the Trinitians in the second leg of the Bradby Shield to be played at Bogambara on September 23. Trinity won the first leg 21-10 in Colombo last week.

Security was very tight at the match as two of President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s sons were playing in the S. Thomas’ team and another was helping the team. The Wijeya Newspapers Press Card and even the Government Media Accreditation Card were completely ignored by security.

Royal were never in doubt of winning as they possessed a superior unit. S. Thomas’ played in patches and were often hesitant in attack. Their defence too looked weak in the face of the mounting Royal attacks.

Branu Rahim, a Royal College Match Organizing Committee member was apologetic about the tight security which curtailed the movements of the reporters covering the game. “We had nothing to do with the security”, he said. “It would have been worse if the President and the First Lady were at the match.”

Royal opened scoring in the 24th minute when Bilal Hasan scored far right. Then came a neat break by Royal skipper Chamara Gamage to score mid left.

Slowly but surely Royal took control of the game. The Thomians fought against superior odds. At the breather Royal led 15-0.

On resumption Royal continued scoring tries through Gayshan Wijesinghe, Dhiran Warnakulasuriya, Kamada Weerakoon and Manel Abhayaratne to swell their score to 35.

Royal’s performance this year: Beat St. Peter’s, Science College Mt. Lavinia, St. Joseph’s, Vidyartha and Dharmarajah. However they lost to Isipatana and then to Trinity in the first leg of the Bradby.

S. Thomas’ started off with a bang with a win over Ananda, then they lost to St. Peter’s, Kingswood, Wesley, Trinity, St. Anthony’s and in a sudden turn around beat Thurstan to record their second win for the season.

Royal also won the Under 18 game comfortably at 21-5 win. C. Shailendra, M.R. Rafiq and S, Ahmed scored the bulk of the points for the Royalists.

Mr. Priyantha Gunaratne refereed the first XV game.