Royal’s Bradby Shield legend Fred Schoorman passed away on Sunday at the age of 88. Schoorman was a part of the Bradby Shield Legend – the blue ribband of schools rugby between Royal College Colombo and Trinity College Kandy.
Schoorman represented the Royal College rugby team in 1944 and 1945 and was the Vice captain to the late C.D.L. Fernando in the inaugural Bradby Shield encounter in 1945. Schoorman had the unique distinction of scoring the first three points in this acclaimed inter-school rugby match which has now gained international recognition too.
The inaugural match in Colombo in 1945 was a closely contested game with both sides involved in a battle of attrition. Both teams exhibited some solid defense and were able to thwart all attacks on their goal line with the teams going into half time without scoring.
The pattern continued in the second half until the deadlock was broken by front row forward Schoorman who broke loose from a maul deep inside Trinity’s territory and crashed through Trinity’s defence to plant a historic try – the first points in the game and the series. The conversion was missed by Royal but they had a crucial 3-0 lead.
Trinity launched some fierce attacks in the last ten minutes but the Royal defence held strong and they ran out worthy winners by the solitary try and Schoorman was the toast of the College.
Unfortunately for Royal, Schoorman was injured in the last few minutes of the game and forced to miss the return leg in Kandy. Trinity won the return leg 6-0 scoring a try and a penalty and thus were awarded the coveted Bradby Shield in the inaugural year with an overall aggregate of 6-3.
Schoorman was a keen follower of all Bradby Shield games and was an enthusiastic participant at the annual Old Royalists Rugby Dinner where he was always accorded a special place at the head table.
