Less than a week to go for one of Sri Lanka’s biggest schools rugby fixtures; The Bradby. It generally spreads a fever through-out the rugby community in Sri Lanka and around the world. ThePapare takes a look at the roots of this great encounter and its glories of the past years.
The first match of the Trinity-Royal clash dates back to 31st July 1920, where the two teams met at Seprentine Avenue (currently Reid Avenue) Colombo 7. The lads from Kandy won the first ever game by beating Royal 26-0. Accordingly this event continued till 1926 when Royal College for some reason gave up the game. They resumed playing in 1928 once more and ended up losing to Trinity until 1940. The year 1941 will be a year written in bold when they beat their opponents for the first time ever in history.
The Bradby Shield saw its birth when the new Royal Principal, E.L Bradby who came to the institution donated a shield for the Trinity-Royal match which was The Bradby Shield named after him. The coveted trophy offered by the Royal Principal carried intricate and ancient Kandyan metalwork unique only to the Shield. The first of the battles for the Bradby Shield was held in 1945 and since the integration of the shield, it was decided to play two legs one in Colombo and another in Kandy, each a fortnight apart.
The first leg of the Bradby saw the Royalist winning 3-0. But celebrations did not last long since Trinity gained possession of the first shield by beating Royal 6-0. Since 1945 to date, the traditions of the Bradby Shield remain the same, unchanged.
Royal took possession of the Bradby Shield for the first time in 1948 with an aggregate of 13-09. The glorious dream team of 1951 of Reid Avenue could be called the greatest of all. It was possibly the best team that Royal has ever produced and even Royal’s rugby master, the Trinitian M.T. Thambapilla called it “the dream team”. Seven members of the team went on to wear with distinction club jerseys and six of the seven went on to wearing national jerseys.
After the great 1951 breakthrough by the Royalist, Trinity showed out their dominance by winning all matches and keeping the right for the Bradby Shield for six continuous years. This record still stands as the biggest back to back winning run. Praise goes to Trinity for their achievement in 1987 under the captaincy of Tyrell Rajapaksha whose team went on to be unbeaten and had eight Rugby Lions. They won the Bradby Shield which was awarded by the President Hon. J.R. Jayawardena.
In 1976 Royal won both legs of the encounter with an overall aggregate of 61-06 (36-nil and 25-06) which stood as a record till 2002. The highest scores were in the 2002 Bradby when Royal, led by Zulki Hamid, won the first leg 39-nil in Colombo and the second leg by a record 44-nil in Kandy, to take the Bradby Shield with an aggregate of 83-nil.
The 50th Bradby encounter between the two schools took place in 1995 and at the centenary Bradby match Mr. E.L Bradby was invited chief guest to mark the momentous occasion. Trinity was able to clinch the 50th shield with a margin of 20 points.
In line with the Bradby Shield, the U18 team matches were played. It was the then Principal of Trinity Mr. C.E. Simithrarachchi who initiated the U 18 game in 1957 and the Simithrarachchi trophy was first offered in 1978 which fell in the hands of the youth of Trinity.
From the 1940’s to the 2000’s it was Trinity who had the upper hand in the retaining it. At the start of the 21st century the tally stood 31-23 with Trinity on the lead. With the beginning of the 21st century Royal recorded 4 consecutive wins in a row from 2000 to 2004. It was put down by Trinity taking possession for the next two years. Royal showed their dominance in the years of 2009 and 2010 but since the uprising of 2011 the Shield has never seen the trophy cabinet of Reid Avenue as it continued to persist in the school where river lake and mountain meet.
Tradition
Since its birth in 1945, The Bradby Shield has played an important role in any Trinitian or Royalist life. It is an event where rivalries are only limited to the playing field while friendship and brotherhood prevail outside it. The Traditional Rugby Dinner’s are hosted by both the schools on the night of the days in which the matches are played. It’s also the tradition that the school boys of Trinity go down to Bogambora to support, cheer the team whilst enjoying themselves. Two years back the Lions crossed over the Bogambora stadium off their list and made preparations to host the game in their very home Pallekelle Stadium. Ever since the change had come into existence, the Lions have nevertheless been a agitated force and continue to maintain a 100% win record against their counterparts, Royal.
Traditions go far beyond a half a century when the Royal supporters used to catch the Kandy train to go up and support their team. This was not in existence for more than two decades due to the prevalent conflict situations but thanks to a set of enthusiastic old boy fraternity, the tradition resumed in 2010 when the Bradby express once again started their engines to voyage to Kandy.
Traditions of the Bradby Shield yet appear to be the same, unique and practiced by all fellow Trinitians and Royalists. As the proverb suggests that “It is only a Trinitian or a Royalist who would know the true meaning of the Bradby Shield” it has been justified over the past few decades of the age old tradition.
As the the convention moves on to its 70th consecutive year with the Diamond Jubilee of the encounter not so far ahead, the traditions shall always continue to exist – long may continue ‘The Bradby Shield’
Sources – Trinity College Kandy 125 Years Magazine, Trinity College 1972 Centenary Magazine, Royal College Magazine, Valeska Reymond 1920
