Bradby Shield Encounter

The Bradby Shield Encounter - commonly known as "The Bradby" - is the pinnacle of Sri Lanka's school rugby union season. It is played annually between two of the most prominent boys’ schools in the country and traditional rivals Royal College, Colombo, and Trinity College, Kandy. The encounter consists of two legs, one being played in the Royal College Sports Complex in Colombo, and the other in Trinity College Rugby Stadium in Pallekele. The winner is decided on the aggregate of the scores from these two matches, usually played a few weeks apart. The Bradby is generally played in late May or early June and is the most watched rugby match in the country, drawing more spectators than either inter-club or international fixtures. It is also an important social event of the Sri Lanka's elite drawing over 20,000 spectators and watched live on television by millions more.

History

Royal College and Trinity College were among the first elite schools in Sri Lanka to take up the sport of rugby union, and the first historic match between these schools was played on the 31st of July, 1920. This was made a yearly encounter, with Trinity College winning for the first 21 years, until the Royalists recorded their first victory in 1941. In 1945, the Principal of Royal College, Edward Lawrence Bradby, offered a Shield to which the Principal of Trinity College, Mr C. E. Simithraaratchy readily agreed. To ensure the success of the series, Principal Bradby offered a shield which was to be held for a period of one year, which would be awarded to the college that scored the highest aggregate of points scored in the 2 Legs of the match, one in Colombo and the other in Kandy, as had been started in 1943.

The series has been played annually ever since other than in 1971, where only the 1st leg was played due to 1971 JVP insurrection with The Shield being presented to Royal College on the result of the 1st leg. In 2020 and 2021, the series was called off due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Shield

The Shield, designed and made by Kandyan silversmiths was donated by Principal E.L. Bradby on his departure from Ceylon in 1945. It is a wooden disk decorated with intricate traditional Kandyan silver works.

On winning the series, the shield is presented to the winning team's captain at an award ceremony held on the playing field immediately following the end of the second leg. The winning team is then privileged to hand the shield over to their school, where it is kept on display until next year, where it will again be up for grabs.

Venue

One leg of the Bradby Shield Encounter is played in Colombo and the other in Kandy. The venue for the game in Colombo had been Sugathadasa Stadium until matches were transferred to the Royal College Rugby Ground in the early 2000s. The Kandy venue was the Bogambara Stadium, but the second leg of the 68th Bradby in 2012 was played in Trinity's home ground; Pallekelle Stadium

Pre Bradby Shield Matches - 1920-1944

The Bradby Shield - Past Winners

Summary of Results

*Note 1: Only the 1st leg was played in 1971 due to 1971 JVP insurrection
*Note 2: No encounters in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic

1945-1954

1955-1964

1965-1974

*Note: Only the 1st leg was played in 1971 due to 1971 JVP insurrection

1975-1984

1985-1994

*Note 1: 1987 R Premadasa Trophy Quarter-finals - Trinity (10) bt. Royal (06) at Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo.
*Note 2: 1993 R Premadasa Trophy Quarter-finals - Trinity (09) bt. Royal (06) at Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo.

1995-2004

2005-2014

2015-2022

*Note: 2022 Dialog Schools Rugby League (Game Week 3) - Trinity (21) bt. Royal (20) at Royal College Sports Complex, Colombo.

Notable persons who have played

;Royalists
* J.R. Jayawardene (Pre Bradby Era)
* Rajan Kadiragamar (Pre Bradby Era)
* Harry Goonatilake (Pre Bradby Era)
* U.N.Gunasekera (Pre Bradby Era)
* C.V. Gooneratne
* C. R. De Silva
* Ken Balendra
* Ratna Sivaratnam
* Daya Perera
* Norman Gunewardene
* S. A. Dissanayake
* Lakdasa Dissanayake
* Maiya Gunasekara
* Ajit Gunewardene

;Trinitians
* Denzil Kobbekaduwa
* Hasantha Mendis
* Duncan White
* Lakshman Kadirgamar
* Jayantha Dhanapala
* Parami Kulatunga
*Kemal Deen

Related Community Programmes

The Souvenir

Since 1977, the Interact Club of Royal College publishes the "Bradby Shield Souvenir" to mark the Colombo leg of the match.

Bradby Express

The Bradby Express was the name given to the normal Intercit Express train service provided by the Sri Lanka Railways which was filled with students and old boys from both schools heading for the Kandy leg of the encounter - hence the name the ''Bradby Express.'' Originating from the 1950s it was continued annually until the mid-1980s when it was stopped due to security concerns with the escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War and the Insurrection 1987-89.

The Royal College Group of 2007 booked a private train, and named it ''The Bradby Express'' for the Royalists traveling up for the encounter. The current train is not the traditional ''Bradby Express'' in that it is neither the normal intercity train, nor does it cater to an equal number of passengers from both colleges, as did the old train.{{cite web, url=http://sundaytimes.lk/100620/Sports/spt01.html , title=The Bradby express , publisher=Sundaytimes.lk , date= , accessdate=2010-09-07

Trivia

* In 75 Contests so far, Trinity leads the series having won the shield on no less than 39 occasions. Royal have won the shield on 34 occasions. Both Bradby encounters in 1992 ended in draws, 0–0 in Kandy and 3–3 in Colombo, while the 2016 Bradby encounter became the second after 1992 to be drawn.
* The highest sequence of wins in the series is 6; by Trinity, between 1952 and 1957. Royal won the shield 4 years back to back from 2001 to 2004. Trinity was on 4 year winning streak, having won in 2011-2014 which ended when the Royalists broke the streak in 2015 with a record single game margin of 49–0 in the second leg.
* Only 1 encounter was played between the schools in 1971 due to security reasons. The Shield was presented to Royal College on the result of the 1st leg, at an assembly by the then principal of Trinity College; Mr E.L.Fernando.
* In 1983, the Principal and Mrs. E. L. Bradby visited Sri Lanka as the guests of The Royal College Union for the Second Leg match - this was the centenary Rugby Football match between Royal and Trinity.
* The record for the largest margin of victory was set in 2002 by Royal College, winning on an aggregate of 83–00.
* The 2008 second Leg encounter in Kandy was the 150th match between Royal and Trinity.
* In 2010, an aggregate of 126 points was scored by both teams (Royal 72 - Trinity 54) which is a series record.
* The 2019 encounter will be the 75th anniversary encounter in the series. The matches were postponed several times in the aftermath of the Easter bombing incident and will be played under tight security in TCK-Pallekelle and RC-Sport Complex.

See also

* Royal College
* Trinity College

References

External links

The team that made history for Royal

Rugby union competitions in Sri Lanka
Royal College, Colombo
Sri Lankan sports trophies and awards
Trinity College, Kandy
University and college rugby union competitions