(Article Published in 74th Bradby Shield (169th Royal-Trinity  Rugby Encounter) with permission from the Author Mr. MAM Riyaz) 

The Royal College Ist XV Rugby team ably led by Ovin Askey concluded a rigorous and hard fought season with huge success. After being crowned winners of the Schools Rugby League Championship for 2017 they followed it up by regaining the Prestigious Bradby Shield winning both legs. The league championship was decided in the very last game which happened to be the first leg of the Bradby.

The Lions were beaten 22-17 in their own den in Pallekelle. The team was generously rewarded for their twin success with a ten day rugby tour of New Zealand.

With the New Zealand All Blacks winning consecutive Rugby World Cups the Royalists could not have picked a better destination for their tour. The Rugby nation was their home for ten days providing a once in a lifetime experience for the touring squad. The contingent consisted of thirty players accompanied by six officials.

The tour was the brainchild of former Royal, CH & FC and Sri Lanka Prop Forward Ravi Wijenathan and his classmate of 1980 Dr. Murali Mahadevan a leading ENT Surgeon living in Auckland.

Murali himself was a very keen sportsman in his day winning his colours in Basketball, Athletics and Water Polo. He later went on to captain basketball for Royal and Sri Lanka in addition to winning Public School Colours in Athletics. The duo have been working on this project for a few years and were delighted to finally see it come to fruition this year.

An extremely well-planned program was meticulously put together by Dr. Murali Mahadevan covering all aspects of the tour including sponsorship, Immigration formalities, food and accommodation.

Murali successfully secured the services of former Trinity Paceman Nesaraj Joseph (Josh) who was intricately involved in getting down the TCK First XV to New Zealand in 2006. His experience was well served in seamlessly obtaining New Zealand entry visas for the entire Royal squad. 

Joseph’s selfless commitment to the Royal-Trinity Rugby Encounter 

Royalists contributed greatly towards the success of the tour and was a testament to the Bradby camaraderie which extends beyond the boundaries of Rugby fields.

The dream tour started in the early hours on the 8th of September. The team travelled through Kuala Lumpur and reached Auckland at midnight. After a warm welcome on arrival by the old Royalists, the team was transported to the accommodation facilities at the College Rifles Rugby Club. After the initial debrief and a meal the contingent retired to bed.

Ten days in New Zealand:

9th September: (Saturday)

The boys’ time in New Zealand was packed with Rugby activities from day one. The first day started with exposure to Provincial Rugby in New Zealand. Auckland hosted Taranaki at Eden Park believed to be the best rugby stadium in the country which also hosted the Rugby World Cup final in 2011.

Both teams consisted of past and present international rugby players who showcased high class rugby at pace. The Royalists absolutely enjoyed top level rugby at close range. An extremely rare opportunity presented itself when the field gates were open to the spectators after the game to meet the players. The Royalists grabbed the moment with both hands to obtain autographs and take photos.

The tour of New Zealand coincided with the passing away of one of Royal’s greatest sons who served as a Medical Practitioner in Auckland for over four decades. Dr. Nagalingam Rasalingam the Head Prefect of Royal College in 1956 won his colours in six different sports and captained four of them. He later captained Ceylon in Boxing and Badminton and became the National Champion in both sports.

The traveling Royalists attended a felicitation ceremony held in honour of Dr .Rasalingam where tributes were paid by Dr. Murali Mahadevan and the Principal of Royal College. A special trophy was donated to Royal College by the Rasalingam Family to commemorate the historic tour of New Zealand by the Rugby Team.

At the end of the day the entire touring party watched the All Blacks playing Argentina. The game was played in New Plymouth and as such the team could only view it on giant television screens at the College Rifles Club House in Auckland.

10th September (Sunday)

The day commenced with an early morning training session jointly conducted by the U 20 Coach of College Rifles Rugby Niranjan Ranasinghe (former Trinitian) and Dushanth Lewke Head Coach of Royal.

The team had Gym training and pool recovery sessions at the Auckland Domain with Hendry Vaeaso (former All Blacks/Warriors and Team NZ Trainer). Vaeaso was also the former personal trainer for the legendary All Black winger Jonah Lomu.

After a brief city tour the team returned to base for early dinner considering the boys were playing their first game the next day.

11th September: (Monday).

The Royal team was very privileged to get a guided private tour of the state of the art Auckland Blues training facility. Recorded as being one of the finest first division rugby facility in the world it provides for everything from training gear and gym, to hot and cold pools and physiotherapy and recovery rooms. The team attended special sessions held by some of Auckland’s well known rugby personalities. The Auckland Provincial team is coached by former All Blacks Captain Tana Umaga.

The team then returned to base for a brief training session and left after lunch to Rangitoto College in Auckland’s North Shore for their first game on tour. The opposition teams for this tour were very carefully selected to match the weights of the Royal players. This was done with intent to avoid a mismatch and injury. Most schoolboy first XV rugby teams in New Zealand would comfortably match up to a club team in Sri Lanka.

On arrival at the grounds the Royalists were welcomed at the entrance by the Rangitoto College team and officials. The Rangitoto College team were the runners up in the Senior Schools tournament in Auckland.

Before the commencement of the game the Royal team faced the challenge of the NZ Maori Haka for the very first time. Nick Blundell the head coach of Rangitoto College explained the meaning and purpose of the Haka. It translates to, “We respect you as the opposition, but will fight for every inch”

The Game:

The rugby field situated in beautiful surroundings was close to the ocean. The unfamiliar climatic conditions on a cold day was totally foreign to the Royal team. The boys adjusted reasonably well with the forwards dominating the set pieces.

Rangitoto found it hard to counter the line outs and the rolling maul by the Royal forwards. However, they were superior in their three-quarter play, demonstrating the run and pass game and moving the ball at pace. The Royal defence appeared inadequate and the team suffered a defeat with the scoreboard reading 23-0. The Roval team was hosted for snacks and drinks by Rangitoto College after the game. As is the practice in NZ both teams exchanged pleasantries and souvenirs.

12th September (Tuesday)

Being a free day, the team was taken on a sightseeing “day tour” of the North island. An early start took the team to Rotorua Maori Village. Enroute the team stopped for lunch in Tokoroa and were hosted by S. Gopinath, former Jaffna Central College and Madras University wicketkeeper batsman.

In Rotorua the team witnessed the traditional Maori Haka, song and dance. The boys joined in the fun and enjoved their time. Visits to the thermal pools ended a busy day in this Maori town and the team headed back to Auckland. A brief stop in Matamata gave the team enough time to scrum down with New Zealander George Simkin a former Sri Lankan Rugby coach for a sumptuous dinner by Nimal Rajenthiram (1980 batch) before returning to base.

13th September(Wednesday)

It was a relatively free day from physical activity. The boys were taken downtown for shopping. The afternoon activity proved to be the highlight of the tour. The World Cup winning former All Black Rugby coach Sir Graham Henry visited College Rifles at the invitation of Dr. Murali Mahadevan. Sir Graham was flying out of New Zealand later in the day and came exclusively to speak to the Royalists before heading to the airport. Sir Henry who witnessed a Kandy leg of the Bradby Shield a few years ago had pleasant recollections of the game and could not believe that a schoolboy game in Sri Lanka could attract twenty thousand spectators.

Questions and answers were the order of the day. The boys benefitted hugely as Sir Graham shared from the very depth of his experience of the challenges faced by teams and players.

14th September(Thursday)

The team had a training session in the morning and left to Otahuhu to play Kings College. The team reached the school grounds around 3.30 pm and was taken on a guided tour of one of the most prestigious and oldest private colleges in New Zealand.

The game was played at a hectic pace. The Royalists by now had climatized to the conditions and displayed great skill in the first half with 2 goals and a try and were leading 19-17 at half time. The rolling maul was unstoppable and Royal scored twice using the drive.

Most of the youngsters available for 2018 were given an opportunity to play in the second half.

Kings College fought back ferociously with their three quarters, who were superior in distributing the ball to the extra man forming the overlap. Kings scored once more in the 2nd half and took the game away from Royal with the final score reading 25-19. The teams were well balanced which was a credit to the organisers. The players were hosted for drinks and the teams once again exchanged memorabilia.

15th September(Friday)

Now that the games had been completed the boys appeared more relaxed and spent their time usefully. In the afternoon, the team had the privilege of attending a session with Auckland Rugby’s Medical Expert Dr. Stephen Kara. Dr Kara spent time to examine the injured players and imparted knowledge on effective player rehabilitation. The Royal College trainer Akila Perera took the information on board.

16th September (Saturday).

Former All Black Dr. Jeremy Stanley visited a light training session at College Rifles and gave the boys a motivational talk on combined commitment between sport and education. Former All Black center Peter Alatini joined in to train the team on three quarter play, concentrating specially on quick distribution and open play which is often seen with the All Black back division.

That special moment the boys were longing for was soon to become a reality later in the afternoon. The team travelled to Albany to watch the All Blacks play South Africa in front of their very eyes at the QBE Stadium. Every single player on tour was watching an International game for the first time and it was worth every minute of it. It was a right Royal drubbing by the All Blacks who totalled Fifty Seven unanswered points. An enjoyable day of rugby concluded the day with an awesome dinner provided by the former Royal rugby enthusiast Mafaz Ismail.

17th September Sunday

Bradby Dinner in NZ.

This was the penultimate day of the tour. The boys were taken for a ferry ride to the beautiful town of Devonport in Auckland’s North Shore. The ride and lunch was sponsored by old Royalist Geethika Guruge.

Ironically the final dinner of the tour was hosted by the Rugby loving old boys of Trinity. There was plenty of friendly Rugby banter flying around throughout a very enjoyable evening. The event was very fittingly named the Bradby dinner.

The evening commenced with the two college songs being sung after a minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the late Dr. Rasalingam.

The event was very well attended by many Old Royalists and Trinitians together with their families. The camaraderie developed between the two institutions over many years was very evident and superseded the on-field rivalry. Rugby was the winner and which two colleges in Sri Lanka could have better demonstrated this?

Dr. Murali Mahadevan presented two 2011 World Cup

Rugby Balls autographed by Sir Graham Henry, Richie McCaw and Dan Carter to Royal and Trinity. Bruce Cameron the New Zealander who scored tries for Royal in both legs of the Bradby in 1988 was also in attendance to receive a souvenir given by his Captain Lasitha Guneratne. Lasitha’s son Lehan who was the youngest member of the touring squad made the presentation to Bruce.

The team departed Auckland on the 18th Morning. Rocky Khan current All Blacks sevens player met the team before departure at College Riffles and gave a lesson on three quarter play. The team was accompanied to the Auckland airport by Trinitian Nesaraj Joseph.

Due to compelling rerouting due to a fuel crisis the team spent an extra day in Kuala Lumpur. The boys enjoyed 5-star comfort courtesy of Classic Travels who were the designated travel company handling arrangements.

Many Royalists voluntarily gave off their time and resources to make this tour come to fruition. Their encouragement and support to the organizing committee was highly commendable. Royal College is grateful to Mafaz Ismail, Robbie Pieris, Mukhlis Ismail, Dinuk Pieris, Lal Senaratne, Sriyan Senadheera, Dr: Nilkanth De Zoysa, Sanjeewa, Krishantha, Arshad, Alaudeen, Aravindakumar Ramanathan and Mahe Weerasinghe.

A very special note of appreciation to Dr. Muralitharan Mahadevan and his family, Old boys associations in North America, RCOBA of Ontario, ORAUK, The Tamil class team of 1980 headed by Dr. Ravi Kanapathypillai in Australia, Group of 81, our sponsors- KIA Motors, Fontera, Brandix, Old boys. parents and well-wishers.

The Rugby Advisory and Management committee headed by Rohantha Peiris supported the tour tremendously. Finally, to Trinitian Nesaraj Joseph for being omni present throughout the entire tour to ensure the smooth running of the schedule and assisting Dr. Muralitharan to execute the plans to precision.

In conclusion a very special thank goes to our principal sir Mr. B.A. Abeyrathna for all the guidance and support without which this tour would have been a dream.

A dream came true. A plan fulfilled. Players and officials of Royal College returned with pleasant and lasting memories of an eventful and magnificent rugby tour.

The team will have the opportunity in 2018 to put into practice the knowledge they gained from this rugby tour.

M.A.M.Riyaz

Assistant Principal and Senior Games Master, Royal College