Thoras
clash with Royal for ‘Michael Gunaratne Trophy’
It’s
anybody’s game
By
M. Naushad Amit
Royal
and S. Thomas’ may not be among the top three in
schools rugby this season, but any contest between these
two time-honoured schools arouses a great deal of passion
amongst the supporters of both schools.
They meet for the ‘Michael Gunaratne Trophy’
for the 47th time at the Royal College Sports Complex
on Saturday with both schools equally matched to dish
out what could turn out to be best game for the season.
Royal go into this encounter having lost the first leg
of the ‘Bradby Shield’ to Trinity 12-24 while
the Thomians are also recovering from a shock 15-19
defeat at the hands St Joseph’s, a division I ‘B’
team.
In comparison both teams have defeated the reigning
school rugby champs St. Peter’s but were nailed
down by Trinity and Kingswood. At the outset S. Thomas’
has done slightly better than Royal, also beating Isipathana.
Both teams will be going out this week after agonising
defeats received last week at the hands of their traditional
rivals. With shattered memories and suffering from demoralising
defeats both teams look equal in their mind-set and
performances.
