Traditional rivals Royal College produced a lion-hearted performance with 14 men for more than 50 minutes to edge out S. Thomas’ College by 29-24 and retain the Michael Gunaratne Trophy in a thrilling Dialog Schools League Rugby 2026 clash at the Royal Complex yesterday. The Reid Avenue lads showed tremendous fighting spirit after a first-half [...]
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Royal drew first blood in the eighth minute when fullback Kavindu Hewage crashed over after a powerful driving maul that rolled forward like a runaway train. Flyhalf Shimak Shafeek added the extra points with ease as the home side took an early 7-0 lead.
Royal winger Rehan Warnasuriya barges through two Thomian defenders to score - Pic by Eshan Fernando
The Royal forwards dominated possession in the opening quarter and laid a solid platform for their backs to attack. Their pressure soon paid dividends again in the 17th minute when winger Kavan Ekanayake sliced through the defence to touch down for an unconverted try and stretch the lead to 12-0.
However, the game took a dramatic turn in the 28th minute when Royal centre Praveen Nimsara was shown a red card. Reduced to 14 men, Royal suddenly found themselves with their backs against the wall as the Thomians sensed an opportunity to storm back into the contest.
The Mount Lavinia lads responded strongly through prop Vishwa Ariyawansa, who barged over mid-left for an unconverted try after a series of close-range attacks. That effort reduced the deficit to 5-12 and gave the Thomians fresh momentum before halftime.
Despite being a man down, Royal came out firing after the turnaround and caught the Thomians napping almost immediately. Winger Kavan Ekanayake finished off another sharp move to score his second try of the match, while Shafeek produced a fine conversion to increase the lead to 19-5. The Thomians refused to throw in the towel and hit back five minutes later with a converted try to cut the gap to 12-19 in the 42nd minute as the game opened up into an end-to-end battle.
But Royal’s forwards continued to grind away with immense determination. Just one minute later hooker Akira Yatawara finished off a well-executed driving maul, applying the finishing touches to another forward surge as the hosts widened the lead to 24-12. S. Thomas’ continued to throw everything at Royal and winger Rehan Warnasuriya dived over in the right corner flag in the 54th minute to keep the Thomians within striking distance at 17-24. Royal had a chance to tighten their grip on the game in the 62nd minute, but flyhalf Shafeek failed to put over a penalty as the pressure mounted in the closing stages.
Yet the Reid Avenue outfit delivered the killer blow in the 65th minute when hooker Yatawara powered over for his second try after another rolling maul from a lineout near the right corner flag. That unconverted effort proved to be the decisive score as Royal moved further ahead 29-17. The Thomians launched one final assault in the dying moments and flanker Rometh Wijesinghe crossed mid-right after sustained pressure. Flyhalf Mayanka Dias added the conversion, but it was too little too late as Royal held firm until the final whistle.
Print Edition – The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka
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