Royal College annihilated defending champions Isipathana College 39-13 yesterday (29) at Longden Place in the 2nd Semifinal of the President’s Trophy Knockout Rugby game. The ground was a dust bowl to say the least as the conditions at the home CR&FC proved dangerously below par for any kind of sporting activity. The grand final will be played on Saturday 4 April between Bradby Shield rivals Trinity and Royal. Trinity were runners-up last year. This will be the very first Trinity-Royal grand final in the tournament’s history.
It was Isipathana who started off with a bang scoring the opening try through a brilliant three-quarter move as quick hands enabled them to get an early lead. However Royal were calm and composed which eventually paved the way for their marauding attack and defence to click together to go on a rampage against the ‘Green Machine’.
This game saw a very interesting off the field battle as a former player who played under the tutelage of veteran coach Sanath Martis was the Head Coach of Royal – Bhanuka Nanayakkara. He played for St. Peter’s when Martis was in charge and was part of the SPC coaching unit later before making a move to the Reid Avenue outfit. Martis coaching his Alma Mater Isipathana after many decades will have to go back to the drawing board to rectify what went wrong and come back strong in the league tourney.
Halftime: Royal 19- 8 Isipathana
Isipathana were quick to get back into the game in the second essay and did just what the doctor ordered through a try. Yet again Royal were waiting to pounce back as they accumulated back to back tries and penalties to really hurt the Pathana faithful. This is the first time since 2019 that there will be a non-Isipathana knockout final. The greens have been in four consecutive finals from 2022-2025.
Fulltime: Royal College 39 (5T 4C 2P) beat Isipathana College 13 (2T 1P)
Historic facts
Last time Royal won the title – 2002 under Zulki Hamid (beat Wesley 25-16 at Royal Complex)
Last time Trinity won the title – 2011 under Murad Ramzeen (beat Isipathana 21-10 at Royal Complex)
Royal’s last final – 2016 (lost to Isipathana 47-12 at Racecourse)
Trinity’s last final – 2025 (lost to Isipathana 12-9 at Royal Complex)
Trinity’s finals: faced Isipathana (1987, 1993, 2011, 2012, 2025) and Wesley (2013)
Royal’s finals: faced Isipathana (1986, 1988, 2014, 2016) and Wesley (2002)
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