By Brian Thomas, reporting exclusively for SriLankaSports.com
Edited by Christopher Jordashe
Trinity are table leaders of Group 3 with 30 points, while arch-rivals Royal occupy slot 2. But both rugby giants are in the Cup segment of Schools Rugby 2025.
Trinity played clinical rugby in both attack and defence, feasting on Royal and their appalling mistakes, which included erratic line-outs, 7 unforced errors, butter-fingered hands, and even losing a scrum with a loose-head advantage. Royal were seen napping at the fringes. Despite having an abundance of possession, they could not cross Trinity’s whitewash because, more often than not, their forwards were isolated at breakdowns and in rucks and mauls.
Royal must be given credit for being very disciplined in comparison to Trinity. They were found guilty of giving away only 2 penalties, whilst Trinity committed an appalling 10 infringements, which they must address going forward.
Royal could not cope with the Trinity line speed and the rock-solid defence. Royal’s kicking was tactical but their attack looked flat-footed.
Trinity opened the scoring in the 12th minute, when Pathirana made a mess by not kicking inside his five-metre line but opted to pass the ball, allowing Trinity to intercept and go under the post for a converted try.
Trinity 7 – Royal 0
Royal, in attack, made 20 phases, but the Trinity defence was like a fortress. Trinity hacked another ball-handling error by Royal, formed a rolling maul, and scored mid-left as Royal slumbered at the fringes. But Shan Altaf sadly left his boots behind, and the conversion went astray.
Trinity scored the unconverted try to lead by 12 points to nil in the 20th minute.
Soon after the try, in the 22nd minute, Trinity’s line was offside. Royal’s reliable kicker, Idries Farook, slotted over a penalty and reduced the deficit to 12–3.
Come the 26th minute, another comedy of errors by Royal—dropping a pass in their own backyard—allowed Trinity, from a set scrum, to use their forwards to score under the post. Altaf switched on and thumped over the conversion. Trinity led 19–3.
Trinity were caught offside twice in the run of play, and the penalties were slotted over as Royal managed to close the gap to 19–9.
Just before lemons (half-time), Royal had a scoring opportunity after a Trinity forward was penalised for hands in the ruck. The crowd anticipated that Royal would go for a line-out and try their rolling maul, but they opted for a kick at goal. Hence, at the breather, Trinity led 19–12, with nails being chewed by spectators on both sides.
The turnaround saw Trinity change their game plan. They attacked the fringes, and Royal got sucked in. A wrap-around pass in the 12th minute of the second half created a gap for Altaf to execute a perfect cross-kick as the Royal line ball-watched. The Trinity winger was quick to collect the ball and touched down by the corner flag.
Unconverted try – Trinity in command: 24–12
Trinity grew in confidence. The bench strength was introduced. Then came the try of the match—a brilliant wrap-around pass from Trinity’s Warusamana to Shan Altaf, who fed his three-quarters on the left flank. The Trinity line ran in motion, leaving the Royal defence in disarray, and they touched down for another try by Kumarasinghe—his second—which went unconverted.
Trinity 29 – Royal 12
Before I come to the last move: Trinity received 2 yellow cards—one in the first half, when Arkash Fernando was sent to the sin bin in the 3rd minute of the game. Now, with 10 minutes left, Trinity lost Warusamana for a high tackle and had to play the last ten minutes with 14 on the park.
Cometh the man, cometh the hour—Shan Altaf executed a perfect cross-kick yet again, and Trinity winger Yathalige needed no invitation, collecting and scoring by the corner flag. The game ended with a perfect icing on the cake as Trinity secured a 34–12 win.
Trinity coach Fazil Marjah was just recovering from a bout of flu but was present at the match and remained humble in victory. He mentioned both teams played well. When asked about his team’s endless infringements, he stated, “We are working on it.”
I asked him about the two yellow cards and having 14 players on the park—how he felt at that time? He stated he felt nervous when the first yellow card was issued with Trinity leading by only 7 points, but the second yellow card came just 10 minutes before the whistle. He felt comfortable because he had fresh legs on the park and a healthy lead.
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