Another E mail on the Bradby: This time from a Trinitian

No doubt, the opposite camp has wanted to get in on the act, after the e mail I published from a Royalist friend of mine. Here is Trinity’s rejoinder. No need to really say much on the subject myself.

“I’m a Trinitian. A completely unknown one I might add.

I have been a huge fan of Rugby ever since a very small age. Even more so a fan of Trinity, the brand of rugby they play and the Bradby itself. I have watched many a Bradby matches. In Bogambara, at Sugathadasa, at the Royal Sports Complex and at Pallakele. I have never missed a Bradby in the last 10 years or so (except for one occasion when a cousin of mine decided the tie the knot on that day, to a Trinitian I might add). Having gone to matches form such an early age, rugby naturally because my more loved sport and still remains so. I have watched some amazing Bradby matches. Some overwhelming some heart breaking and others shattering. A few games come to mind. The first leg of 1998 at Sugathadasa.

The Prasanna Jayawardane lead team was nothing to ride home about. We had had an average season and we knew the inevitable going for the match. What I witnessed that day, I was not prepared for. 20 points to 18 win to Trinity. I was in the stands with my cousins almost in tears. Trinity were leading 20 points to 11 (if I’m not mistaken) at the very end of the game. Royal were close to scoring and a Trinitian falls down on the sidelines injured. The Ref asks for him to be taken out so he can continue the game. This happens almost right in front of me and I can see the Ref suggesting to the Trinity support staff that he thinks the boy is wasting time so he has to continue the game. The game goes on and Royal score. But I didn’t see the try. I was busy looking at this senior (ayya) on the sidelines. He tries to get on his feet, but falls down. Tries again and throws up. I thought to myself, “that ref is cheating! How can he continue the game when this ayya is in such bad shape”. I was in my early teens and didn’t know much about the game, to me the ref was cheating!

Fast forward to 2002. Now a senior in school. Absolute shattering defeat! Absolute heartbreak and disbelief. Having been part of the Cadet Band I was right in the middle of things in the second leg. I saw my mates I’ve known all my life walk back in to the dressing room shattered and in tears. I too shared those tears, not because Trinity lost but because my mates lost. The Bradby Shield and rugby itself are some of my most fond memories form school. The countless traditions, the hours spent talking about what went right and what went wrong, what should have we done and what should we have not. The same historical stories repeated and listend to with joy every year. Fond fond memories. Move forward to 2010, now out of school and making a living for myself. Can finally afford to get good seats, but prefer to go for the cheap ones just for the atmosphere. 38 points to 37 loss at Royal Sports complex in the first leg. Amazing game of rugby and both teams deserved to win. Later that night we meet the team at our batch party and we tell them how proud we’re of them, we hug, shake hands and we congratulate them on a game well played. We dance the night away! Then the second leg in 2011 and a dream run that’s still continuing.

More spectators watch the Bradby now and with it changes. Chants of ‘shove Trinity, shove’ in a scrum is now replaced by ‘up Trinity, up’ which was what we chanted during a line out back in the day. Chants of ‘Workeeeee itttttttt’ I was told when I was a kid was for times when you knew there was an overlap. Now you hear the chant even if the back line is full of forwards! Pin drop silence during a kick at goal by any team is now replaced by sounds of trumpets. The game has become more popular, with so much funding and so much publicity. With this comes its advantages and disadvantages. There have been a few ugly incidents in the recent past but that was due to some misbehaving drunks and a few teenagers who didn’t know how to react in such a situation. Its no trend. They were isolated incidents. Two clean games of rugby this year to prove it. The game is not dominated by Trinity, Royal and Thora anymore. Other schools have put their hands up and made a name for themselves. The need to find an advantage over others is now higher. Foreign coaches, sponsors and support staff by the numbers. The players have now becomes more professional. Fitness levels and awareness of the game is at a higher level. The passion to win at any cost and the want to make your Alma Mater proud remains.

Rugby in Sri Lanka has changed and with it everything around it. I too have learned to adapt to change. No drunk old boys or a bit of shoving in the Haka will keep me away from the Bradby. As long as I continue to live in Sri Lanka I will make it a point every year (as will, I’m sure most other Trinitians and Royalists) to study both teams, understand their weaknesses and strengths and predict what kind of game they’ll play and then go watch two great games of rugby. Why? Because even today, the rugby remains the focus! If my heroes from school were Deen, Omar, HI, Bassa, Rally, Fernando, Jayawardane, Selvam and Luchow, my heroes now are BNR, Imalka Milinda, Adil, Murad, Kanil, Thisila, Rehan, Wadood, Ratwatta and many more. If you learn to adapt, accept change and embrace it with an open mind, the Bradby Shield is better than it ever was and still means the world to a Trinitian and a Royalist.”