Highest margin ever at the encounter of 52-0;

Stunning conversions by Ovin Askey;

Victorious U 18 team gain the Thambapillai Trophy as well.

The battle against the renowned rivals was up once more as the 1st XV rugby encounter kicked off at the Havelock Grounds. Crowds in blue and gold yelling out loud to drown the voices of those in blue in black simply elevated that atmosphere of rivalry and competitiveness.

Soon after the main encounter began, Royal’s side displayed some commendable talent in breaking the Thomian defences to shackles. After some intense play by the scrum, bringing the ball close to the line gave Banuka Gamage the chance to score the first try for the evening on to the right end. Conversion failed.

Little was seen of any come back by the Thomians as some brilliant passing by Royal along the line ensued another try. Sabith Feroze landing on the left end of the try line was followed by a skilful conversion by Ovin Askey bringing the score to 12-0. It was a bad game for the Thomain side as the boys in blue and gold continued to dominate the field. Another try by Banuka Gamage followed by Askey shining once more with another conversion clearly pushed the Thomains into a compromising situation. As the first half came to an end, Supun Warnakulasuriya sealed the deal with one more try leaving the score at 24-0. Conversion failed.

The 2nd half began with the Royal side on its high continuing their confident display of talent. The game just seemed to lose that intensity when the Royal side landed on the try line once more with a conversion ensuing to raise the score to 31-0. The Thomians were given no opportunity at all for a come back as the Royal side continued its adept ball handling to score three more tries. All conversions were successful. The score stood at 52-0. The last few minutes of the game saw the Thomian side making a number of attempts to reach the try line. All was in vain as the Royal defence remained unwavering.

Play for the evening halted with Royal emerging victorious after some unparalleled performance on the field. The score of 52-0 was the highest margin a match was won by at the encounter.

The under 18 encounter also ended earlier that evening with Royal’s Team emerging victorious. Thus along with the Thambapillai Trophy for the U 18 encounter, the Micheal Gunaratne for the 1st XV Royal Thomian Encounter was also retained at Reid Avenue for yet another year.

 

Final score:   RC 52 (6 goals; 2 conversions) – STC 0 (0 goals; 0 conversions)