Royal College successfully retained the B C Anghie Trophy for the third consecutive year last Saturday (28th) at the Royal College Sports Complex. Four years ago, the family of (late) B C Anghie, a master at both institutions, presented the trophy to be awarded annually to the winner of the vicious, age-old rivalry between Royal College and St. Peter’s College.

The game turned out to quite arguably be one of the best comebacks that Royal Rugby fans witnessed in a long time. Royal went from trailing by 19 points, 16 minutes into the game to winning by 33 points to 24.

The starter whistle was blown by referee Dinka Peiris and the encounter was underway. Immediately, the Peterites showed off their explosiveness, meeting the big Royal ball carriers up front. All the initial battles were won by the Petes as they went from strength to strength and scored a well worked try in the 9th minute of the game. The conversion was successful and that took the score to 0 – 7 to St. Peter’s.

Just as Royal was gathering their momentum, a handling error opened an opportunity for the Peterites and they and they pounced on the loose ball and out ran the retreating Royal defenders to score under the posts. The conversion sailed over. At 15 minutes on the clock and 0 – 14 to the visitors, it was safe to assume that the crowd was feeling the pressure too.

2 more minutes and another try to the Petes and all hope seemed to be lost. At 0 – 19, the Royal supporters seemed as if they were getting ready for what was going to be a long evening of rugby. However, luckily for Royal, they were mistaken. More possession for the Royalists saw them advancing into the St. Peter’s half for the first time in the game. Inch by inch, the hosts edged forward. Minute by minute, they gained confidence. Pressure was turned to points when in the 24th minute a well executed rolling maul sent Ebrahim Barrie over for a try. Askey’s conversion was astray but something about the way the visitors defended the maul instilled confidence in the hearts of the Royal players and fans alike.

Tables seemed to turn from that point on as Royal had the ball with them for most of the remainder of the game. On the stroke of halftime, the Tusker’s forwards unit scored yet another try through the maul. Ebrahim Barrie was the try scorer and Ovin Askey made no mistake with the conversion this time around. The score stood at 12 – 19 to St. Peter’s as the game stopped for halftime.

After the change of sides, Royal showed absolute dominance. After a few phases of play in the Peterites’ 22, a moment of brilliance by Royal’s vice captain and playmaker, Ashok Vijekumar, saw another try being scored by the man himself. The visitors looked dumbstruck as they watched Askey’s conversion bisect the uprights and saw Royal’s score equal theirs at 19 points a piece.

From the restart, poor discipline from the Petes opened the doors for Royal to launch another attack deep in Peterite territory. Ebrahim Barrie and his forwards made no mistake as they crossed over to score the try that put them in the lead. Ovin Askey converted from the corner flag and Royal took the lead by 26 points to 19.

The boys from Bambalapitiya, refusing to go down without a fight, pressed the defence once again and managed to score a try. Their fly half’s conversion however, was off target, but they reduced the deficit to 2 points.

The heat was on again as both teams played to seal the deal. Peters looking dangerous with ball in hand and Royal doing everything possible to make sure they held on to it. Eventually with about 2 minutes to play, Lennox Calyaneratne sliced through a 13 manned St. Peter’s defence to score Royal’s fifth and final try, making sure that his team retained the trophy. Askey made no mistake with his kick and Dinka Peiris blew the long whistle to mark the end of one of the best games of the season. Royal emerged victors after a show of true heart and a “never say die” attitude. After the presentation ceremony, the team took the trophy to coach Sanath Martis who had a look of absolute elation on his face. It was  good day for Royal College and Royal Rugby alike!