The Royal College altered its sporting history forever in 1916 when it took to playing Rugby. By this time Trinity College in Kandy had already started the game in 1906 and on 31st July 1920, the first Royal College vs. Trinity College rugby match was played. This historic match resulted in Royal being grounded by the Trinitians. The same fate followed for most of the early encounters up until Royal first scored in 1924 and had their first win in 1941. The Royal College also won both matches in 1943, the year the two-match series was started. Matches against other schools also commenced such as Zahira College in 1925, St.Peter’s College in 1932, St.Joseph’s College in 1955 and S.Thomas’ College in 1956.

It was the then Royal College Principal Mr. E. L. Bradby who initiated the two-match Colombo – Kandy series with Trinity. In 1945, he offered the Bradby Shield to the team that had the higher aggregate of points in both matches. Today, this is the most prestigious school Rugby match in the country. Although the rivalry between the two schools is extremely tense, it must be mentioned that both the winner and loser are always gracious.

The Centenary match between the two schools was the second leg encounter played in 1983 in which the chief guest was Mr.E.L.Bradby himself. The 2008 second leg match was the 150th match between the two schools. The 2002 Bradby encounter was the highest scoring encounter for Royal, led by Zulki Hamid, winning with a record (39-00) in the first leg held in Colombo and winning the second leg (44-00) in Kandy, thus winning the Bradby Shield with a record aggregate of 83 – 00.

The Royal – Trinity Rugby matches for the Bradby Shield have brought the two schools close to each other in a way that is inexplicable. In particular, after the match in Kandy, the old boys of both schools get together for a night of revelry and entertainment in the best of traditions.

The annual encounter against St. Thomas is contested for the Michael Gunaratne Trophy which was introduced in 1962. The annual encounter against Isipathana College is contested for the Major Milroy Fernando Trophy.

The Royal College also holds the prestige of having won the Schools’ Rugby League the highest number of times and is currently the champions for the 3rd consecutive year.