ISLAND : 23 MAY 2009

The team that made history for Royal

by T. Varagunam (Chancellor, Eastern University), Daya Perera (Sri
Lanka's High Commissioner in Canada) Tony Anghie (Retired Army
Officer), Daya Samarasinghe (Retired Physician), Ashy Cader (Retired
Executive), Geoff Weinman (Retired Executive), Desmond van Twest
(Retired Physician), Trevor Anghie (Retired Physician)

It was in the year 1948 when Royal had a general feeling of despair
caused by the fact that for the four previous years it had lost to
Trinity and was yet to win the Bradby Shield; the shield awarded in
the name of its own principal. This four year drought combined with
the fact that since the year 1920, it had won only three matches
compared to Trinity's 19 had sent Royal to the doldrums.

The prevailing gloom was compounded by the fact that in 1948 only one
second year player was left in the team from the previous year -
Ashroff Cader.

Royal faced the formidable task of having to train and pick another 14
new players for its forthcoming matches against Trinity. Moreover,
Royal's coach - C. O. Foenander, a past captain of the Royal team, was
unwilling to continue. A new coach had to be found. This task fell on
M. T. Thambapillai, the Master in Charge of Rugby, and our Principal
J. C. A. Corea.

The new coach had to be an outstanding player; a man who not only knew
the game and would teach it well to youngsters, but also provide that
extra zest which was so vital for playing the game well by a team,
whose predecessors had such a dismal record. They picked Sydney de
Zoysa – a rigorous and disciplined coach with masterly tactics and
strategies acquired from his experience in the Police Force.

At first practice, we gathered round the old tamarind tree in the
school's rugby grounds. Thambapillai, the most understanding of
masters, rather than attempting a coaching session suggested we play a
'chuckers' match until our newly appointed coach arrived. Rugby boots
were at that time a commodity in great demand. So, those with boots
became forwards and those without hung around behind as backs who
relieved themselves of the ball immediately they received it, purely
as a measure of self preservation. After coach Sydney de Zoysa arrived
there was no such laissez faire. It was blood and sweat. He constantly
kept reminding us, in his loud stentorian voice, that rugby is a game
of guts and he transferred the theme of our school motto- "Learn or
Depart," to our training – "If you can't get it right, B….. off." And
there was Thambapillai encouraging us in his mellifluous monotonous
voice with, "don't worry boys, with more practice you will soon get it
right." Though mild in his manners Thambapillai's capacity to motivate
the players was the key factor in building our team.

Compared to the scientific training methods of today, with video
analyses and constructive feedback, our training tilted towards the
brutal. Jumping individually to grab the ball in the lineouts (the
practice of towering was non-existent in those years), pushing and
turning in scrums, dribbling, falling on the ball, passing the ball in
all its forms, including the dummies, place and drop kicking,
tackling, running with the ball, catching the high ball and 'marking';
were all drilled to points of exhaustion. This rigorous training went
on for about six months and it first paid off when we beat St. Peter's
under the glowering and threatening eyes of our coach and later drew
with Zahira; these two being the other Colombo schools which played
serious rugby at that time.

More intensive practice followed and a few days before the dreaded day
of playing Trinity, Sydney de Zoysa announced the squad (see
photograph) which was going to make history for Royal. After making
the announcement, he mellowed down and promised us a "show and dinner"
if we won the Bradby Shield.

Props:(1) A. E. Bartholomeuz* and (2) Bala Seevaratnam*

Hooker (3) T. Varagunam

Second Row: (4) Eustace Fonseka* and (5) G. Perinpanayagam*

Flankers (6) Geoff Weinman and (7) Daya Samarasinghe

No 8: (8) Ashroff Cader (Captain)

Scrum half (9) Daya Perera

Fly half (10) S. D. N. Hapugalle*

Centres (11) Tony Anghie and (12) D. Raymond*

Wingers (13) Desmond van Twest and (14) A. Gunawardene*

Full Back (15) Trevor Anghie

*-unfortunately no longer with us; and also M. T.Thambapillai, Sidney
de Zoysa and J. C. A. Corea.

We are writing this 60 years after these matches were played. We have
tried faithfully to recollect the significant events. But as everyone
knows, the passage of time does influence one's perceptions. Hence,
what we have written may not accurately depict the reality that had
prevailed. However, we managed to dig out, from Tony Anghie's
archives, an article written by Thambapillai in a local newspaper in
June 1993 and have used it as a reference. In it, he refers to the
1948 season as a "milestone in the history of Royal Rugger."

The first match was played at the Police grounds on Havelock Road with
an old Trinitian - Harold van Royen of the Police refereeing. Our
school mates, envisaging yet another defeat turned up in fewer numbers
than in previous years. A handful of staunch old boys and some past
players, a few parents, together with some interested members of the
public with some press reporters, constituted a total of about 300
spectators. There were no cheer leaders; the majority consisting of
ageing old boys who were a poor substitute for the perky young things
that populate the matches of today.

The Trinity team, truly magnificent in their tri-coloured jerseys and
led by Ajward Mohammed strutted confidently into the field under the
watchful eyes of their coach Philip Buultjens.

Their confidence was so overwhelming that, had they been given the
chance, they might have done the 'Haka' Maori war dance of the All
Blacks team. We jogged into the field led by Ashroff Cader, cowed
under the burden of previous defeats.

The match itself must have been one of the hardest fought schoolboy
games played in Colombo that year and according to Thambpillai it was
a "ding dong battle." Some aspects of the battle are etched in our
minds.

In the first half of the game, the teams were evenly matched, play
occurring equally in both halves of the grounds. Ashy Cader's jumping
prowess got the ball out for us from the line outs nine times out of
10. Desmond van Twest, our winger, who often 'threw in' the ball in
the line outs has this to say of him; "Ashy was an all time line out
forward par excellence and at a pinch, could even be relied to pot the
ball between the uprights from all parts of the field." But somehow,
in spite of Ashy's performance, the ball rarely progressed beyond the
mid three quarters. The same was true with the scrums. We got the ball
out many times more frequently than Trinity did. The aggregate weights
of the forwards were roughly equal on both teams, but Daya Perera put
in the ball at just the right shoving time and Varagunam, supported by
Bala Seevaratnam and Arthur Bartholomeuz hooked the ball to our
advantage much to the amazement of the Trinity team. The few times
Trinity got the ball out from the scrums, our wingers - the non stop
tackling machine Daya Samarasinghe and the attacking/harassing and
spoiling Geoff Weinman saw to it that it never got to the Trinity
three quarter line. And if it did, our mid three quarter, David
Raymond's venomous tackling stopped it from reaching the wingers. We
were close to Trinity's five yard line on many occasions. On one such
occasions, Geoff Weinman tried a drop kick and failed. On another,
Daya Samarasinge coming out of the scrum, elegantly poached a ball
being passed between Trinitythree quarters but was brought down by a
heavy Trinity forward.

A few minutes before the half time whistle, and close to the corner
flag, we had a scrum down for some minor infringement of the rules.
When the ball came out on our side a desperate Trinity flanker in his
earnestness fell foul of the rules and we were given a penalty. There
was Philip Buultjens on the line cursing away probably at the referee
but a glimmer of a smile must have appeared on his face when he
noticed that the angle was impossibly close to the touch line. In the
pin drop silence, Trevor Anghie with his tree trunk thighs and with a
concentration never seen before, accurately sent the ball between the
posts, clearing the cross bar by more than six feet. This was the
turning moment in our morale which the 14 fresher's and their captain
needed so badly.

Our successes at pushing and keeping the ball in the scrum and waiting
for the correct time to get it out was fantastic team work with
Eustace Fonseka and Gnani Perinpanayagam giving the necessary shove
from the second row bound by Ashy Cader functioning as lock. As play
continued, Daya Perera did a splendid job, as only he could, of
rallying and harnessing our forwards. He at the same time, undermined
the confidence of the opposition pack in a good humoured way by
talking down their efforts and thus deflating their spirits. In the
second half we continued to maintain our superior play. In an attempt
to overcome this situation, Mike Schokman from Trinity started his
booming kicks to the touch line and Philip Buultjens from the touch
lines kept shouting "Schockman for god's sake keep the ball in play."
Fortunately for Trinity, Mike did not hear him or ignored him and
continued this practice, until close of play. Towards the end of the
game, at a five yard scrum from our touchline, Tinity's scrum half
Senanayake managed to sneak through and score a try which they failed
to convert. Trevor Anghie converted another penalty almost in front of
the posts, but from almost the half line. The match ended to our
advantage with scores at 6-3.

A fortnight later, we set out for Kandy to play the second leg in an
old decrepit bus. On route, some of the team were planning to throw
the rugger ball out of the bus at Pasyala to make a stop in the
vicinity of the 'cadju girls'. With a horrified expression on his face
Thambapillai foiled the effort. On arrival in Kandy, we were first
taken to the Bogambara grounds which to us looked like a mini lake
with little islands of earth protruding at intervals. To our horror,
we were told, that was where the match was to be played. We were then
taken to one of the Trinity College hostels and after a brief period
of rest, were instructed to get into our rugby kits and walk down as a
group to Bogambara.

The intensity of the support for Trinity was apparent all over the
town, most amongst the shop keepers and vendors. On route, down the
streets we sensed a mixture of emotions directed at us who were
considered 'foreigners' to Kandy. We noted some awe in the public at
seeing the team that had broken the invincible Trinitians in the first
match. A few passersby added remarks of ridicule and added a haughty
demeanour in an effort to belittle us in the hope that we would be
disheartened. David Raymond, who had been a boarder the previous year
at Trinity, when asked whether he had come up to watch the match
confessed that he was in the Royal team and they broke down with
raucous laughter. We walked down almost in silence and probably
watched over by some seniors and Thambapillai. If they were not there,
some of us may have given a few choice repartees to the uncalled for
remarks from the ogling public on the streets.

The second match to us was like wallowing in a mud field. But
according to Thambapillai "it was a memorable match. One of the finest
games in the series," and he goes on to say "the slight rarity of the
atmosphere in Kandy and being their home grounds, Trinity had a slight
edge over Royal. They came down on the Royalists like Assyrians on the
fold."

The wetness made the ball difficult to handle and play mainly depended
on the scrums and mauls combined with dribbling and kicking. A few
'knock ons' tended to be ignored by the referee. Having noted our
superiority in the scrums during the first leg, Trinity had developed
its own strategies. They had changed their pack to a heavier one and
had equipped their hooker with leather shin guards. The apparently
unintended kicks during the scrums fell painfully on the Royal
forward's bare shins. Retaliation was fruitless. During the first half
of the game, emboldened by their home ground they did all the
attacking; their hefty three quarters drawing their men and passing
out to their sturdy wingers, but to no avail, because of Tony Anghie
and David Raymond who according to Thambapillai "tackled their hearts
out." One of these encounters happened at our five yard line. Tony
Anghie, with two Trinitians in pursuit, fell on Trevor Anghie, who was
trying to clear the ball. In the melee that followed, the ball rolled
into the Royal goal with the two Trinitians and the Anghie brothers
practically on top of it. To Thambapillai, who was watching from the
pavilion, "Tony Anghie appeared to have touched the ball a split
second earlier than the Trinitian." However, this was not the
perception of the referee, who was none other than our coach Sydney de
Zoysa, and he gave the try to Trinity.

Although the conversion of the try failed, Trinity's courage surged
and they continued their attacking game to the thrill of the Kandy
spectators. Just before the half time whistle, one of their sturdy
wingers, practically transporting our light weight winger Desmond van
Twest on his shoulders, went over the line; but that try was also not
converted.

The second half started with Trinity leading 6-0 and a vision of the
shining Bradby Shield continuing to remain in their Principal's
Office. We kicked off with Sydney de Zoysa's 'do or die' exhortation,
burning a hole in our minds. Oh boy, we went hell-bent in our tactics
as we had never done before. We will let Thambapillai describe what
happened; "Royal seemed to get their second wind and Trinity seemed a
spent force. Royal won the line outs, thanks to Cader and the scrums
and mauls due to Varagunam's slick hooking. In one of the movements,
Dennis Hapugalle, the fly half, receiving a neat snappy pass from
scrum half Daya Perera and taking the ball on the run, sold a peach of
dummy to vis-a-vis Schokman, drew the first inside and sent the ball
to Raymond who passed it to Tony Anghie. Tony, drawing the opposing
winger passed to Desmond van Twest who touched down." Desmond van
Twest's perception of this try is that just before the ball was passed
to him he had received a bone crunching, muscle crippling tackle from
a Trinity forward and was gingerly climbing on to his feet when he saw
the ball flying towards him. In his words he suddenly "got a boost of
adrenalin and the pain in his body miraculously vanished."

He managed to evade and outsprint Trinity's would be tacklers and
scampered clear down the right wing to the touch line. A huge sigh,
not a cheer, arose from the Kandy supporters in the crowd. Trevor
Anghie had his first missed conversion and we were behind 6-3 but
equal on the grand total. However, tension arose and there was still a
possibility of Trinity hanging on to the shield. Then we dealt the
coup de grace starting in a scrum within Trinity's 25 yard line. We,
as usual, got the ball and worked our three quarter line with the ball
reaching right winger Ana Gunawardena. Trevor Anghie suddenly appeared
from his full back position and backed him and received a tricky pass
which he carried over the line along with two Trinitians hanging on
his back. A cheer rose up from the few Royalist supporters and some of
the more mature Trinitians.

Trevor Anghie converted and we led 8-6 comfortably in line for the
Bradby Shield. The few minutes, that was left of play, were taken up
by Daya Perera, having decided he had had enough and much to the
relief of the rest of the team, kept kicking to touch the ball that
was constantly coming out to our advantage from the scrums and line
outs.

During the post mortem of the match, Sydney de Zoysa had a confession
to make about that controversial try by Trinity. He said; "I know
chaps the first try I awarded to Trinity should have been a five yard
scrum. My heart was breaking, but I had to award Trinity that try." We
who had sweated our hearts out on that mud field were not too
impressed. But Thambapillai, the thorough gentleman that he was,
reacted with; "it was characteristic of Sydney and the Royalists of
his generation."

We cannot recall the post match celebrations nor the award of the
Bradby Shield that was accepted by our captain Ashy Cader, but what we
remember was that Sydney de Zoysa, on return to Colombo, did honour
his debt to us with a magnificent dinner. He picked us up in a Police
truck, cutting a roundabout or two on the way home just to add a frill
and possibly a thrill to our victory.

We apologise for having written this account in a self-congratulatory
tone. However, we maintain that our team was unique in several
aspects. We were the first team to win the Bradby Shield for Royal. We
were the first and possibly the only team to win the Bradby with 14
'first season fledglings'. A member of our team - Geoff Weinman, was
the first and possibly the only schoolboy who played for All Ceylon
while still in school. And ending on a lighter note, if you look at
our group photo, you will notice that we are in blazers embellished
with our College Colours emblem. Our previous teams and probably all
of our subsequent teams were all photographed in their rugby jerseys!
Abdulazeem Azwer

Al Khobar - SA
Phone: 00-966-3-882-9394 XT 329
Telefax: 00-966-3-882-4603
email: abdulazeem.azwer@sa.abb.com