The Bradby Shield Encounter, colloquially referred to as The Bradby, is an event within Sri Lanka's school rugby union season. This annual fixture takes place between two renowned boys' schools in the country, namely Royal College, Colombo, and Trinity College, Kandy. The encounter involves two legs, with one currently held at the Royal College Sports Complex in Colombo and the other at the Trinity College Rugby Stadium in Pallekele. The winner of the competition is determined based on the aggregate of scores from both matches, typically played a couple of weeks apart.

This rugby fixture garners significant attention from spectators across the country. It is considered the most widely viewed rugby match in Sri Lanka, drawing larger crowds than both inter-club and international fixtures. This important event serves as a social gathering for the current and past pupils, their families, extended families and well-wishers with near-capacity attendance at venues and a significant viewership for the live broadcasts, both domestically and internationally.

History Royal College and Trinity College were among the pioneers in embracing the game of rugby union in British Ceylon, with their maiden match held on 31 July 1920, marking a historic milestone. Subsequently, this encounter evolved into a yearly tradition, where Trinity College maintained an unbeaten streak for the first two decades, until their first defeat to Royal College in 1941. In 1943, the format evolved into a two-match series.

In 1945, E. L. Bradby, the principal of Royal College, extended an offer to C. E. Simithraaratchy, the principal of Trinity College, proposing the donation of a coveted Shield. Simithraaratchy accepted this proposal. The Shield was to be contested annually, with the victor being the college that achieved the highest total score over the two-leg series, one leg played in Colombo and the other in Kandy, as initiated in 1943.

This annual event has persevered through the years, with the exception of the year 1971, where only the first leg was played due to the 1971 JVP insurrection. The Shield was presented to Royal College, the victors of the first leg. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the event in both 2020 and 2021, marking the only other time in which this event could not take place.

The Shield The shield, crafted by Kandyan silversmiths, was presented to the series by E. L. Bradby in 1945, at the end of his tenure as principal of Royal College. It is a wooden disk adorned with traditional Kandyan silverwork, symbolising victory.

After the second leg of the series, the shield is awarded to the winning team's captain during an on-field ceremony. The team retains the trophy until the next year's competition.

Venue The Bradby Shield encounter is generally played in two legs, one in Colombo and the other in Kandy. Historically, the Colombo match was played at Longden Place, and since 1987, at the Sugathadasa Stadium. Matches were relocated to the Royal College Sports Complex in 2002, where they have been hosted ever since. Meanwhile, the Kandy leg of the tournament was held at the Bogambara Stadium or at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium. Trinity College's home ground, the Trinity College Rugby Stadium in Pallekele, hosted its first Bradby Shield match in 1997 and, since 2012, has regularly hosted the Kandy leg of the event.

Locations and key abbreviations

List of venues: 1920–present Venue Location First match Abbreviated as Coordinates 1 University of Colombo Grounds Colombo Thurstan Road 2 Bogambara Stadium Kandy Bogambara 3 Royal College Sports Complex Colombo Reid Avenue (1923–1949)RCSC (since 2012) 4 CR & FC Grounds Colombo Longden Place 5 Police Park Colombo Police Park 6 Colombo Racecourse Colombo Racecourse 7 Nittawela Rugby Stadium Kandy Nittawela 8 Havelock Park Colombo Havelock Park 9 University Rugby Football Grounds Peradeniya Peradeniya 10 CH & FC Grounds Colombo Maitland Crescent 11 Sugathadasa Stadium Colombo Sugathadasa 12 Trinity College Rugby Stadium Pallekele TCRS

Inter-school rugby encounters: 1920–1944 Statistics

Match statistics Venue Played Won by Drawn Total points Royal Trinity Royal Trinity Colombo 13 2 11 – 26 247 Kandy 9 1 8 – 27 163 Overall 22 3 19 – 53 410

Results

Results: 1920–1944 Match Year Captains Date Venue Score Winner Royal Trinity Royal Trinity 1 1920 C. G. A. Perera H. Ellis 31 July Thurstan Road 0 26 Trinity – 1921 Not played 2 1922 G. H. Senarathne A. P. Maralande 4 August Bogambara 0 34 Trinity 3 1923 W. P. L. Abeyratne P. A. Buultjens 28 July Reid Avenue 0 17 Trinity 4 1924 J. R. Jayewardene P. A. Buultjens 1 August Bogambara 3 37 Trinity 5 1925 D. W. L. Lieversz (Snr.) A. N. Myanga 18 July Thurstan Road 0 46 Trinity – 1926 Not played – 1927 Not played 6 1928 H. S. Roberts M. Khin Maung 4 August Reid Avenue 6 23 Trinity – 1929 Not played 7 1930 R. C. W. Paulusz J. Duncan 5 August Bogambara 0 29 Trinity 8 1931 G. A. K. Rockwood J. Duncan 25 July Longden Place 0 27 Trinity 9 1932 S. A. Dissanyake S. Ratwatte 30 July Bogambara 0 9 Trinity 10 1933 M. S. Ahamath E. W. A. Buultjens 15 July Reid Avenue 0 19 Trinity – 1934 Not played 11 1935 W. B. V. Thiedeman R. Breckenridge 13 July Reid Avenue 0 19 Trinity 12 1936 C. de S. Illesinghe O. L. Izzadeen 11 July Bogambara 3 11 Trinity 13 1937 E. I. Grey O. L. Izzadeen 17 July Reid Avenue 0 16 Trinity 14 1938 R. H. Aldons W. Molegoda 25 June Bogambara 13 14 Trinity 15 1939 S. E. Toussaint V. K. Vellayan 29 July Reid Avenue 3 14 Trinity 16 1940 R. Kadiragamar S. B. Dissanayake 20 July Bogambara 3 9 Trinity 17 1941 M. N. Jilla S. B. Dissanayake 12 July Reid Avenue 11 3 Royal 18 1942 A. R. Demmer W. Jenkins 25 July Reid Avenue 0 22 Trinity 19 1943 C. O. Foenander W. Jenkins 11 July Police Park 6 0 Royal 20 S. Navaratnam 24 July Bogambara 5 3 Royal 21 1944 N. Vancuylenberg M. G. Wright 7 July Thurstan Road 0 15 Trinity 22 21 July Bogambara 0 17 Trinity

Bradby Shield series: 1945–present Statistics

Series statistics Played Won by Drawn Royal Trinity 80 37 41 2

Match statistics Venue Played Won by Drawn Total points Royal Trinity Royal Trinity Colombo 80 41 33 6 935 793 Kandy 79 32 42 5 814 868 Overall 159 73 75 11 1,749 1,661

Results of the last encounter 80th Bradby Shield 2026 (first leg)

80th Bradby Shield 2026 (second leg)

Results