Royal College will host four games, including the first leg of the 78th Bradby Shield encounter against Trinity College. Other traditional trophy games against S. Thomas’ and St. Peter’s will also be featured during the season.
Thivain Perera has been appointed as the captain, with Buweneka Senanayake and Yehan Weerasooriya serving as vice-captains. Dushanth Lewke will continue as head coach. Lewke, who had a successful tenure as the Under-18 head coach, became the assistant coach of Royal’s first XV team in 2013.
In 2018, he was promoted as head coach, leading the team to league championships in 2018 and 2019. After finishing as league runners-up last year, Royal is aiming for its ninth league title in the post-2000 era. In the past five years, Royal has consistently ranked among the top three teams in the Division 1 Rugby League.
Organised by the Rugby Match Organising Committee of Royal College, the Bradby Shield encounter is expected to draw an overwhelming audience of over 15,000 spectators this year.
The main sponsors for Royal Rugby 2024 include National Development Bank (NDB Bank) as the main event sponsor and Brandix Lanka as the main team sponsor. Uber Eats will be the co-event sponsor while Brixton Lighting comes on board as co-team sponsor and junior rugby sponsor.
Additional sponsors include Union Assurance as insurance partner, Homelands as Tuskers partner, Courtyard by Marriott as hospitality partner, Bolt Gear as clothing partner, Lanka Hospitals as healthcare partner, Vision Care as optical partner, EOAS as lifestyle partner, EFM as radio partner, Ceylon Agro Industries – Prima as food partner, Ceylex Engineering as engineering partner, Affinity Consulting as strategic IT partner, Ralham Sports as sports equipment partner, American Water as hydration partner, Elephant House as beverage partner, Nestle Lanka – Milo as nourishing energy partner, Quadrangle as social media partner, Omnicom Media Group as PR partner, Ceylon Cleaners as laundry partner and Bolt Distribution as endurance partner. These sponsors continue to support the development of school rugby in Sri Lanka.
The annual rugby season is renowned for its long history of prestige and camaraderie among some of the country’s leading schools, where both winning and losing are embraced with grace. Royal will play a total of 11 matches inclusive of four traditional games. Royal are grouped alongside defending league champions St. Peter’s, Zahira, St. Joseph’s, Vidyartha, Wesley, Kingswood and Thurstan. The traditional games include both legs of the 78th Bradby Shield, and the annual encounters against S. Thomas’ and Isipathana played for trophies.
