Royal College to kick off rugby season aiming title
View(s):Royal College is gearing up to kick off the Inter-Schools Rugby League Tournament from the first week of June with an opening match against Thurstan College. The highly anticipated rugby league promises to deliver a thrilling spectacle for school rugby fans as teams prepare to showcase their skills.
Royal will host five games during the league, including the second leg of the 79th Bradby Shield encounter against Trinity College. The schedule also features the traditional trophy game against Isipathana College, adding to the excitement of this year’s rugby season.
NDB Bank, one of Royal Rugby's co-sponsors
The Tuskers will play against Thurstan, Sri Sumangala Kandy, St. Joseph’s, Vidyartha and Trinity during the league while they are also slotted to play three traditional games against St. Peter’s (B.C. Angie Memorial Trophy), S. Thomas’ (Michael Gunarathne Trophy) and Isipathana (Major Milroy Fernando Trophy), before the much anticipated 79th Bradby Shield encounter against Trinity on August 23 at Pallekele and September 6 at Royal Complex.
Amika Samarasinghe has been appointed captain of Royal, with Idris Farook serving as vice captain. Dushanth Lewke will continue in his role as head coach. Lewke, who had a successful tenure as Under-18 head coach, joined Royal’s first XV team as assistant coach in 2013. In 2018, he was promoted to head coach, leading the team to league championships in both 2018 and 2019. After finishing as league runners-up last year, Royal College is now aiming for its ninth league title in the post-2000 era. The co-event sponsors for Royal Rugby 2025 are National Development Bank (NDB Bank) and Uber Eats. Brandix Apparel will serve as the main team sponsor, with American Water as the hydration partner and team sponsor. Brixton Lighting joins as both co-team sponsor and junior rugby sponsor, while C.W. Mackie will also support the team as a co-team sponsor.
Additional sponsors include Courtyard by Marriott (hospitality partner), Vision Care (optical partner), Ceylon Agro Industries – Prima (food partner), Affinity Consulting (strategic IT partner), Elephant House (beverage and ice cream partner), Technomedics International Pvt Ltd (medical solutions partner), Hemas Consumer (grooming partner), EFM (radio partner), Omnicom Media Group (PR partner), Classic Travel (travel partner), Bolt Gear (clothing partner), Lanka Hospitals (healthcare partner), ThePapare (broadcasting partner), Ralham Sports (sports equipment partner), Ceylon Cleaners (laundry partner), and Planet Protectors (sustainability partner).
Brandix, Royal's main team sponsor
Uber Eats, will partner Royal as a co-sponsor