Tyrrell’s ’87 outfit, probably the best in Trinity history

Trinity 1987 outfit

By Shamseer Jaleel

Trinity 1987 skipper Tyrell Rajapakse

Tyrrell today

Trinity College is the cradle of Sri Lankan rugby, producing many outstanding rugby players who have worn the red, gold and blue jersey with much pride. Trinitians taking to rugby is like ducks taking to water. The game is the core sport at Trinity which has produced formidable outfits for over decades.

Trinity Rugby started playing in 1906 against Kingswood, becoming only the second school in the country to do so and the first school to continue the game without any interruption. During their 114 years of rugby many teams have come on top namely 1956, 1967, 1969, 1977 and 1987. 

The 1956 outfit was led by David Frank with late Bertie Dias coaching the unit. In 1967, Ajith Abeyratne led the unbeaten outfit with late Maurice Perera being the Head Coach. In 1977, Ravi Balasuriya led the team with Late Lt. Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwa being the Head Coach.

The 1987 outfit under the incredible Tyrrell Rajapakse was an outstanding one for many reasons. They were the unbeaten Schools League champions who later went on to win the Premadasa Trophy Knockout Tournament. They not only remained unbeaten in the season but also kept a record of conceding lesser points against them; only Isipathana could cross their line, that too with a solitary try. This record for sure will remain for a long time as it’s untouched into its 33 years.

They beat Thurstan (34/0), Isipathana (15/6), Ananda (14/3), St. Anthony’s (47/0), St Joseph’s (56/0), S. Thomas’ (52/0), St. Peter’s (11/3), Royal (7/3 first leg) and (19/3 second leg).

A try was given 4 points in 1987.

The first leg of the Bradby Shield encounter was played at Bogambara Stadium where a close game was witnessed with Royal, which fought back under Suren Madanayake. After a three-all first half Trinity fly half Shah Dole worked the three quarter-line for their star centre, Rajiv Bandaranayake, to dummy his way and cover some 40 plus metres and unselfishly pass the ball to his fullback, Inthi Marikar to score by the corner flag. 

Though Royal came near the Trinity line on so many occasions they were held by the super defence led by their skipper, Tyrrell Rajapakse and Dilshan Senanayake, Rajiv Bandaranayake and Lohan Ratwatte who stood out like men made of steel. The second leg in Colombo was expected to be a close game but Trinity won it easily 19/3 at the Sugathadasa Stadium.

They played St. Peter’s in between the two Bradby encounters. Trinity did well to beat the lads from Bambalapitiya 11/3. Their star-studded fly half Shah Dole was injured but Trinity held their nerves to beat their opponents and continue their winning streak.

In the Premadasa Trophy knock out tournament they beat Royal (10/6), Kingswood (11/6) and Isipathana (12/3). They have won all their 12 matches that season plus beating both Royal and Isipathana twice is a remarkable effort. In total they accumulated 288 points while conceding only 33 points against them with an average of less than 3 points per game against their opponents in their 12 encounters which is outstanding at any level.

Their 1987 skipper Tyrrell Rajapakse who is residing in Canada told Daily FT: “We had a great start with the team building sessions, trained hard as a team and had many weight lifters in the side which helped us in the end. We were fit mentally and physically, did not want any sides to cross our line. We almost did it with only Isipathana being able to do so against us the whole season. Boys were great and having won ‘Lion’ in 1986 helped me a lot in leadership, authority and decision making and commanding respect from the rest of the team members. I did not want division within the team.

“Even our second XV squad was brilliant by winning all the 10 matches under Jeremy David, so I was never worried about injuries during the season as I had ample choice for replacements. Shah Dole was my vice-captain and seniors such as Lohan, Rajiv Inthi, Dilshan and Shah were great assets for me, supporting all the way. We would have won the sevens too, unfortunately I had an injury and we pulled out of the tournament before it commenced. But last but not the least without the support of late Alex Lazarus our Head Coach we wouldn’t have achieved any of these. He gave excellent support during the season.”

The ‘Lion’ is the highest award for any sport in Trinity and was awarded to eight of them: Tyrell Rajapakse (Capt.), Shah Dole, Dilshan Senanayake, Lohan Ratwatte, Dasarath Kiridena, Rajiv Bandaranayake, Senani Gunaratne and Inthi Marikar. Tyrell won his ‘Lion’ initially in ’86.

Colours were awarded to 11 of them. They were Ravi Kahatapitiya, Janindha Dunuwille, Prasad Dissanayake, Nishantha Abeysinghe, Prasanna Samarasinghe, Thakshala Hettiarachchi, Rohan Ranaraja, Bindu Dandeniya, Nilantha Ratnayake, Upul Gunaratne and Harikesh Wijenathan. Prasad Samarasinghe and Bindu Dandeniya were re-awarded with Colours.

From the 1987 squad of players, Tyrrell Rajapakse and Lohan Ratwatte went on to represent Kandy Sports Club while Inthi Marikar and Shah Dole went to make their debut for CR & FC. Nilantha Ratnayake went on to represent the National Cricket Team in One Day Internationals in Australia.

One more remarkable feat of this outfit was that Rajiv Bandaranayake’s grandfather and father both were ‘Lion’ recipients in cricket and rugby football at Trinity. Later in 2019 his second son, Reshan Bandaranayake, won his ‘Lion’ after bringing the Sevens trophy to Trinity after a lapse of 42 years.