Royal–Thomian rivalry
The Royal–Thomian Rivalry refers to the competition, both in academics and sports, between Royal College Colombo and S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia, two boys' schools in Sri Lanka. Both schools have rich histories of academic excellence, as well as sport competition and school pride. Both were founded in the 19th century, and between them they have produced a large number of Sri Lanka's most prominent scientists, writers and politicians, as well as noted figures in many other fields.
The three oldest sporting encounters between the traditional rivals are the Battle of the Blues, the Royal-Thomian Rugby Encounter and the Royal Thomian Regatta.
Background
Royal College, Colombo is a government-funded public school that accommodates approximately 8,000 students. S. Thomas' College, Mt Lavinia is an Anglican private school that has about 2,500 boys on roll and a branch network of three constituent colleges in Kollupitiya, Gurutalawa and Bandarawela with a total of over 5,500 students. Royal and S. Thomas' have been careful to preserve many parts of their proud history, retaining a number of traditions.Cricket
Royal–Thomian (the ''Battle of the Blues'')
Known simply as the Royal-Thomian, the cricket match has been played by the schools since 1879. This annual cricket match is played for the D. S. Senanayake Memorial Shield, and is affectionately known as the Battle of the Blues due to the colours of each school's flag. The first match was played between the Colombo Academy and St Thomas' College in 1879, thus was known as the Academy College match till 1881. The first match was played with schoolmasters participating as well as schoolboys. From 1880 onwards, only schoolboys were allowed to play in the match.As of 2016, the tally stands as Royal having 35 wins and S.Thomas' with 35 wins. This is regarded as the most prestigious cricketing event in the country. The match itself is preceded by many activities including the legendary Cycle Parade which usually happens on the day before the big match, with the official objective of visiting the captain's house to encourage him.
Mustangs Trophy
Following the annual three-day match, known as the Big Match, the schools meet a week later for the limited overs match. First played in 1975, the match is played for the Mustangs Trophy, from which it gains its name.The originators of this first match were three staunch Old Royalists, namely Mr. Lanka de Silva, Air Vice Marshal Harry Goonatilleka and Brigadier S. D. N. Hapugalle.
Twenty-20
In 2010, as part of Royal College's 175th anniversary celebrations, the first ever Royal Thomian Twenty20 Cricket Encounter was organized for the J. R. Jayewardene Trophy at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.Rugby
The Royal Thomian rugby encounter, held annually in the Michaelmas Term of S. Thomas and between the two sessions of Bradby Shield Encounter of Royal since 1955. Second only to the Bradby Shield Encounter in prestigious rugby match in the country. It is played for the Michael Gunaratne Trophy.Rowing
The Royal-Thomian Regatta is the annual regatta between the two schools. It is the third oldest Royal Thomian encounter after Cricket and Rugby. The Boat Race which is a coxed fours event initially began in 1962 and by 1966, it broadened out to give rise to the regatta having a card of eight events, made up of 2 Single Sculls, 2 Doublesculls, 2 Coxless Pairs and 2 Coxed Fours which the 'Boat Race' is the most prestigious. The events take place at the Beira lake in Colombo around October each year with the T. N. Fernando Trophy awarded to the overall winnerHockey
The Orville Abeynaike Memorial Trophy is an annual hockey match between Royal College, Colombo, and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia in Sri Lanka. Although both schools began playing hockey in the 1960s and occasionally met in tournaments, the official encounter was introduced in the year 2000. Not only a U15 match but also Old boys' match is played too.Basketball
Since 2002, The annual Royal Thomian basketball encounter is played for the prestigious D.S Senanayake Trophy. Every year an old boys match is also played. S. Thomas' won the first match for the D.S Senanayake trophy. As of 2015, the tally stands as Royal having 5 wins and S. Thomas' with 8 wins.Since 2012 an U 15 match is also played. Royal College won the first U 15 match. As of 2015, the tally stands as Royal having 2 wins and S. Thomas' with 2 wins.