Royal and S. Thomas’ will herald in the 2009 schools rugby season today, with the fixture expected to generate a lot of interest in terms of how the two schools will cope with the new rules introduced to rugby union by the IRB.

The match this year will be of significance for both schools for two reasons. The prime reason why the match comes under the spotlight is because it marks the first occasion that Royal and S. Thomas’ scrum down in their annual rugby fixture at Mount Lavinia. The other is that these two teams are the first Sri Lankan schools to experience playing the game in keeping with the new rules introduced to rugby.

According to the President, Society of Rugby Referees in Sri Lanka (SRRSL) Dilroy Fernando, the new rules in rugby union allow teams to wheel the scrum 90 degrees and shove their opponents sans restrictions, regarding distance, when engaged in a scrum.

Fernando said that school rugby matches this season will be played in keeping with rules applicable to Under-20 rugby. "Another significant change is that each half will comprise 40 minutes of playing time. Also, the non participating players from both sides need to maintain a distance of five metres from a scrum," explained Fernando, who is expected to officiate in today’s match which is played for the Michael Guneratne Trophy.

S. Thomas’ coach Jivan Gunatilake opined that the new rules would help the players when making a transition from school rugby to club rugby. "As you know, there wasn’t a go between where rules were concerned for schools and clubs. The new rules will certainly favour the forwards game, especially during scrum time. These changes were long overdue. The old rules stifled the game of most schoolboys," said Gunatileke, an old boys of S. Thomas’ and a former Sri Lanka youth rugby captain, who led Sri Lanka to its only World Cup in the rugby union.

Royal College assistant coach Bilal Yusuf commenting on the new rules said, "the new rules will certainly favour a team like Royal College because it has a strong pack. We are looking at dominating forwards play this season. As for the new rules stretching each session to 40 minutes, this could see teams possessing fitness and stamina prevailing over others. Royal is up to that too."

Gunatileke said that elaborate arrangements had been made to host this year’s rugby fixture between the two schools.

Teams: S. Thomas’ from: Amrith Anrado, Anjula de Silva, Roshenka Kodithuwakku, Janit Jayasuriya, Sandeep Jayawardene, Asela Kohana, Jeewaka Hewawitharana, Rajindra Gunasekere, Asitha Wijesinghe, Shavin Kapuwatte (Captain), Arjun Manoharan, William Rudra, Anurudhdha Wilwara, Sudharshan Muthuthantri, Jeremy Fernando

Royal from: Nikila Senanayake, Udara de Silva, Asela Dassanayake, Ranga Perera, Shehan Pathirana, Chilanka Sudaraka, Asitha Bandaranayake, Hamza Hassen, Akil Satuk, Naren Dhason (Captain), Ranithra Chandraratne, Shamil Ahmed, Duminda Attygalle, Chamara Dabare, Shabir Mohamed.

Referee - Dilroy Fernando