Schools rugby league set to kick-off on March 4
The Under-19 Schools Rugby League 2020 is set to kick off on March 4, with the participation of nearly 90 schools in three divisions. The much anticipated tournament will be played for several months under the supervision of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA).
After sponsoring the Schools Rugby League for nearly two decades, Singer Sri Lanka PLC dropped out of the sponsorship this year. In Singer’s absence, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, Dialog Axiata PLC have understandably secured the sponsorship for this year’s Schools Rugby League, which is second only to Sri Lanka Cricket in terms of brand value in the Sri Lankan sports arena.
The top division – ‘A’ will consist of 12 schools participating in two groups. They have been seeded as per their rankings in the previous season. The first round matches will played continuously for five weeks before the teams take a break for the Sinhala/Tamil New Year and Holy Week in April.
After the first round, the top eight teams will compete in the Cup championship from April 24, while the bottom four teams will be playing their rugby in the Plate championship along with the top four teams from Division ‘B’. Having won the Schools Rugby title for three consecutive years, Royal College, Colombo is once again the top seeded team in Division 1 ‘A’ while last year’s runner-up, St. Peter’s College, the highest ranked team in Division 2 ‘A’. The Peterites will play the league curtain-raiser on March 4 when they take on Dharmaraja College, Kandy at home in Bambalapitiya. Ahead of the season opener, Royal College and St. Peter’s College are deemed to be the front-runners this season to bag most of the trophies. However, teams like Isipathana College, Trinity College, Wesley College and Kingswood College are set to give plenty of problems to the title holders this year.
Following some impressive performances, Dharmaraja College and Vidyartha College, both from Kandy, were promoted to play in the Division ‘A’, while Zahira College and Maliyadeva College have being relegated to Division ‘B’.
| Division ‘A’ groupings are as follows: | |
| Division 1 ‘A’: Royal College, St. Joseph’s College, S. Thomas’ College, Trinity College, Kingswood College, St. Anthony’s College Division 2 ‘A’: St. Peter’s College, Wesley College, Isipathana College, Science College, Dharmaraja College, Vidyartha College, |
| The tentative first round fixtures for Division ‘A’ are as follows: | |
March 4: St. Peter’s vs Dharmaraja at Bambalapitiya
March 11: St. Joseph’s vs S. Thomas’ at CR&FC
March 20: Royal vs Trinity at Royal Complex
March 27: Trinity vs St. Joseph’s at Pallekelle
April 4: St. Joseph’s vs Royal at CR&FC |