Schools rugby still not out of the woods

The Singer sponsored School Rugby League Tournament is finally set to kick off in less than two weeks time. 30 teams split in to three groups will battle it out. However, as has been the case controversy continues to shroud the tournament.

First it is the whistle blowers. An informed source of the referees union said that the union has still not been informed about the draw. The new format sees 27 matches being played every weekend. The spokesman for the referees union said it was going to be hard to so many people to blow at short notice.

Secretary of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Association Rohitha Indunil said that it was up to the referees union to find people. “The Fixture list was delayed because of the court cases. It was only after a meeting on Tuesday that we were able to finalize the list. We now plan to start the season on April 27/28 and finish on July 15. The sponsors namely Singer is happy with the new format and so are the schools. As for the referees if they do not blow in school matches, how can they referee club matches,” said Indunil.

There were rumours floating around that Royal were not happy about playing Isipatana. Principal of Royal Upali Gunasekera told The Sunday Times: “Let me just say that there are mixed feelings about playing Isipatana. We will probably start the season. But we are not happy about the fact that the rules and regulations have not been given as yet. This in my opinion is very unfair. Furthermore this is the same problem we faced last year.”

Indunil when asked about these issues said: “Royal have not orally or in writing informed us about any objection with regard to playing Isipatana. If there is an issue we would have to look into it. As for the rules and regulations for this year’s tournament, we are having a meeting on Thursday after which we will give a copy of the rules to every single school. We will either fax or deliver it by hand before the 23rd.”

Development Officer for the Schools Association S. W. Chang said that he is happy with the tournament and the fact that it is finally getting under way. He said: “Finally we can start the selection process for the youth world cup. But the Association will have to look into issues such as the time table given that the A Levels are coming up in August, finding grounds etc.”

Meanwhile there are still some concerns over Wesley’s participation in the tournament. And as for whether this same format will be used next year – the answer will only be known following the meeting on Thursday.

Following are the fixtures for Division One – Group 1 and Group 2 scheduled to be played on April 27/28;

Group 1 – St. Peter’s versus St. Anthony’s Kandy in Colombo, Royal versus Wesley in Colombo, Kingswood versus Isipatana in Kandy, S. Thomas’ versus Trinity in Colombo and Ananda versus Thurstan in Colombo.

Group 2 – Zahira versus Vidyartha in Colombo, St. Sylvester’s versus Science College in Kandy, St. Joseph’s versus Mahanama in Colombo, Carey versus St. Aloysius in Colombo and Dharmaraja versus Prince of Wales in Kandy.