Schools League to kick off from June 14
The much anticipated sport event of the year, the schools rugby season, will kick off within a fortnight with the country’s top 16 schools vying for the Dialog Schools Rugby League 2024 from June 14. A total of 84 teams are expected to compete across three divisions, but all eyes will be on the elite Division I Segment ‘A’, where the top 16 teams are set to clash each other for the ultimate plum.
Current title holders, St. Peter’s College, who earned a double crown with the win of last season’s Knockout title as well, will definitely have stiff competition against other contenders, who will be eager to take hold of the title. The Peterites will stage off their title defence campaign on June 15 at Bambalapitiya, against newcomers to the top tier, Thurstan College. However, the curtain raiser of the seven-week action packed schools rugby calendar will take place on June 14, with the clash between top favourites Isipathana College and debutants Sri Sumangala College, Kandy at Havelock Park.
The top division has been divided into two groups that comprise eight teams each, where each team will play seven games against other group rivals. The Group IA includes Isipathana, St. Anthony’s Katugastota, D.S. Senanayake, Trinity, S. Thomas’, Dharmaraja, Science and Sri Sumangala Kandy. The Group 2A comprises of defending champions St. Peter’s, Royal, Zahira, St. Joseph’s, Vidyartha, Wesley, Kingswood and Thurstan.
(From left): Nirodha Wijerama (All-Tournament Secretary, SLSRFA), Manuja Nimmana (Secretary, SLSRFA), Kamal Ariyasinghe (President, Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association), Dr. Susil Premajayantha (Minister of Education), Lasantha Theverapperuma (Group Chief Marketing Officer, Dialog Axiata PLC), Harin Fernando (Minister of Tourism and Lands and Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs), Harsha Samaranayake (Vice President, Brand and Media, Dialog Axiata PLC), Pubudu Aluthgedara (Senior General Manager, Head of Business Media and Content, Dialog Axiata PLC) and Prashan Costa (Senior Manager, Marketing Operations, Dialog Axiata PLC) at the launch of the schools rugby season
Besides the annual season’s main attraction, the Division I Segment ‘A’, 26 schools will compete in Division I Segment ‘B’ and ‘C’, while 42 schools will compete under Division 2 and Division 3, with 12 and 30 teams slotted in each division, aiming to secure top positions in their respective groups.
The launch of this year’s Dialog Schools Rugby League 2024 took place earlier this week at the Duncan White Auditorium of the Ministry of Sports, under the patronage of the Minister of Education, Dr. Susil Premajayantha and Minister of Sports, Harin Fernando. Officials of the main sponsor, Dialog Axiata, and the organisers, Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association, as well as captains and team officials of each competing school, participated at the event, where the trophy was unveiled.
“Engaging in extracurricular activities is crucial for developing schoolchildren’s personalities and in promoting healthy habits. We should commend Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and its officials for organising this event, which helps develop a generation of healthy individuals. It’s no secret that this is the most popular and followed sporting event of Sri Lanka and it has also gained world recognition, and the Ministry of Education is thrilled to have such an event coming under its authority,” stated the Minister of Education, Dr. Susil Premajayantha.
Sports Minister Harin Fernando, who also graced the occasion, emphasised that he was overwhelmed by the ever increasing number of schoolchildren engaged into rugby. Pointing out the importance of being a rugby player, who is famously termed as a gentleman engaged in a hooligan’s sport, Fernando stretched out his vision of providing playing facilities to see the sport reach more areas.
“We have earmarked 11 sports facilities, which includes all – a playing field, indoors as well as a swimming pool. They are on the verge of being put under the control of the Sugathadasa Sports Complex Authority, and from there we will look at developing these 11 venues with potential sponsors, so schools too can benefit immensely. This is the Sports Ministry’s idea of helping rugby reach greater heights,” Fernando said.
The schools rugby season, which begins from June 14, will run up to July 28 without a break, with a Super Round scheduled among the top two teams from each group advancing to the next level. Kamal Ariyasinghe, the President of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA), revealed that the plan is to stage the Super Round games at neutral venues, but a decision is yet to be made.
“We all know that this is the most followed and popular sport event of the country, and every sport-lover keenly follow the entire tournament for its quality. The decision to play the Super Round games at neutral venues was suggested after SLSRFA received several complaints and protests from aggrieved parties, who highlighted about home advantage to certain teams. And there were certain other issues that were brought up. We will come to a decision on this very soon,” Ariyasinghe, also the Principal of Dharmaraja College, stated.
Last season, St. Peter’s College emerged champions, triumphing in both the Dialog Schools Rugby League and the Dialog Schools Rugby Knockout Tournament, defeating Isipathana College in both finals. This season St. Peter’s, Isipathana, Royal, St. Anthony’s, St. Joseph’s College, S. Thomas’ and Trinity are tipped to be strong contenders for the title.