After surviving seven years in the Singer Schools Rugby Division ‘A’, Science College has been shown the door as they together with new entrants Prince of Wales College will play in the ‘B’ Division in the next season.

Exhilarating finish to eleven-weeks of Schools Rugby action

There couldn’t have been a better finish for the eleven week School Rugby LeaguE…

The Singer Schools Rugby League that ended a fortnight back saw Royal College winning the Cup championship. At the end of the first round of action, four teams initially dropped down to the Plate segment. The league that kicked off initially with 13 teams later was downsized to eight at the conclusion of first round action.

Read about the inclusion of the 13th team in the Schools Rugby League

The first round was worked out in a group format and the lower three teams from group ‘IA’ and two teams from ‘IIA’ were found demoted to the plate championship having the lowest average in their respective groups.

Read also: Schools Rugby: A number game to decide the Plate title

Dharmaraja College, St. Anthony’s College & D. S. Senanayake College were the three schools that were demoted from IA while it was Prince of Wales Moratuwa & Science College who was sent down from group IIA.

The lower three finishes in the first round of  IA
The lower three finishes in the first round of  IA
Science and Prince of Wales were the two teams that finished last in the group IIA
Science and Prince of Wales were the two teams that finished last in the group IIA

The five teams that were demoted were joined by Kingswood College, Vidyartha College & Lumbini College who were the top performers in the division ‘B’ to compete for the Plate Championship. After four weeks of head to head action, it was St. Anthony’s College Katugastota who emerged victorious in winning the silverware which proved to be a consolation for their efforts this season.

>> Learn how the Plate Championship worked out

The finalised Plate points table as at 29th May 2017 is as follows:

ThePapare Stats Centre 2017

Accordingly, the four teams that will be eyeing the top division next year will be St. Anthony’s, Dharmaraja, Kingswood and D. Senanayake. Science College Mount Lavinia that came into the ‘A’ division in the year 2011, consolidate their position in the top tier for seven long seasons. But with only one win in the first round and another in the plate championship against Lumbini College did not help their cause to stay within the top four.

Science only won against Prince of Wales in the first round
Science only won against Prince of Wales in the first round

Science College had built their reputation as the underdogs who rattled the Singer ‘A’ division where the team in this span of seven years also went on to win the President’s knock-out trophy under the leadership of Lasindu Ishan in 2015 defeating Omalka Gunarathne led Isipathana.

A season to forget for Prince of Wales
A season to forget for Prince of Wales

In contrast, Prince of Wales had a season that had many questioning their existence in the top division. Their first round games were all one-sided fixtures where their opponents massacred the Cambrians. Their first round game scores read 0-57, 10-28, 3-69, 12-64, 9-94.

However, the lads from Moratuwa put up a satisfactory performance in the Plate but that effort did not win them any matches. Having played 9 games in total this season, Prince of Wales were not fortunate of winning a single one. They will therefore take the 8th position in the points table with a score average of 1.

Prince of Wales College Moratuwa will be playing in the B Division next season
Prince of Wales College Moratuwa will be playing in the B Division next season

Prince of Wale’s performance in the top division is like what happened in 2010 when they last entered the top division. They finished winless getting a beating from all the other teams in the division.

Kingswood back to Division ‘A

Kingswood will be playing 'A' Division rugby next season
Kingswood will be playing ‘A’ Division rugby next season

After a disappointing performance last season that resulted in Kingswood College pushed to the lower division, the Kings will be back in the competitive stage next season. Having played four matches in the group, the Kingswoodians only lost one, placing them in the third spot on the table with an average 4.375.

Although they missed out on the silverware, the Kingswoodians should be pleased with their objective of promotion fulfilled.

Read More: Chandrarathne late-try secures Kingswood thrilling win

The ‘A’ Division groups for 2018:

Group IA Group IIA
Royal College Isipathana College
Trinity College Wesley College
St. Joseph’s College St. Peter’s College
S. Thomas’ College Zahira College
St. Anthony’s College Dharmaraja College
Kingswood College D. S. Senanayake College

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