After ten weeks of exciting Schools Rugby League action that was followed up by three weeks of Milo Presidential knockouts, Schools Rugby is onto its final lap with the Singer Under 20 Schools Sevens set to kick off this weekend at the Racecourse Grounds.
The Sri Lanka Schools Under 20 Sevens that is one of the three titles on offer in a Schools Rugby season is usually played in early February but with Sri Lanka Rugby’s objective of keeping up with the international calendar, the tournament was set to be played after the conclusion of the XV’s action.
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Thomas’ College led by Naveen Henakankanamage, made a breakthrough in last year’s edition winning it at the Royal Complex. Over the past few years, the sevens title has had various contenders with the unpredictable nature of the game.
Recent Winners:
| 2016 | S. Thomas’ College (Naveen Henakankanamage) |
| 2015 | St. Peter’s College (Kevin Dixon) |
| 2014 | Isipathana College (Senal Deelaka) |
The Racecourse grounds will host the schools rugby’s final festivity as 31 teams will battle head to head on the 1st and 2nd of July. The 31 teams consist of almost all of the rugby playing schools in the country ranging from division ‘A’ to ‘H’.
The competing 31 teams will be divided into eight groups ranging from ‘A’ to ‘H’ and the first day will have the group stage games worked off. The top performer in each group will be promoted to the Cup segment while the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishes will be playing the Plate, Bowl and Shield.
The finalised groupings for the teams for this weekend are as follows taking to note last year’s overall standings:
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia | St. Peter’s College | Trinity College | Royal College |
| St. Joseph’s College | Mahanama College | Vidyartha College | Prince of Wales College |
| Maliyadewa College Kurunegala | Richmond College | Piliyandala Central College | Thurstan College |
| Sri Sumangala College Kandy | St. Benedict’s College | Eheliyagoda MMV | Nalanda College |
| Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
| Wesley College | Science College | St. Anthony’s College | Isipathana College |
| Kingswood College | Dharmaraja College | Zahira College | D. S. Senanayake College |
| Ananda College | St. Sylvester’s College | Lalith Athulathmudali MMV | Lumbini College |
| Royal College Panadura | – | Moratuwa MMV | Mahinda College Galle |
Defending champions S. Thomas’ College will be put in hot water in the group stage itself, with them tied up with the recently crowned President’s trophy winners St. Joseph’s College.
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The Groups B, C & D have silverware-hungry teams of St. Peter’s, Trinity and the league title holders Royal College. Both St. Peter’s and Trinity will want to make the best out of this weekend having finished their fifteens campaign on a rather disappointing note.
Interestingly both Kingswood College and Wesley College are grouped together in Group E and that is set to be an interesting battle since only one of them will qualify for the Cup draw. In similar fashion St. Anthony’s College and Zahira College will have to fight for a cup championship spot in Group G. Both Zahira and St. Anthony’s had good three-quarter lineups and it would be interesting rugby to watch.
Isipathana College meanwhile will have a final shot at silverware for this season as the Chamod Fernando led Green Machines will try to milk their last possible opportunity this weekend.
ThePapare.com will be bringing live action from the second day of the Singer Under 20 Schools Sevens Championships on the 2nd of July 8.00 a.m. onwards.
>>WATCH LIVE : SINGER SCHOOLS RUGBY 7’S <<
