Sri Lanka’s premier club rugby tournament is set to undergo a facelift this upcoming season as the national body for rugby in the country, Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) is set to introduce a new playing structure in a bid to make it competitive once again.
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The Dialog Rugby League which is predominantly dominated by Kandy Sports Club who are defending champions for four successive seasons will see its second major development following the overhaul in 2012.
It was in 2012 that the national body changed the calendar for the tournament for the league to align with the national fifteens and sevens setup. Currently, the tournament is played in a two-round league format with 14 weeks of action where the league frontrunner is awarded the prized silverware.
With the proposed format, this year’s tournament will have two more rounds of action with teams competing for the Cup and Plate respectively.
It was in 2012 that the national body changed the calendar for the tournament for the league to align with the national fifteens and sevens setup. Currently, the tournament is played in a two-round league format with 14 weeks of action where the league frontrunner is awarded the prized silverware.
With the proposed format, this year’s tournament will have two more rounds of action with teams competing for the Cup and Plate respectively.
“We have introduced a new format where the top 4 teams will go for a championship round to play for the cup and the bottom 4 will play for the plate” added SLR President Lasitha Gunaratne on the change.
The changes that were passed in the concluded council meeting will see the top four teams in the league after 14 weeks competing for a cup draw qualifying for a semifinal. The teams will play each other according to their rankings and progress to a final to compete for the silverware.
In similar fashion, the bottom four teams will contest for a Plate championship which will keep the competitiveness and the intensity until the final week of play.
The draws for the Cup and Plate will be as follows:
Cup semifinals –
SF 1: League 1 v League 4
SF 2: League 2 v League 3
Cup Final: Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2
Plate semi-finals –
SF 1 – League 5 v League 8
SF 2 – League 6 v League 7
Plate Final: Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2
With overseas players also set to take the field for the bottom tier clubs, the national body anticipates exciting rugby action to unfold when the all-important league kicks off in November this year.
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