The Singer Schools’ Rugby League 2018 that kicked off last week will have a new points table in place as the tournament aligns itself with World Rugby’s Under 19 law regulations.
Several changes are in place for Sri Lanka’s premier schools sports tournament with the governing body, the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) making a major change in the structure to align it to the under 19 regulations prescribed by World Rugby.
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Along with the World Rugby standard, the SLSRFA will cease to use their old league points awarding system and will follow the standard league points awarding method in place around the world.
The new league points table system will see the following changes
| Old Rule | New Rule |
| 5 points awarded to the winning team of the match | 5 points awarded to the winning team of the match |
| 1 Point awarded to the losing team of the match | 0 points will be awarded to the losing team of the match |
| 3 points awarded to both teams for a draw | 3 points awarded to both teams for a draw |
| 0.5 Bonus Point will be awarded if either of the two teams score 4 or more tries | 1 Bonus Point will be awarded if either of the two teams score 4 or more tries |
| 0.5 Bonus Point will be awarded to the losing team if the difference between the two team’s scores are 7 or below | 1 Bonus Point will be awarded to the losing team if the difference between the two team’s scores are 7 or below |
| 0.5 Bonus Point will be awarded if the losing team has scored more tries than the winning team | No Bonus point awarded if the losing team has scored more tries than the winning team |
| Standings calculated on Points Average | Standings calculated on Total Points |
This regulation eases out the differences that occurred in the last few seasons and will create transparency in the system. If there are two teams with equal points, the following will apply with regard to who will go ahead on the standings:
• The winner of the game between the two teams
If this does not produce a result then:
• Best differential between total points scored for and total points scored against
If this does not produce a result then:
• Best differential between total tries scored for and against
If this does not produce a result then:
• Most tries scored
No match points will be awarded to a team which has been expelled from the tournament, which has refused play a match or abandons a match in progress, without direction of the Match Commissioner or Chairman Tournament Committee.
In the event of a team being expelled from a league due to disciplinary reasons or otherwise, the points of the respective team will be null and void. The points that the opposition players collected from the outcome of the game with the team expelled, will be removed from their league totals.
This occurred in 2012 when Vidyartha College were expelled from the top division for fielding illegal players and their points were deemed invalid.
ThePapare’s Stat Centre will bring you the Points Table exclusively: Points Table | Schools Rugby League 2018
Cup Championship
ThePapare Leaderboard – Top Try and Points Scorers Schools Rugby
After the conclusion of the 1st round of games, the top four teams in each Division I ‘A’ group (Division IA and Division IIA) will play in the Cup championship. At the conclusion of the 1st round, each team will complete 5 games with the teams in their group and then play the 4 teams in the other group.
In total, the teams partaking in the Cup will play 9 games.
Promotion and Relegation
The bottom four teams will be given another lease of life to stay in the top division with the introduction of the Plate Championship.
The bottom two teams of both groups, will then be grouped thereon with the top two teams of the Division ‘B’ groups (Group IB and Group IIB) to play for the Plate.
Here, the bottom two teams in Division IA (IA 5 & IA 6) will carry forward only the points that they scored in the game between each other. It will be a similar case in Division IA, IB and IIB.
Prior to the kick-off of the Plate Championship, all teams will have carried forward points of one game.
In this second tier competition, each of the Group I teams (IA5, IA6, IB 1 & IB 2) will play the Group II teams (IIA 5, IIA 6, IIB 1 & IIB 2) at the conclusion of which, each team will have league points for 5 games.
At the conclusion of the 5 weeks in the Plate championship, the top four teams in the competition will occupy the 9-12 positions in next year’s Division ‘A’.
Division C & Division II Promotion
However, the above does not apply for the teams that are looking for promotion from Division C and in the Division II segment. Only two teams will be promoted from Division ‘C’ to ‘B’ each year and that is judged on the 1st round results after playing 5 games. One team from each Division IC and IIC will play in the Division B in the following year.
President’s Knockout Trophy
The Knockout trophy that is played after the conclusion of the Schools’ Rugby League will be a knockout tournament with a total of 8 teams participating. The top 6 teams in the Cup competition will gain entry to the draw while the other two will be the best performers of the Plate championship.
The quarterfinal draw for the Presidents’ Trophy will be as follows:
| Match | |
| QF 1 | Cup (1) v Plate (2) |
| QF 2 | Cup (2) v Plate (1) |
| QF 3 | Cup (3) v Cup (6) |
| QF 4 | Cup (4) v Cup (5) |
| SF 1 | Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2 |
| SF 2 | Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4 |
| Final | Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2 |
The Knockout Trophy will kick off on the 9th of June 2018.
