The Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union Association is looking at beginning the U18 Deans competition late Term 1 to accommodate more game time for the players.
This was revealed by the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union Association President Jone Kanalagi while making a presentation at the Fiji Rugby Union 2025 Symposium this morning.
He says the difference between our school boys and Australian and New Zealand school boys is that they have a lot of game time.
Kanalagi says they play more than 30 games a season compared to our school boys who are limited to only 14 weeks.
He says the more game time for our players, the better it will be for them as they progress up through the pathways available at Fiji Rugby.
Kanalagi also highlighted the challenges they faced due to availability of proper grounds.
He says some schools don't have proper grounds to prepare on such as Nasinu Secondary School, and what Nasinu Secondary did by reaching the final of the U18 Deans, shows their resilience.
He also says that lack of proper grounds was the reason they had two grounds for the Deans quarter finals.
Kanalagi says around 12,000 students participated in the Deans and Raluve competition this year.
The Association President revealed that they have scrapped the Secondary Schools 7s competition because of the lack of funding.
He says it is costly to organise a 7s competition and if they find a sponsor for this competition, they can hold the competition again.
He adds the 7s competition usually marks the beginning of the Secondary Schools Rugby competition. The Association President also highlighted the need for a bigger stadium so what happened last week cannot be repeated.
When asked if they are looking at including indo-Fijian rugby competition, the Association President says they will take this on board.
Meanwhile, Association Vice President Biu Colati says they are hoping to increase school participation from 60 percent to 80 percent.
The FRU 2025 Symposium will end on Friday.
