The Milo President's Trophy is an annual school

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

u/20 rugby tournament in Sri Lanka. The tournament was first staged in 1985 when it was known as the Premadasa Trophy, named after

Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa''; ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was a Sri Lankan politician and statesman who served as the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 unt ...

(the then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

). The tournament involves the top seven school teams in the Division 1A Group and the winner of the Division 1B Group. In 2007 the tournament was expanded to include the Premier Trophy and in 2008 the Chairman's Trophy, to provide more school teams with the opportunity to compete at the same level. In 2009 it was renamed as the Milo Trophy after two years it returned to its original name as the Milo President's Trophy. In 2010 the scheduled final was suspended at the last minute by the authorities due to a court order issued by Isipathana College. The two teams, St. Peter's College and

Royal College Medical royal college, In the United Kingdom, some Commonwealth realms and Ireland, a professional body responsible for the development of and training in one or more medical specialties. Royal College may also refer to: Places * Royal College S ...

, however still played albeit as a friendly encounter, with St Peter's College winning 29–27. After two years, the court case was dismissed and the two schools were jointly awarded the Trophy. In 2015 it was contested by only six sides,

(2015 league champions),

Isipathana College Isipathana College(Sinhala language, Sinhala: ඉසිපතන විද්‍යාලය) previously known as Greenlands College. Isipathana College is a National school (Sri Lanka), national school for boys in Colombo, Western Province, Sri ...

(league runner-up),

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

(third seed),

Science College Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme (abolished in 2011) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathem ...

(fourth seed), St. Peter's College (fifth seed) and D. S. Senanayake College, after injuries decimated the league's sixth-placed finisher St. Joseph's College, league plate champions Wesley College and plate runner-up St. Anthony's. The President's Trophy was won by

for the first time, who defeated

21–18 in the final. Lalith Athulathmudali College won the Premier Trophy defeating

Mahanama College Mahanama College is a Buddhist boys' school in Colombo, Sri Lanka, established in 1954. As a public, national school, it is controlled by the central government, not a provincial council. It provides both primary and secondary education. Coll ...

17–14 and in the Chairman's Trophy, St. Thomas' College, Matale, defeated Carey College, Colombo 7–0 in the final. The competition in 2016 was essentially only contested by seven teams, with defending champions Science College withdrawing from the tournament due to financial issues, Trinity College deciding not to participate and the 2015 league plate champions St. Joseph's College pulling out due to injuries. D. S. Senanayake College who finished fourth in the league plate and twelfth in the league were scheduled to play due to Trinity College's withdrawal, however, they opted not to compete claiming that they have not had enough time to prepare for the tournament. The final was scheduled to be played on 9 July at the Royal Sports Complex but Isipathana lodged a protest insisting that Royal College would have a home ground advantage. The final was then rescheduled to be played at the

Colombo Racecourse Colombo Racecourse () is a historical harness racing course in the Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo. During the Second World War, it was used as a temporary airfield. In 2012, it was redeveloped as the Colombo Racecourse Sports Complex to become the f ...

on 16 July however Isipathana objected as it would interfere with preparations for the national under-18s tour of Hong Kong. Both sides subsequently agreed to play the final on 13 July, where Isipathana College regained the President's Trophy by defeating Royal College 47–12.

Thurstan College Thurstan College () is a national school for boys in Colombo, Western Province, Sri Lanka, providing primary and secondary education. It is located in the Cinnamon Gardens neighbourhood of Colombo 7 near the University of Colombo and the Roya ...

collected the Premier Trophy by successfully defeating

St. John's College, Nugegoda St. John's College, started in 1915 and is the only boys' school in Nugegoda, Sri Lanka. It contains two primary sections and upper school. Nugegoda had no English School until 1915. St. John's School commenced with 14 pupils on 5 May 1915. In 19 ...

15–5, and St. Thomas' College, Matale won the Chairman's Trophy by beating Vidyaloka Maha Vidyalaya, Galle, 57 to nil. In 2017 the tournament was contested amongst seven schools being Dharmaraja College, Wesley College, St. Joseph's College, Trinity College, St. Peter's College, Isipathana College and St. Anthony's College. The school's league champions, Royal College, pulling out of the event due to injury concerns. The quarterfinals were held at

Sugathadasa Stadium Sugathadasa Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is currently used for football (soccer), football, Rugby union, rugby union, and Athletics in Jamaica, athletics. The stadium holds 25,000 people and has an on-site hotel. ...

between 9 and 11 June 2017. The semi-finals were held on 17 and 18 June at the

and the finals were on the 24 June at the same venue. Playing in their first-ever major rugby final St. Joseph's College clinched their maiden Milo President's Trophy by beating Isipathana College by 19–13. The Milo Premier's Trophy was held on 23 June 2017 at Sugathadasa Stadium, where

Maliyadeva College Maliyadeva College () is a national school controlled by the Sri Lankan central government. It is located in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka, and was established in 1888 by the Buddhist Theosophical Society, led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. It is on ...

defeated

Ananda College Ananda College () is a Prestigious Buddhist school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is often known as "The Pinnacle of buddhist education " It is the largest national Buddhist school for boys in Sri Lanka, with a student population exceeding 8000 ac ...

22–20. The final for the Chairman's Trophy was held earlier the same day, with St. Anne's College,

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

beating Carey College, Colombo 15–12.

Past winners

Total wins

Isipathana College are the most successful schools rugby team having won the knockout tournament a total of ten times, including three wins whilst it was still the Prime Minister's Trophy (1985–95) and have been the runner up twelve times. St. Peter's College has won the trophy eight times (1995, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 where it was joint champions with Royal College, 2018, 2019 and 2023). S Thomas' College are the next most successful school having won the trophy five times (1989, 1990, 1991, 1994 and 2009). Kingswood College has won it four times in (2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005), with Royal College winning it three times (1988, 2002 and 2010 joint champions with St. Peter's College) along with Trinity College (1987, 1993 and 2011). Four teams have won it just once Thurstan College (1998), Wesley College (2013), Science College (2015) and St. Josephs' College (2017). Ananda College have been runners-up four times (1985, 1991, 1992 and 1999) but have yet to win the trophy. * ‡ Shared

References

{{Rugby union in Sri Lanka Domestic rugby union competitions in Sri Lanka Rugby union trophies and awards https://www.thepapare.com/the-all-time-winners-of-the-presidents-trophy/