ORGANISERS of the Suva Kaji Rugby Association competition have named a few teams as their top bets to reach the eliminations rounds without much trouble.
Association president Michael Koroi said Veiuto Primary School (VPS), Marist Brothers Primary School (MBPS), Suva Methodist School (SMS), St Agnes Primary School and Draiba Fijian Primary Schools were the outstanding teams in the 2012 competition.
He said all grades of those schools had performed consistently over the past four rounds.
Six rounds of competition remain before the eliminations.
Koroi said this year's competition was a little ‘slack' compared to last year but he was hoping it would improve in the next few rounds.
"This year, the boys are not playing as good as they did last year," he said. "I think this is because of the postponements we had to be in the first few rounds because of bad weather conditions.
"Boys are struggling to lift their competition which has become a bit slack but I am hoping it improves soon and we hope for good weather too so that we can play every weekend from now on."
The association has helped improve the profile of a few young referees in the Suva Rugby Referees Association by allowing them to officiate at kaji competition.
Among the referees is a i-taukei of Indian descent aiming to make a name for himself in the sport.
Krishneel Chand, 22, of Nadi had been officiating for the past two years and is keen on furthering his career.
"From when I was young, I was into rugby and to learn more I took up refereeing and I am loving it," Chand said.
Main challenge matches results: Rauluni (U-9): SMS 14 - 0 JWPS; Vulakoro (U-10): MBPS 7 - 0 VPS; Vanua (U-11): CMF 7 - 0 JWPS; Gideon (U-11): SPS 7 - 0 MPS; Laucala (U-12): MBPS 0 - 7 VPS; Kavetani (U-13): VPS 13 - 0 MBPS; Tamani (U-14): VPS 36 - 0 CMF.