THE Deans trophy is the top prize of the Fiji Secondary Schools Rugby Union (FSSRU) competition.
The competition was introduced in 1939 and is the oldest competitive tournament in Fiji rugby.
It was first won by Queen Victoria School (QVS). Queen Victoria School is also the current defending champions of the Coke Zero Deans trophy.
For the first time in its 74-year history, Ratu Navula College, a school from the Western Division of the main island of Fiji, Viti Levu, had won the coveted trophy in the 2013 FSSRU Deans competition.
Ratu Navula College’s dream team was undefeated from the under-15 in 2010 right up to the U18 in 2013.
QVS has won the trophy 22 times and drawn six times.
QVS won the trophy in the U18 in 2011 when the decision was made to lower the competition from U19 to the U18.
The QVS dream team retained the trophy in 2012 undefeated from U14 in 2008 to U18 in 2012.
Lelean Memorial School (LMS), has won the trophy 14 times and drawn five times.
Lelean first won the trophy in 1944. LMS has won the most times in the 2000 to 2010 decade. Lelean last won the Deans in 2014.
Ratu Kadavulevu School (RKS) has won the trophy 20 times and drawn 5 times. RKS first won the trophy in 1961. RKS holds the record for the longest defence of the trophy from 1980 to 1985. RKS again won the trophy in 2015 after a lapse of 10 years since sharing with Suva Grammar School in 2005.
Marist Brothers High School has won the trophy on four occasions and drawn twice. They first won in 1965. Their U18 dream team was unfortunate to lose out narrowly to RKS in 2015.
Latter Day Saints (LDS) College, Nasinu Teachers’ College, Navuso Agricultural College and SGS have each won the trophy once. SGS also drew with RKS in 2005.
The original trophy was donated by the Maori All Blacks team that toured Fiji in 1938 to be competed for by the secondary schools of Fiji. It is now kept at the Fiji Museum in Suva.
In 2000, Post Fiji Ltd became official sponsors of Fiji secondary schools’ rugby and a new trophy was unveiled. This trophy was first won by Lelean Memorial School (LMS) in 2000.
SGS led by Josefa Maitiro won the trophy for the first time in their school’s history in 2001.
RKS won the trophy in 2002 and QVS in 2003. In 2004 this trophy was shared between QVS and LMS for the last time.
In 2005, there was no sponsor for the FSSRU and a wooden replica of the original trophy was made. This trophy was shared between SGS and RKS in 2005. The Lelean Memorial School (LMS) dream team won it in 2006.
This LMS dream team was undefeated from the U15 grade in 2002 until the U19 grade in 2006.
In 2007, QVS won this trophy for the last time and it coincided with their 100 years Centennial Celebrations that year.
In 2008, the Coca-Cola (Amatil) company became the official sponsors of Fiji secondary schools’ rugby and donated a fiberglass replica of the original trophy.
Lelean was the first school to win the new sponsored trophy and won it on consecutive years in 2009 and 2010.
Lelean had by that time opened a rugby academy and was bearing the fruits of it. The QVS U19 team failed to qualify for the national quarter-finals and they also refused to play in the tier two competition.
As a consequence, the QVS U19 was to be banned from the competition in 2011.
At the end of that year, the FSSRU decided to move the competition one age group lower to the U18 grade in the following year 2011.
QVS won this trophy in 2011 and 2012. Ratu Navula College won it in 2013, and LMS won it in 2014. In 2015, RKS won it after a tense final with the Marist Brothers High School dream team. In 2016 QVS won it in come from behind victory over favourites MBHS. Also that year QVS was badly damaged by Cyclone Winston and all its students had to attend other schools throughout Fiji whilst repairs and maintenance were done on QVS.
The Deans trophy records are as follows:
1939-QVS (Queen Victoria School), 1940-QVS, 1941-QVS, 1942-QVS, 1943-QVS, 1944-LMS (Lelean Memorial School), 1945-PSS (Provincial School Southern – later to be moved to Lodoni, Tailevu and renamed Ratu Kadavulevu School, RKS), 1946-PSS, 1947-QVS, 1948-LMS, 1950-LMS/NTC (Nasinu Teachers’ College), 1951-LMS, 1952-LMS/QVS, 1953-QVS, 1954-LMS/QVS, 1955-LMS, 1956-QVS, 1957-QVS, 1958-NO COMPETITION (Due an epidemic that had struck Fiji in that year), 1959-LMS, 1960-LMS, 1961-RKS, 1962-RKS, 1963-RKS/QVS, 1964-RKS, 1965-MBHS, 1966-QVS, 1967-NAS (Navuso Agricultural School), 1968-QVS, 1969-MBHS (Marist Brothers High School), 1970-QVS, 1971-RKS, 1972-LMS/MBHS, 1973-RKS, 1974-QVS, 1975-RKS, 1976-MBHS, 1977-MBHS, 1978-RKS/MBHS, 1979-LMS, 1980-RKS, 1981-RKS, 1982-RKS, 1983-RKS, 1984-RKS, 1985-RKS, 1986-LDS (Latter Day Saints College), 1987-RKS, 1988-RKS, 1989-RKS/QVS, 1990-RKS/QVS, 1991-RKS, 1992-RKS, 1993-RKS, 1994-LMS, 1995-RKS, 1996-QVS, 1997-QVS, 1998-QVS, 1999-QVS, 2000-LMS, 2001 – SGS (Suva Grammar School), 2002 – RKS, 2003 – QVS, 2004 – QVS/LMS, 2005 – RKS/SGS, 2006 – LMS, 2007 – QVS, 2008 – LMS, 2009 – LMS, 2010 – LMS, 2011 – QVS, 2012 – QVS, 2013 – RNC (Ratu Navula College), 2014 – LMS, 2015 – RKS, 2016 – QVS.
