The tournament moved from seeded pools to a traditional round-robin this season.
That shift was always going to leave the co-educational sides more exposed.
That was evident on Saturday. Southland Boys' High School thrashed St Kevin's College 90-3, King's High School dealt to Dunstan High School 73-12 and Otago Boys' High School Second XV pumped South Otago High School 55-0 as well.
But perhaps the most surprising result was the rematch of last year's final between two of the better single-sex schools.
Otago Boys' First XV crushed John McGlashan College 65-7.
Otago Secondary Schools Rugby Council chairman Greg Heller acknowledged it was not ideal to have such one-sided encounters.
But he also defended the competition and said it was too early to rush to conclusions.
''From the chairman's point of view, I tend to focus more on the positives than on the negatives,'' he said.
''Our schools said they wanted to have the opportunity to play everyone because that made the competition equitable.
''By having seeded pools last year we were attempting to minimise those blowouts. But in the course of doing that, it may have prevented a school or two from reaching the top position that they could reach.
''By allowing the schools to play each other you take away that element of inequity. But with that comes a different set of challenges, I guess.''
Heller said the competition would be reviewed at the end of the year. But he added the 2019 tournament was just three weeks old and suggested it was premature to ''push the panic button''.
''We've got to let things play out. We know there is a growing gap between the boys' schools and the co-eds are really battling for their survival.
''But your St Kevin's, your South Otagos, your Dunstans and those schools with proud rugby traditions will say that the only way they perceive that they can get better is by playing the best.
''If we start tinkering too much, then I think we absolutely risk the demise of co-ed rugby.
''Once you start saying to a boys' school you are too good for this competition, you need to go elsewhere - then is that going to pull away aspirational players from the co-ed schools?''
The formation of the Combined Co-Eds team this season was an attempt to keep the rugby pathway alive for pupils at co-educational schools.
Heller has not ruled out a switch to a two-tier setup with, possibly, a promotion-relegation match. But any change would have to be driven by the schools.
The cyclical nature of First XV rugby was another factor to consider. School teams can be a lot stronger one year than the next.
Heller believes Otago Boys' is a much better side than it has been for the past four or five years. That is exacerbating the gap.
''I honestly think they are very well coached and they are now playing a 15-man ... game. They are still very strong up front but they have moved away from kick to the corners, rolling mauls and lineout drives which characterised their play.''
They could come unstuck today, though. They play Southland Boys' in Invercargill. The match is live on Sky Sport 1, kicking off at 1pm.