The school announced its decision on Friday, saying the costs and expertise required to run a successful program proved prohibitive for the College going forward.

Headmaster John Crowley said the decision was made with much heartache.

He said the safety and wellbeing of students, in terms of both supervision and guidance, must be the number one priority.

"This is a sad day for the College as the sport of rugby has been an integral part of St Patrick's for many families over many years," he said said.

"The challenge of providing experienced, knowledgeable and available coaching and supervising staff for a weekend competition has proven insurmountable.

"While we have invested heavily in promoting rugby to the Ballarat community, there simply are not enough junior players in the city, nor qualified coaches, to permit the program to continue into next year.

"We will be encouraging all our current players to continue pursuing their passion for the sport at club level."

For decades, St Patrick's College was the only Ballarat school which fielded a competitive rugby team in the Victorian Schools Rugby Union (VSRU) competition.

It was the only sport the college played competitively outside the Ballarat Associated Schools sports competition.

"We will continue to take enormous pride in following the careers of several prominent alumni who are now forging professional rugby careers," Crowley said.