South Africa’s leading schoolboys will be in action at the U18 Craven Week at Hoërskool Middelburg in Mpumalanga, starting on Monday.
The final instalment of SA Rugby’s 2025 Youth Weeks programme sees 16 teams competing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
At the conclusion of the tournament, the SA Schools and SA Schools A teams will be announced. They will face each other at Hoërskool Middelburg on Thursday, 17 July, while the U18 International Series will follow in August.
Nine players who featured in the SA Schools and SA U18 teams last year have been included in their provincial squads again. They are Josh Neill, Markus Muller, Briint Davids, Jordan Jooste (all WP), Ethan Adams, AJ Meyer (both Free State), Zekhe Siyaya (KZN), André Poulton (Lions) and Joshua McKenzie (EP).
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Eight teams are in action on the opening day of the tournament, with the Western Province XV and the Griffons meeting in the first fixture at 9.30am.
Free State, who went down to Western Province in the final match of the 2024 tournament, will then face South Western Districts.
The U18 Craven Week opening ceremony at 2pm will be followed by a clash between the Pumas – the hosts of this year’s tournament – and the Limpopo Blue Bulls.
WP, who finished last year’s tournament unbeaten, will be in action on Tuesday, along with the Leopards, Valke, Border, Griquas, Sharks, Eastern Province and Boland.
All matches will be broadcast by SuperSport.
U18 Craven Week fixtures:
Monday, 7 July
9.30am: Western Province XV vs Griffons
11.00am: Free State vs South Western Districts
12.30pm: Blue Bulls vs Golden Lions
2.30pm: Pumas vs Limpopo Blue Bulls
Tuesday, 8 July
10.00am: Leopards vs Valke
11.30am: Border vs Griquas
1pm: Sharks vs Eastern Province
2.30pm: Western Province vs Boland
Image: Thys Lombard
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