SA Rugby reveals match schedule for U18 Craven Week

NEWS: South Africa’s leading schoolboys will be in action at the Under-18 Craven Week tournament at Hoërskool Middelburg in Mpumalanga, starting on Monday with the final day scheduled for next Saturday.

The final instalment of SA Rugby’s 2025 Youth Weeks programme will run from Monday 7 to Saturday 12 July, with 16 teams competing across the matches played 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).

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 09.30 local time.

Free State, who went down to Western Province in the final match of the 2024 tournament, will face South Western Districts thereafter.

The U18 Craven Week Opening Ceremony at 14.00 will be followed by a clash between the Pumas – the hosts of this year’s tournament – and the Limpopo Blue Bulls.

Western Province, who finished last year’s tournament unbeaten, will be in action on Tuesday, along with the Leopards, Falcons, Border, Griquas, Sharks High Schools, Eastern Province and Boland.

U18 Craven Week Day One schedule (Monday, 7 July – all times local):

09.30: Western Province XV v Griffons
11.00: Free State v South Western Districts
12.30: Blue Bulls v Golden Lions
14.00: Opening Ceremony
14.30: Pumas v Limpopo Blue Bulls

U18 Craven Week Day Two schedule (Tuesday, 8 July):

10.00: Leopards v Falcons
11.30: Border v Griquas
13.00: Sharks High Schools v Eastern Province
14.30: Western Province v Boland