Team to be Chosen for Wildeklawer
Under-19 players from 13 Western Cape schools will receive the rare opportunity to compete for places in a Coca-Cola Schools of Excellence team participating in the Wildeklawer Super Schools tournament when they meet in the Coca-Cola Schools of Excellence Rugby Day in Paarl on Saturday, 29 March 2014.
The rugby day will form part of the Boland Summer Festival hosted at the Dal Josaphat Stadium, and will include teams from Weltevrede, George, Bridgeton, Scottsdene, Klein Nederburg, Bellville South, New Orleans, Weston, Kairos, Kasselsvlei, Schoonspruit, Excelsior and Bergrivier High Schools.
A Boland Invitational XV will also participate in the rugby day to make up a full complement of 14 teams, meaning each side plays one match.
A Western Cape Coca-Cola Schools of Excellence squad of 30 players will be selected by the national and schools selectors following the day’s play, with the squad set to participate in a training camp from April 17 to 21.
This squad will be reduced to 23 players for the Wildeklawer Super Schools tournament on April 28 and 29 in Kimberley.
South African Rugby Union (SARU) CEO Jurie Roux was excited about this initiative and said: “Competition is a key aspect of development, and this initiative will enable SARU to expose the best players from the Coca-Cola schools of excellence programme to a tournament regarded as one of the fiercest and most competitive in schools rugby.
“Further the opportunity to participate in the Wildeklawer Super Schools tournament allows our provincial scouts and national selectors to cast their net much wider in identifying talented black players who can potentially progress to higher levels.”
Roux added that the initiative was aligned with government’s National Sport and Recreation Plan, which ensures the inclusion of non-traditional rugby playing schools and schools from disadvantaged areas in SARU’s development and high performance programmes.
The Coca-Cola Schools of Excellence programme is currently in its third year of operation and includes 30 schools countrywide. Since the inception of the programme each participating school has received a mobile gym to ensure that the players have the necessary facilities and equipment, while the teachers and coaches have been trained on how to use the equipment and to assist the players improve their conditioning.
The school coaches have also had access to specialist training by the SARU Mobi-Unit to improve the players’ skills.
Coca-Cola Schools of Excellence Rugby Day Fixtures
09.00: Weltevrede vs George
10.10: Boland Invitational XV vs Bridgeton
11.20: Scottsdene vs Klein Nederburg
12.30: Bellville South vs New Orleans
13.40: Weston vs Kairos
14.50: Kasselsvlei vs Schoonspruit
16.00: Excelsior vs Bergrivier
Issued by SARU Corporate Affairs
