Schools Rankings - The final top 10

SPOTLIGHT: On Saturday, Hoërskool Monument cemented its place in Northvaal schoolboy rugby history, claiming an 11th Virseker Noordvaal Cup in the prestigious Premier Division.

The famous trophy has worn several names over the years – the Administrators Cup, Directors Trophy and Beeld Trophy – but its significance has remained unchanged. It is one of the most coveted prizes in northern schoolboy rugby.

And on Saturday, there was never much doubt about where the silverware was heading.

From the opening whistle at their home fortress, The Ras van Rooyen, the Wit Bulle made their intentions abundantly clear: this was their cup, and they had no intention of allowing anyone to take it away from them.

Waterkloof fought bravely, but falling 21-0 behind was always going to make the mountain exceptionally steep to climb, particularly against a Monument side that has shown throughout the season why they are regarded as one of the country’s leading schoolboy rugby teams.

There had been plenty of discussion during the week that Waterkloof may have played their final the previous weekend, when they produced a famous victory over Garsfontein. The question was whether the Kloof boys could summon another monumental performance just seven days later.

They could not quite repeat the magic – but they certainly did themselves proud.

Waterkloof enjoyed an outstanding season and can hold their heads high after finishing 9th in Rugby365’s official final national First XV rankings.

For Monument, however, this was their day.

The boys from Krugersdorp eventually ran out 52-22 winners, scoring eight unanswered tries in a dominant second-half display to underline their superiority and secure another chapter in the proud history of the Wit Bulle.

Monument finish the season 8th in Rugby365’s official final national rankings, while the Noordvaal Cup once again returns to the Ras van Rooyen.

Noordvaal Plate and Shield

There was also plenty of action elsewhere in the Noordvaal competition.

In the Virseker Noordvaal Plate Division, Zwartkop produced an impressive 41-22 victory over Nelspruit’s Rhinos, finishing the season with a 26th-place position in Rugby365’s final national rankings.

In the Shield Division, Pietersburg finished their campaign on a high, defeating Marais Viljoen 53-24 in the final.

Elsewhere In the Southern Suburbs derby, SACS defeated Wynberg 44-29, securing a place inside the national Top 30 in Rugby365’s final rankings.

Meanwhile, Rondebosch claimed bragging rights over their arch-rivals Bishops, recording a 29-15 victory in another classic Cape schoolboy rugby encounter.

A season to remember

The 2026 schoolboy rugby season has certainly been one for the history books.

From spectacular derbies and unexpected results to outstanding individual and team performances, it has once again demonstrated why South African schoolboy rugby remains one of the most fiercely contested and passionately followed sporting environments in the country.

This week, we will publish only our final official Top 10 First XV rankings.

The remainder of our official Top 50 rankings, from 11th to 50th, will be published next Sunday evening, August 30.

That gives us a little more work to do.

We will be crunching the numbers, revisiting the results and weighing up the entire season before finalising the positions from 11th to 50th. As always, these rankings are an informed opinion rather than an exact science. We consider the strength of opposition, consistency of performances, current form and head-to-head results when determining where each team deserves to sit.

And, of course, we know that no schoolboy rugby ranking is ever going to please everyone.

That is part of what makes this game so special.

Healthy debate, passionate opinions and the occasional disagreement are all part of the fabric of South African schoolboy rugby – and we welcome your thoughts, arguments and predictions in the comments.

Because ultimately, that’s what makes the schoolboy rugby community what it is.

As the late Zanberg Jansen so famously said:

“Nag, ou Grote.”

– In memory of Paul Dobson –