The opening round fixtures for this year’s U18 Craven Week to be hosted by Middelburg High School in Mpumalanga have been announced.
This year will be the 60th edition of the tournament – and the third time it will be hosted by Middelburg.
The two previous editions took place in 1978 and 2014.
Defending champions
Western Province are the defending champions and are currently on a 15-match win streak at Craven Week.
The Cape side’s 37-24 win over Free State in last year’s main match was their fifth consecutive victory in the unofficial ‘final’.
It would take a brave man to bet against Western Province contesting this year’s final such has been the dominance of the Cape schools this season.
Western Province have a number of players returning from last year’s side which bodes well for their chances.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, considering their dominance in 2025 and their place atop the ‘unofficial’ schoolboy rankings, Paarl Gimnasium only have two members of the 23-player Western Province team.
Paarl Boys’ High and Rondebosch Boys’ High each contribute five players, while four come from Wynberg Boys’ High.
Along with Paarl Gimnsium, Boland Landbou, Stellenberg and Paul Roos all have two players, while the final member of the team, loose forward Briint Davids, hails from Milnerton.
Western Province will begin their campaign against neighbours Boland in the main match on Day 2.
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).
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.
This year’s U18 Craven Week will run from 7 to 12 July.
Fixtures – Day 1: Monday, 7 July
Western Province XV v Griffons – 09:30
Free State v South Western Districts – 11:00
Blue Bulls v Golden Lions – 12:30
Opening ceremony – 14:00
Pumas v Limpopo Blue Bulls – 14:30
Fixtures – Day 2: Tuesday, 8 July
Leopards v Valke – 10:00
Border v Griquas – 11:30
Sharks v Eastern Province – 13:00
Western Province v Boland – 14:30
NOTE: Fixtures for the remainder of the tournament will be confirmed following each day’s play.
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