South Africa’s leading schoolboys will be in action at the FNB U18 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 FNB Youth Weeks programme will run from Monday 7 July 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 09h30.
Free State, who went down to DHL Western Province in the final match of the 2024 tournament, will face South Western Districts thereafter.
The FNB U18 Craven Week Opening Ceremony at 14h00 will be followed by a clash between the Hollywood Foundation Pumas – the hosts of this year’s tournament – and the Limpopo Blue Bulls.
DHL Western Province, who finished last year’s tournament unbeaten, will be in action on Tuesday, along with the Leopards, Valke, Border, Suzuki Griquas, Sharks High Schools, Eastern Province and Sanlam Boland.
All the FNB U18 Craven Week action will be broadcast by SuperSport.
FNB U18 Craven Week day one schedule (Monday, 7 July):
09h30: DHL Western Province XV v Griffons
11h00: Free State v South Western Districts
12h30: Blue Bulls v Obaro Golden Lions
14h00: Opening Ceremony
14h30: Hollywood Foundation Pumas v Limpopo Blue Bulls
FNB U18 Craven Week day two schedule (Tuesday, 8 July):
10h00: Leopards v Valke
11h30: Border v Suzuki Griquas
13h00: Sharks High Schools v Eastern Province
14h30: DHL Western Province v Sanlam Boland