The best Under-13 and Under-16 players in the country will be excited at the opportunity to make their presence felt in the next few days at Grey College in Bloemfontein as the U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week and U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week kicks off.
The opening day’s play on Monday will be jam-packed with 19 matches being played across the two competitions.
The action will continue all week, with the U13 teams playing Tuesday and Thursday, while the U16 teams will battle it out in their second round on Wednesday. Both age groups will take to the field on the final day of the competition on Friday.
The U13 teams will launch the Junior Coca-Cola Youth Weeks with the Sharks meeting the Golden Lions, Limpopo Blue Bulls taking on Boland, the Leopards going up against Eastern Province, and Border CD lining up against Zimbabwe respectively.
The U16 tournament begins at 10.30am, with the Golden Lions meeting Border, the Leopards taking on Namibia, SWD battling it out with the Pumas and the Griffons going up against Border CD.
The other big games in the U13 Week will see hosts, the Free State, going up against the Blue Bulls, while Western Province, who finished the tournament as the top side for the last four years, will meet the Griffons.
The main matches in the U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week, meanwhile, will see the top 2016 team, the Blue Bulls, go up against Western Province, with the Sharks meeting Western Province XV and the Free State taking on African neighbours Zimbabwe.
These tournaments follow on the National Girls U18 Week in Welkom and the Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) Week in Durban last week, where Western Province and Valke respectively took top honours.
The U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week and Coca-Cola Academy Week, meanwhile, will complete the three-week SA Rugby Youth Weeks festival from 17 to 22 July at St. Stithians College in Johannesburg.
Read here about the Grahamstown players who made the various Youth Week teams:
http://www.grocotts.co.za/2017/05/26/sport-locals-well-represented-in-youth-sides/
U16 Coca-Cola U16 Grant Khomo Week fixtures (Monday, 8 July):
10h30 – Golden Lions v Border
10h30 – Leopards v Namibia
10h30 – SWD v Pumas
10h30 – Griffons v Border CD
11h45 – Eastern Province v Free State XV
12h45 – Western Province v Blue Bulls
12h45 – Boland v Griquas
12h45 – Sharks v Western Province XV
13h00 – Limpopo Blue Bulls v Valke
16h00 – Free State v Zimbabwe
U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week day one fixtures (Monday, 8 July):
09h30 – Sharks v Golden Lions
09h30 – Limpopo Blue Bulls v Boland
09h30 – Leopards v Eastern Province
09h30 – Border CD v Zimbabwe
11h45 – Western Province v Griffons
11h45 – Namibia v Griquas
11h45 – Border v Pumas
14h00 – Free State v Blue Bulls
14h00 – SWD v Valke