South Africa’s top schoolgirls will be in action at the SA Rugby U16 & U18 Girls Weeks staged at Jeppe High School in Johannesburg from Monday.
The final two tournaments in SA Rugby’s 2024 Youth Weeks programme will run from 1 to 4 July. The U18 fixtures will be staged on Monday and Wednesday, while the U16 games will be played on Tuesday and Thursday.
The High-Performance Manager: Women's Rugby, Lynne Cantwell, said the tournaments are paramount to give these age group girls the opportunity to compete at a national level.
"The system is growing year on year and this competition gives us a sense of which direction that is going. We’ve been monitoring injuries in the competition over the past few years as the physical readiness of the players gives us a lot of information on the make-up of the community game. Last year we noticed a decrease in injuries at u18s age grade for the first time and therefore we are interested track this trend to inform our decisions on the game," Cantwell explained.
"We are also seeing a slow but gradual increase in female coaches coaching the provincial teams. This year 22 female coaches will be involved at the tournament. It is important to maintain a gender mix within management, but we also know that girls coached by woman are more likely to want to coach themselves when they grow up. Developing female coaches is a long-term project."
For the first time, an U18 EPD squad will be selected, with a two-day High-Performance Camp to follow the tournament.
Some of the Springbok Women players will also be in attendance.
Eastern Province and Free State will meet in the first fixture of the U18 tournament at 09h00 on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, EP will tackle the Blue Bulls in the U16 opener at 10h00 on Tuesday.
U18 fixtures (Monday 1 July):
09h00: EP v Free State, A Field
09h00: Blue Bulls v Valke, B Field
10h30: Sharks v Limpopo Blue Bulls, A Field
10h30: Western Province v Zimbabwe, B Field
12h00: SWD v Griquas, A Field
12h00: Border v Leopards, B Field
14h00: Griffons v Golden Lions, A Field
14h00: Pumas v Boland, B Field
U16 fixtures (Tuesday 2 July):
10h00: EP v Limpopo Blue Bulls, A Field
10h00: WP v Golden Lions, B Field
11h15: Pumas v Griffons, A Field
11h15: Leopards v Free State, B Field
12h30: Sharks v Griquas, A Field
12h30: Border v Blue Bulls, B Field
13h45: Boland v Border Country Districts, A Field
13h45: SWD v Valke, B Field
