Provincial bragging rights will be a guaranteed motivational factor for the 14 teams contesting the 2025 U20 Women’s Week in Johannesburg, starting on Monday, while the next generation of talent should lay down a marker to the current Springbok Women coaching staff, who will be in attendance at various stages of the three-day tournament.
Laurian Johannes-Haupt will attend matches on Monday and Wednesday, and Swys de Bruin and Bafana Nhleko will be at Queens High School on the final day on Friday.
Meanwhile, this year’s U20 tournament – a key pillar in SA Rugby’s national strategy to grow the women’s game – marks a new milestone, with a record 14 teams confirmed to participate, up from 12 that played last year.
Next week, the Pumas and a Northern Invitational XV will be joining the action, which boosts access and opportunity to even more players, while strengthening the pathway to high-performance rugby.
De Bruin said he was keen to assess the talent on offer as this tournament ensures talented young women are seen, developed, and supported, building stronger provincial and national teams for the future, which will benefit the Springbok Women’s team on the long run.
“We have seen what momentum was created by our squad during the recent Women’s Rugby World Cup,” said De Bruin.
“We would like to build on that and make sure we have the best athletes available for the next World Cup, in Australia in 2029. We already identified some talent this season at this age group, and I am sure more will emerge next week.”
Amongst those identified are Western Province flyhalf Anja le Roux and Bulls Daisies loose forward Bronishia Hess. Both were in the national training squad that prepared for the Rugby Africa Women’s Cup in Madagascar in June but missed out on selection due to injury.
A debutant at the Antananarivo tournament, Daisies wing Patience Mokone, will support her younger sibling, Thato Mokone, who will start on the wing for the Pretoria team.
The Capetonians are hard to beat, as their squad also include Logan Welman and Donëy Fillies, who have already played senior rugby for Western Province in the Women’s Premier Division. Stella Ncube (wing, Golden Lions) and Neidene Solomons (flanker, Free State) are also amongst some of the Premier Division regulars.
Former Springbok Women players Aliyah Tchogna-Njamen and Rumandi Potgieter are the Lions’ coaches.
The 14 participating teams have been grouped into two tiers to ensure fairness and maintain competitive balance throughout the tournament. At the conclusion of each day’s matches, a panel will convene to determine the next round of fixtures based on performance and outcomes.
Tier 1 includes the Bulls, Boland, Border, Eastern Province, Cheetahs, Lions, Sharks, and Western Province. Tier 2 will feature Griquas, Limpopo Blue Bulls, Pumas, SWD, Valke and the Northern Invitational XV.
Matches take place on 6, 8 and 10 October and will be broadcast live on the SuperSport Schools platform. At the conclusion of the tournament, a Junior Springbok Women’s training squad will be named.
U20 Women’s Tournament fixtures (day one – Monday 6 October at Queens High School):
08:30: Valke vs Northern Invitational XV
09:40: Pumas vs Limpopo
10:50: SWD vs Griquas
12:00: WP vs Sharks
13:10: Lions vs Cheetahs
14:20: Border vs Boland
15:30: Bulls vs EP