With the 2026 schoolboy rugby season almost completed, the best use of the Ruggas.co.za 1stXV ranking is to compare the difference in points between seasons and not the place on the rankings to judge your current season.
After 12 years of rankings, a 3,5-point difference in a year is normal, either up or down, as teams and their opponents develop and/or have a bad year.
With all the noise made of upcoming schools replacing the establishment, all the schools having a great season in 2026 had a below-par season in 2025, while the same is true regarding the “shakers” of the year.
Movers of 2026
1) Parel Vallei (8,941). The best “performing” school in the Western Cape is Parel Vallei, whose only loss at stage came against SACS (07-19), and winning 10 other matches, with their latest win against Brackenfell, to whom they lost in 2025. They also avenged their 07-20 loss to Milnerton in 2025 with a 32-17 win.
2) Charlie Hofmeyr (7,250). Charlie Hofmeyr is currently unbeaten; matches against Langenhoven Gim and Stellenbosch were cancelled due to the floods earlier in May. In 2025, Charlie Hofmeyr “only” won 8 of their 15 matches played, and with 5 matches still to play, their only loss against schools they are yet to play is Robertson, their last match of the season.
3) Swartland (7,097). Swartland lost 9 from the 14 matches played in 2025 and turned their 2026 around with only 3 losses in 11 matches at this stage in 2026. The match against Drostdy HTS was cancelled due to the flooding in 2026, which they lost 61-09 in 2025. Two interesting losses this season were against Parel Vallei (07-19) and Charlie Hofmeyr (38-44).
4) Hugenote Wellington (4,080). Hugenote lost 5 of their 10 matches played in 2025, while “only losing 3 matches from the 10 matches played in 2026. They had two exciting matches against Oos Moot (24-21) and Transvalia (23-21) at the Noord/Suid Festival hosted at Affies, which dramatically boosted their points earned this year; however, they still have 5 matches left, which include Charlie Hofmeyr and Swartland.
5) Stellenberg (3,897). The 1stXV most talked about in South Africa is Stellenberg, who only lost two matches this season, and lost 8 matches in 2025. A brilliant season, with only Outeniqua that could test them during their final 3 matches of the season.
Shakers of 2026
1) Milnerton (-7,241). Milnerton’s only win in 2026 was against the DF Akademie (34-18) out of the 13 matches they played. In 2025, they lost only 5 matches out of 19 matches played.
2) Brackenfell (-6,124). Brackenfell is also experiencing a nightmare 2026, losing 7 matches from the 12 played.
3) Boland Landbou (-6,098). Everybody knows the struggles of Boland Landbou, which lost 9 of the 13 matches played in 2026. Not a good year at all. Interestingly, despite their horrible season, they are still ranked 21st in the country, which is achieved due to the quality of the teams they face.