Craven Week

Last updated

Craven Week
Coca-Cola Craven Week logo.gif
The previous Coca-Cola Craven Week logo
Sport Rugby union
Instituted1964;61 years ago (1964)
Number of teams20

The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

The tournament has its humble beginnings in an idea by Piet Malan, then Springbok flanker, in 1949, around the time of the South African Rugby Board's 75th anniversary. He wanted schools to feature in the celebrations and approached Danie Craven in Potgietersrus on how this could be done.

Dr Craven took the idea to his board who decided on getting the 15 schools unions together for a week. The man who kept the idea alive however was one Jan Preuyt, a former student at the University of Stellenbosch and teacher at Port Rex Technical School in East London. Preuyt had played rugby for Griqualand West and was also the chairman of Border Schools.

At the time there was no such thing as a South African Schools organisation, and the South African Rugby Board were not involved, so Preuyt and Schalk van der Merwe, Principal of George Randall High school, took the initiative to organise the first Craven Week tournament on their own.

The competition began with 15 teams in 1964, growing to 28 in 1987 and 32 in 2000. The format was changed in 2001, and now allows for just 20 teams. Each of South Africa's fourteen provincial unions field at least one team, with some unions sending two squads (one from their urban base and another representing "country districts"), plus representation from Namibia and Zimbabwe in most years.

Each year since 1974 a South African schools team has been selected, and the competition has been open to players of all races since 1980 when Craven himself requested that it be done. The competition has since become a hunting ground for talent scouts trying to find the best new players for their provinces and many young upcoming stars see the tournament as an opportunity to further their careers. The format has been replicated at other age and skill levels, including a U18 Academy Week for provincial B sides, the Grant Khomo Week for U16 teams, and Iqhawe Week for U15 sides which places special emphasis on players from underprivileged or underserved areas.

Results

Despite there being no official final for the Craven Week tournaments, there is a main match every year that features the two best teams at the tournament. The results of these main matches since 1971 are: [4] [5]

Main matches at the Craven Week
YearVenueWinnerScoreRunner-up
1964 East London Border10 -9Natal
1965 East London Natal22 - 11Transvaal
1966 Pretoria Natal13Eastern Province
1967 Cape Town Vrystaat8 - 3Western Province
1971 Kimberley Western Province11–0Griqualand West
1972 Potchefstroom Western Province16–9Western Transvaal
1973 Stellenbosch Western Province36–7Transvaal
1974 Johannesburg Western Province22–12South Western Districts
1975* Pretoria Northern Transvaal20–8Transvaal
1975* Port Elizabeth Eastern Province46–13Natal
1976* Wolmaranstad Transvaal28–10Northern Transvaal
1976* Kroonstad Boland13–9Free State
1977 Oudtshoorn Eastern Province19–17Western Province
1978 Middelburg Western Province12–3Free State
1979 East London Northern Free State9–6Free State
1980 Stellenbosch Free State16–6Transvaal
1981 Worcester Transvaal11–7Western Province
1982 Windhoek South Eastern Transvaal25–7Northern Free State
1983 Upington Free State13–9South Eastern Transvaal
1984 Bloemfontein Transvaal3–0Eastern Province
1985 Witbank Free State23–15Transvaal
1986 Graaff-Reinet South Eastern Transvaal19–12Western Province
1987 Paarl Natal / Transvaal22–22N/A
1988 Port Elizabeth Western Province16–3Free State
1989 Johannesburg Transvaal17–6Eastern Province
1990 Durban Natal18–8Northern Transvaal
1991 East London Northern Transvaal10–9Border
1992 Sasolburg Western Province22–15Free State
1993 Secunda Northern Transvaal25–13South Eastern Transvaal
1994 Newcastle Border / Eastern Province13–13N/A
1995 Bloemfontein Free State15–13Boland
1996 Stellenbosch Northern Transvaal24–12Western Province
1997 Kimberley Northern Transvaal29–27Western Province
1998 Vanderbijlpark Blue Bulls23 - 19Falcons
1999 George Western Province15–11Eastern Province
2000 Port Elizabeth Pumas19–18Boland
2001 Rustenburg SWD26–20Blue Bulls
2002 Pietermaritzburg Western Province31–16Free State
2003 Wellington Western Province22–17Free State
2004 Nelspruit Free State17–16Western Province
2005 Bloemfontein Golden Lions38–15Eastern Province
2006 Johannesburg Blue Bulls35–20Golden Lions
2007 Stellenbosch Free State52–3Western Province
2008 Pretoria SWD31–25Free State
2009 East London Western Province19–17Free State
2010 Welkom Free State42–21Western Province
2011 Kimberley Free State28–17Golden Lions
2012 Port Elizabeth Blue Bulls46–0Golden Lions
2013 Polokwane Western Province45–29Golden Lions
2014 Middelburg Eastern Province25–7South Western Districts
2015 Stellenbosch Western Province95–0Eastern Province
2016 Durban Western Province27–20Golden Lions
2017 Johannesburg Golden Lions45–18KwaZulu-Natal
2018 Paarl Western Province47–8KwaZulu-Natal
2019 Bloemfontein Western Province56–31Blue Bulls
2022 Cape Town Western Province29–21Blue Bulls
2023 [6] George Western Province29–5Blue Bulls
2024 [7] Krugersdorp Western Province37–24Free State
2025 [8] Middelburg Western Province27–21South Western Districts

* In 1975 and 1976 there were 2 Craven weeks due to the school holidays of the old Transvaal and the rest of SA not corresponding.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "A bit of Craven Week history". SuperSport. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Coca-Cola Craven Week celebrates 50 years". School of Rugby. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "History of Craven Week". Schools Tribune. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ↑ "Main Matches at the Craven Week for High Schools (1971–2014)" (PDF). South African Schools Rugby Association. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Venues of Previous Weeks". South African Schools Rugby Association. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  6. ↑ staff, News24 Sport. "Craven Week: Western Province pummel Bulls in Craven Week 'final'". Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ staff, News24 Sport. "WP triumph again as they beat Free State in unofficial Craven Week final". Sport. Retrieved 4 August 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ on, Standard published (12 July 2025). "WP crowned Craven Week kings". SA Rugby magazine. Retrieved 13 July 2025.
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