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After staging a highly successful international between the Springboks and Barbarians at the weekend, Gqeberha’s rugby extravaganza continues when it hosts the U18 Craven Week tournament at Grey High from July 5 to 11.
The last time SA’s biggest schoolboy rugby spectacle was held in the city was in 2012, when matches were staged at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
EP will face powerhouse team Western Province at Grey High on the opening day in a match that will attract a capacity crowd to watch SA’s rising stars.
In a first for Craven Week, the U18 girls’ tournament will run concurrently with the U18 boys’ event.
Apart from the action at Grey High, schoolboy rugby stars will descend on Kariega when the Academy Week is held at Bergsig from July 5 to 11.
In the lead-up to the tournament, controversy reared its head when some EP coaches threatened to resign amid allegations of interference in team selection.
In a letter to EPRU president George Malgas, the unhappy coaches indicated they were prepared to take the drastic step if the changes remained in place and were not adequately explained.
Undeterred by the allegations, Malgas said his union had done the right thing in ensuring teams were representative of all areas in the region, particularly previously disadvantaged areas.
It is against this unfortunate background of alleged selection interference that EP teams will go into battle in various tournaments.
Craven Week is not run as a knockout event to crown a champion.
Instead, it functions as a national festival where regional teams play matches across a single week to highlight individual talent and secure spots in national squads.
Unlike other tournaments, there are no semifinals, finals, or an official overall winner of the week.
However, the final Saturday traditionally features a main match between the two best-performing or most dominant teams of the week.
Record crowds are expected at Grey High, and EP are determined to impress in their first Craven Week tournament on home soil in 14 years.
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