In a spectacular coup for EP rugby, it has been decided that the acclaimed FNB U18 Craven Week for schoolboys will be held at Grey High in Gqeberha in 2026.
The last time SA’s biggest schoolboy rugby spectacle was held in Gqeberha was in 2012, when matches were staged at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
EP Rugby’s general manager, Mzi Mpofu, said history would be made at the event because it will be the first time the boys’ and girls’ tournaments will be held at one venue.
With the last-day final between the best-performing teams set to be played at Grey’s iconic Kolisi field, huge crowds are expected to flock to watch SA’s brightest young rugby prospects.
“The dates for the 62-year-old premium youth rugby extravaganza are set to start on June 29, with the final game to be played on Saturday, July 4,” Mpofu said.
“In keeping with EPRU’s George Malgas-led administration’s commitment to arrest the ever-increasing costs of EP Rugby’s children participating in the national provincial weeks, this announcement is certainly a step in the right direction.
“While there exists a need for a more sustainable method to drive these costs down, the 2026 reprieve will afford this administration more time to devise such plans.
“The big-ticket item on the expense ledger for these youth weeks is usually transport costs.
“With Grey High celebrating 170 years of existence in 2026, this announcement could not have come at a better time for the institution founded in 1856.
“The school’s master-in-charge of rugby, Fenner Barnard, indicated that preparations commenced before the October 2, 2025, site visit by Saru’s events delivery team.
“And as such, confidence in the school’s ability to deliver the event was at an all-time high.
“After a gruelling vetting process that involved site inspections at prestigious fellow bidders such as the Border Rugby Union-backed Queen’s College in Queenstown (Komani) and the Western Province Rugby Union-aligned Paarl Gymnasium, the Saru operations team decided to bestow this honour on EPRU and Grey High School.”
Apart from hosting Craven Week, the world’s top junior teams will be in Gqeberha in 2026 to play in the U20 Rugby Championship tournament during May at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Craven Week started in East London in 1964 and is named after the legendary Springbok player and coach Dr Danie Craven.
The tournament was the brainchild of Bok flank Piet Malan in 1949, around the time of the SA Rugby Board’s 75th anniversary.
He wanted schools to feature in the celebrations and approached Craven on how this could be done.
Craven took the idea to his board, who decided on getting the 15 school 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 played rugby for Griqualand West and was also the chairperson of Border Schools.
At the time there was no such thing as an SA Schools organisation, and the SA Rugby Board was 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 20 teams.
Each of SA’s 14 provincial unions fields at least one team, with some unions sending two squads (one from their urban base and another representing country districts).
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.
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