Craven Week
The current Coca-Cola Craven Week logo
SportRugby union
Instituted1964; 60 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]

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.

Currently the tournament is known as the "Coca-Cola Craven Week" with The Coca-Cola Company as the main sponsor of the event.

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
Year Venue Winner Score Runner-up
1964 East London Border 10 -9 Natal
1965 East London Natal 22 - 11 Transvaal
1966 Pretoria Natal 13 Eastern Province
1967 Cape Town Vrystaat 8 - 3 Western Province
1971 Kimberley Western Province 11–0 Griqualand West
1972 Potchefstroom Western Province 16–9 Western Transvaal
1973 Stellenbosch Western Province 36–7 Transvaal
1974 Johannesburg Western Province 22–12 South Western Districts 1975* Pretoria Northern Transvaal 20–8 Transvaal 1975* Port Elizabeth Eastern Province 46–13 Natal 1976* Wolmaranstad Transvaal 28–10 Northern Transvaal 1976* Kroonstad Boland 13–9 Free State
1977 Oudtshoorn Eastern Province 19–17 Western Province
1978 Middelburg Western Province 12–3 Free State
1979 East London Northern Free State 9–6 Free State
1980 Stellenbosch Free State 16–6 Transvaal
1981 Worcester Transvaal 11–7 Western Province
1982 Windhoek South Eastern Transvaal 25–7 Northern Free State
1983 Upington Free State 13–9 South Eastern Transvaal
1984 Bloemfontein Transvaal 3–0 Eastern Province
1985 Witbank Free State 23–15 Transvaal
1986 Graaff-Reinet South Eastern Transvaal 19–12 Western Province
1987 Paarl Natal / Transvaal 22–22 N/A
1988 Port Elizabeth Western Province 16–3 Free State
1989 Johannesburg Transvaal 17–6 Eastern Province
1990 Durban Natal 18–8 Northern Transvaal
1991 East London Northern Transvaal 10–9 Border
1992 Pretoria Western Province 22–15 Free State
1993 Secunda Northern Transvaal 25–13 South Eastern Transvaal
1994 Newcastle Border / Eastern Province 13–13 N/A
1995 Bloemfontein Free State 15–13 Boland
1996 Stellenbosch Northern Transvaal 24–12 Western Province
1997 Kimberley Northern Transvaal 29–27 Western Province
1998 Vanderbijlpark Blue Bulls 23 - 19 Falcons
1999 George Western Province 15–11 Eastern Province
2000 Port Elizabeth Pumas 19–18 Boland
2001 Rustenburg SWD 26–20 Blue Bulls
2002 Pietermaritzburg Western Province 31–16 Free State
2003 Wellington Western Province 22–17 Free State
2004 Nelspruit Free State 17–16 Western Province
2005 Bloemfontein Golden Lions 38–15 Eastern Province
2006 Johannesburg Blue Bulls 35–20 Golden Lions
2007 Stellenbosch Free State 52–3 Western Province
2008 Pretoria SWD 31–25 Free State
2009 East London Western Province 19–17 Free State
2010 Welkom Free State 42–21 Western Province
2011 Kimberley Free State 28–17 Golden Lions
2012 Port Elizabeth Blue Bulls 46–0 Golden Lions
2013 Polokwane Western Province 45–29 Golden Lions
2014 Middelburg Eastern Province 25–7 South Western Districts
2015 Stellenbosch Western Province 95–0 Eastern Province
2016 Durban Western Province 27–20 Golden Lions
2017 Johannesburg Golden Lions 45–18 KwaZulu-Natal
2018 Paarl Western Province 47–8 KwaZulu-Natal
2019 Bloemfontein Western Province 56–31 Blue Bulls
2022 Cape Town Western Province 29–21 Blue Bulls * 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[edit]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  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.
Categories