Eight are set to become nine. The Western Province Premier League, South Africa’s strongest domestic schoolboy rugby setup will welcome Cape Town Northern Suburbs Stellenberg into the fold in 2023.
This is a landmark achievement. In the past, membership to the exclusive group consisting of Bishops, Rondebosch, SACS and Wynberg from the Cape Town Southern Suburbs and Boland Landbou, Paarl Boys’ High (HJS), Paarl Gymnasium and Paul Roos from the Winelands, was believed to be dependent on their ability to put out X-number of teams every interschools Saturday.With 2000 applicants for 300 Grade-8 places, Stellenberg is a prospering high school and set to become the second Co-ed in the rugby clique. Therefore fielding the minimum required number of rugby teams per Saturday, is no longer the challenge it once posed.
Making Stellenberg unique, is that in spite of posting very good rugby results over the past few seasons, they do not have a boarding house – a factor often associated with sustained school rugby success.
Baie geluk aan Stellenberg, en seker dit voorspel baie mooi rugby en sal n span wees wat elke ander span in die liga sal moet voor lig loop. Aan die ander kant wens ek julle sterkte toe, want dis ‘n harde liga en elke naweek is ‘n moelike naweek, maar weet julle het die afrigters watjulle sal goed voorberei vir die seisoen.
Sien julle dan 24 Maart
Is it true that WP will be playing for a trophy from this year?
Stellenberg rugby has really thrived in recent years – they’ve achieved high rankings and impressive results, so a welcome to the WP Premier League is warranted and deserved.
Best of luck to them in 2023 and beyond