As plans are underway to complete the WP Premier League fixture list for 2025, and with an early draft already circulating—including a provision for a pre-season rugby day on Tuesday, 18 March 2025—there is no better time to have honest discussions about how provincial youth week trials are conducted.
Currently, these trials are demanding weekday obligations sandwiched between interschools Saturdays. Ambitious players are forced to overcommit their bodies, risking injury in their pursuit of selection dreams. Additionally there is also an academic impact, as the boys must focus on and dedicate time to studying for their midyear exams. The bottom line is that age-group youth week trials in many regions of South Africa are simply not keeping pace with the changing world we live in.
- Access to information, particularly match footage of schoolboy rugby players, is greater than ever before. In the old days, trials were important because selectors simply did not have the opportunities to attend live matches, which was the only way to view prospective players.
- The physical demands on players are at an all-time high, calling for stricter regulations to ensure high standards of player welfare. Player burnout and injuries are a reality.
- The pressure on schools to perform is immense, often tied to financial implications and the performance assessments of coaches and rugby-related officials—not to mention the pressure exerted on headmasters.
Midweek trials might still be necessary for talented rugby boys from smaller schools with limited exposure, as a way to help level the playing field and address unequal opportunities.
The aim of the discussions should be to reform the selection process and potentially adjust the calendar to create a dedicated window for provincial rugby trials that doesn’t clash with weekend interschool commitments. Ideally, a process that leverages technology to identify top prospects or dedicates an interschools Saturday solely to completing the selection process—similar to the approach used by Eastern Province and The Sharks—should be considered for implementation, even if only as a trial.
| DAY | DATE | BISH | BL | GIM | HJS | PRG | BOSCH | SACS | BERG | STELL |
| Sat | 15-Mar | Outen | ||||||||
| Sat | 22-Mar | |||||||||
| Fri | 28-Mar | EGJ | KES | WK | WelkG | |||||
| Sat | 29-Mar | Gars | Jeppe | BVHS | ||||||
| Mon | 31-Mar | WK | Monna | AHS | KES | |||||
| Tue | 01-Apr | Norie | Nelsp | Gars | ||||||
| Sat | 12-Apr | Bfell | SACS | AHS | Oakd | GreyH | Mill | BL | Stell | Berg |
| Thu | 17-Apr | |||||||||
| Sat | 19-Apr | |||||||||
| Mon | 21-Apr | |||||||||
| Sat | 26-Apr | PRG | Gim | BL | Bosch | Bish | HJS | Stell | Durb | SACS |
| Thu | 01-May | Monna | Norie | AHS | DHS | |||||
| Sat | 03-May | AHS | DHS | Monna | EGJ | WK | ||||
| Sat | 10-May | SACS | A1 | PRG | GCB | Gim | Stell | Bish | GreyH | Bosch |
| Sat | 17-May | Stell | PRG | Berg | BL | SACS | Bosch | HJS | Bish | |
| Sat | 24-May | Berg | Bosch | GCB | PRG | HJS | BL | Durb | Bish | Oakd |
| Sat | 31-May | Berg | Oakd | Stell | SACS | PRG | BL | HJS | ||
| Sat | 07-Jun | Gim | HJS | Bish | BL | Stell | Berg | Bell | Bosch | PRG |
| Sat | 14-Jun | HJS | SACS | Bish | Berg | Gim | PRG | |||
| Sat | 21-Jun | Bosch | Stell | Bish | Berg | SACS | Gim | |||
| Sat | 26-Jul | BL | Bish | Berg | SACS | Bosch | PRG | HJS | Gim | Outen |
| Sat | 02-Aug | Mill | Stell | HJS | Gim | Oakd | Bfell | BL | ||
| Sat | 09-Aug | Berg | Oakd | SACS | Bosch | Bish | Mill | |||
| Sat | 16-Aug | SACS | GCB | Berg | Bish | Bosch | Durb | |||
| Sat | 23-Aug | Bosch | Bish | Berg | SACS |
PROVINCIAL SELECTIONS
So ample time to analyze players across Region and then maybe have a final trials day to select teams.
Great article @beet. Not at all fair on the boys, especially forwards, to have to be breaking their bodies and risking injuries during these trials, especially when you consider the intensity they’re expected to practice and compete at every week even without trials.
Another issue in my mind is the selection committees being made up of a select group of schools, which is obviously not unique to WP. This places boys from schools without selectors at a huge disadvantage. Surely an independent committee should be used to pick these squads, rather than the boys current 1st xv coaches. Not that I have much hope it’ll change