As of 2018, Western Province will send an extra team to both the under-18 Craven Week and Academy Week, thereby doubling their numbers from tow to four teams. The WP Academy Week B-team has been used to promote players from the smaller rugby schools in the region. So effectively three teams made up of 69 players have been designated for selecting the top players within the under-18 Youth Weeks’ very strictly regulated quota criteria.
The expansion has made more opportunities available to Southern Suburbs and WP Premier-B schools (which includes high flying Stellenberg), but it’s mainly Previously Disadvantaged (PD) players from these two sectors who have benefited. Almost 74% of PDI are from the Southern Suburbs and the Premier-B, while only 2 non-PDI players out of 35 (6%) made it.
| PDI | NON-PDI | TOTAL | PDI % | WINE LANDS | WINE LANDS | S/ SUBURBS | S/ SUBURBS | PREM -B | PREM -B | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PDI | NON- PDI | PDI | NON- PDI | PDI | NON- PDI | |||||
| PR | 5 | 7 | 12 | 41.7% | 0 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| HK | 3 | 3 | 6 | 50.0% | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| LK | 4 | 5 | 9 | 44.4% | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| LF | 4 | 8 | 12 | 33.3% | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| SH | 6 | 0 | 6 | 100.0% | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FH | 1 | 2 | 3 | 33.3% | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| WG | 6 | 2 | 8 | 75.0% | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| CT | 3 | 5 | 8 | 37.5% | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FB/UB | 2 | 3 | 5 | 40.0% | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FWDS | 16 | 23 | 39 | 41.0% | 3 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| BACKS | 18 | 12 | 30 | 60.0% | 6 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 34 | 35 | 69 | 49.3% | 9 | 33 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| % | 49.3% | 50.7% | 100.0% | 13.0% | 47.8% | 15.9% | 1.4% | 20.3% | 1.4% |
Who finances all these teams?
Good idea and it’s probably sustainable for years to come. Good luck WP