The last phase of the very secretive WP youth week trials takes place on Tuesday 23 May 2023 against Boland in Wellington. Six u18 teams have been picked. This will be narrowed down to three teams for the u18 youth weeks during the June/July holidays. Province, the perennial Craven Week champs-elect, somewhat surprisingly got beaten to it during Academy Week 2022, and will therefore only field one team in that tournament, while 2022 winners, The Sharks from KZN has the distinct honour of fielding two sides at the same event.
So while very little is known about the Western Province Craven Week hopefuls, the question is who has caught your eye this season and how do the selectors work around the evident shortage of players of colour in the pack in the WP Premier League this season?
Here are some of the guys who make up the numbers in the most competitive schoolboy rugby league in the nation. As you know there are many other standouts who would do a WP provincial team plenty of justice even though they are missed in these mock teams below.
@Kantman: Nie sover ek weet nie. Dink daar sal wel ‘n oefenkamp wees
@Ploegskaar: Dankie, maak sin. Gaan hulle wedstryd speel voor Craven week?
@Kantman: Getting through this weekend’s games is the consideration. If there were to be injuries, it would require numbers juggling… Teams should be out Monday
Tuesday last week final trials were played in WP. No other trials since. No selection has been made, not even for a non-existent pre-Craven warmup game. Makes me wonder what the selectors have been spending there time on …
@Boereworsgordyn: From what I heard, the boys will know on Monday and the official announcement will be Tuesday.
@beet: Your Cravenweek fixtures looks to be confirmed …
@Boereworsgordyn: Jammer, niks nerens gehoor nie. Blykbaar 42 hantekeninge nodig en party ouens se penne is droog. Geniet die naweek en moet nie te veel verwag nie.
Does anyone know when the WP CW teams will be announced? And does the team layout in this article represent the official A, B and C trial teams, or is it just the view of the editor?
@beet: easy peasy ,ALL teams go into a hat ,the managers draw chips and from ,from there ,loosers draw from loosers ,winners from winners ,you play who you draw on whether is WP A agains t WP B makes no difference….and if Limpopo bulls get WP ….so be it.
@BoishaaiPa: Agreed. Perhaps we as members of a community with interest in SBR need to come up with a viable proposal for SASRA re Craven Week fixture setting.
They set CW matchups based on the previous year’s CW outcome. That would be like you ranking Gim no. 1 this year when they only have a few regulars back from that 2022 team.
@beet: 2 Pools seems a bit unbalanced…with 5 strong teams in the one and only 2 in the other…all due respect to Border but their usual top school in Selborne is not as strong this year and Border might struggle against Bulls and Lions.
@Kantman: Always. Always. I would just like SASRA to keep pushing themselves to do a better job every year. Wherever opportunity exists for improvement, they get in there and make a valid attempt to work it.
@beet: Top games all of them. Lets hope SARU markets this well and appropriate.
@Kantman: I’m not sure if the fixtures have been decided yet but this might be how CW looks
DAY 1
Valke vs Boland
Free State vs Eastern Province
Sharks vs WP XV
Western Province vs South Western Districts
DAY 2
Griquas vs Leopards
Griffons vs Limpopo
Lions vs Pumas
Bulls vs Border
So an insane game on Day 1 – WP vs SWD if so. Winners to play Sharks vs WP B which won’t be clear-cut either and certainly a semi-final show down between the Lions and Bulls on the other side of the draw.
@Smallies: Yeah SWD for sure. Cohesion is a big deal and they have 15/23 from one powerful school in the form of Outeniqua and then just have to blend with the Oakdale boys. Oozing talent.
Plus home town advantage.
Top coach is Jaco Jv Rensburg to boot.
@Jakkals: I’m really looking forward to seeing who the Lions pick. They could put together a very good team.
Lets hope WP can announce their teams soon. Agree that this year may be very close for 4-5 teams to end as winner
@Smallies: I was wondering about them seeing as Outeniqua are strong this year but have not been overly impressed with Oakdale….which other schools in that region are going to contribute to the SWD success? I don’t know that region too well
@Jakkals: my money is on SWD to take it ,have a look at that team
Very talented group from WP as usual…but this might be one of those few years one of the other provinces step up and win the week. Sharks, Bulls and Lions should have decent teams. Bulls might not be as tough as I think due to the racial stipulations but the other two will be powerful.
There is an openside flank from Wynberg – Jarryd Jackson. What a machine. Unfortunately he is u19.
@Snelvuur: Definitely! Oliver Reid one of my favourite players this season. His mobility is something else. And as you say still u17.
@Snelvuur: ek dink daai eerste groepie is baie baie naby aan die WP CW span….
Really rate Oliver Reid. Also still grade 11. I would add Christiaan de Villiers, PRG’s hooker. Good ball-carrier and decent in the set-piece.