u16 Rankings for 2024 & 2025 as a projection for 2026

4 January, 2026 beet Top 50 Rankings 7

Once again, the u16 rankings from NextGenXV and SASchoolSports for 2024 and 2025, weighted at 4:1, form the basis for projecting what the rugby school landscape will look like in 2026.

# SCHOOL POINTS NGXV SASS NGXV SASS
u16 u16 u16 u16
2024 2024 2025 2025
1 Paarl Gim 179.60 1 1 3 3
2 Grey College 178.20 2 2 2 2
3 Paul Roos 176.20 3 3 4 4
4 Stellenberg 172.60 5 5 6 7
5 Affies 171.20 9 4 1 1
6 HJS Paarl BH 170.40 6 7 5 10
7 Durban HS 167.60 7 6 19 8
8 Helpmekaar 165.60 4 9 29 32
9 Grey HS 164.20 12 8 8 5
10 Maritzburg College 159.20 13 11 17 18
11 Drostdy 158.80 14 13 7 6
12 Wynberg 157.60 8 16 25 27
13 Noordheuwel 157.60 10 15 21 16
14 KES 156.40 15 10 27 35
15 Monument 156.40 16 12 15 15
16 Westville 151.40 18 17 12 17
17 Oakdale 147.00 11 19 54 63
18 Boland Landbou 144.60 17 27 10 11
19 Jeppe 144.40 21 20 23 31
20 Nico Malan 144.20 23 14 40 46
21 Menlopark 143.40 22 21 20 19
22 Michaelhouse 141.80 24 18 32 33
23 Garsfontein 138.40 26 25 13 21
24 Graeme 138.40 19 24 45 29
25 Durbanville 137.60 25 22 33 24
26 Hilton 135.20 20 26 49 41
27 Kempton Park 134.80 27 23 35 51
28 Rondebosch 134.40 29 28 9 9
29 Northwood 133.40 28 29 14 13
30 Diamantveld 125.40 30 33 30 50
31 Queen’s 121.80 31 32 48 30
32 SACS 121.40 40 31 18 20
33 Glenwood 119.60 34 34 39 48
34 Selborne 118.20 32 35 50 49
35 Rustenburg 114.60 36 37 44 69
36 Zwartkop 114.00 33 38 55 87
37 Marlow 111.80 38 41 34 44
38 St Andrew’s 111.20 42 36 41 54
39 Waterkloof 105.00 47 42 28 39
40 Voortrekker (Beth) 102.00 35 48 67 82
41 Kearsney 101.80 51 45 16 14
42 Outeniqua 100.40 50 49 11 12
43 Framesby 96.40 52 47 31 36
44 Bishops 94.80 39 59 43 64
45 Brandwag (EP) 94.60 43 57 36 25
46 Pietersburg 90.40 45 44 UnR. 37
47 Transvalia 90.00 46 56 51 59
48 Nelspruit 89.80 41 53 84 104
49 Pretoria BH 88.60 56 55 22 26
50 EG Jansen 84.20 55 51 64 66
51 Sentraal 78.80 37 77 59 65
52 Pearson 74.00 58 61 63 73
53 St John’s 71.20 61 52 UnR. 34
54 Dinamika 70.40 49 65 UnR. 89
55 Strand 69.60 48 67 UnR. 47
56 Dale 68.20 59 64 76 78
57 Randburg 67.20 64 54 UnR. 120
58 HTS Middelburg 66.20 63 60 86 105
59 Hudson Park 60.80 72 66 53 60
60 Hentie Cilliers 60.80 44 82 UnR. 139
61 Middelburg 59.40 79 68 24 22
62 Ben Vorster 57.20 73 63 79 45
63 Ligbron 56.80 62 69 UnR. 68
64 Heidelberg Vs 56.80 UnR. 30 UnR. 71
65 Hopefield 56.40 60 76 83 113
66 Wesvalia 54.00 53 88 75 83
67 St Stithians 52.80 74 62 UnR. 53
68 St David’s 52.00 UnR. 40 85 74
69 Bellville 51.80 75 78 38 42
70 Worcester Gim 49.60 UnR. 39 UnR. 61
71 Midstream 48.80 77 74 61 76
72 Hugenote 48.60 69 81 66 91
73 Welkom Gim 48.00 UnR. 46 81 100
74 Centurion 46.40 UnR. 43 UnR. UnR.
75 Otto du Plessis 41.80 54 105 80 102
76 Trio 41.40 68 116 26 28
77 St Alban’s 41.20 UnR. 50 99 123
78 Melkbosstrand 38.60 65 100 56 81
79 Montagu 35.20 57 124 UnR. 134
80 Fichardtpark 34.80 71 89 95 138
81 Potch Gim 34.40 66 93 UnR. 146
82 Upington 34.40 UnR. 58 UnR. 137
83 St Benedict’S 34.20 89 71 98 124
84 St Charles 32.60 UnR. 70 62 101
85 Kingswood 32.00 67 95 UnR. UnR.
86 Witteberg 30.20 70 127 74 114
87 Piet Retief 27.20 86 98 37 23
88 Die Anker 26.40 83 86 UnR. 92
89 Parel Vallei 24.60 UnR. 72 94 129
90 Hermanus 23.40 UnR. 73 96 144
91 Langenhoven Gim 22.60 81 118 68 86
92 Northcliff 20.80 90 92 77 67
93 Wagpos 20.80 UnR. 75 UnR. UnR.
94 Milnerton 20.00 87 UnR. 57 96
95 Cambridge 20.00 76 139 UnR. 88
96 Daniel Pienaar 18.40 78 125 UnR. 38
97 Bergsig 17.60 UnR. 79 UnR. 127
98 Potch Volkskool 16.80 UnR. 80 UnR. UnR.
99 Florida 16.80 80 106 UnR. UnR.
100 Parktown 16.60 91 104 58 56

Leave a Reply

7 Comments

  1. avatar
    #7 wanza_15

    @TJ (Comment #6)
    Yes, the one who was an u16 last year and in the SA EPD squad.
    I agree with you. He is a bit lean. Hopefully if this is clear to us, it is clear to him as well – I hope he grows/has grown a little, by necessity. In the second last game of the season v KES, he did look slightly bulkier. He will earn his money for us from the tee though, he is a very good kicker, and a bit of magic from broken play every other week as you mention.
    What about College for this year? We have a juicy fixture at the Boys High 125, can’t wait

    ReplyReply
    12 January, 2026 at 22:34
  2. avatar
    #6 TJ

    @wanza_15 (Comment #4)
    I agree with regarding Boys High, they are far better than what the rankings may say. From where this age group started at u14 to where they are now, is testimony to the coaching taking place there. If the 10 you are referring to was in your u16’s from last year, he is good but from what I saw at Wildeklawer, he may not be what you make him out to be. A very slight player who may be good in broken field but when faced with sides who play on the gainline, he falls a bit short in my opinion.

    ReplyReply
    12 January, 2026 at 20:00
  3. avatar
    #5 Djou

    @agter_die_pale_pa (Comment #2)
    Werklik tragiese en hartseer nuus. Sterkte aan die familie en skool!

    ReplyReply
    10 January, 2026 at 16:47
  4. avatar
    #4 wanza_15

    I find these things very interesting..
    Interesting how it almost never ever pans out like this.
    I myself used to used use u16 metrics as an indicator for how well a 1st XV should or will do, but many a time I’ve been humbled, at times pleasantly. More than what we realize can change (for good and for bad) from Grade 10 to matric in a rugby boys life, the energy in the school, coaching personnel, 1 or 2 recruits maybe, injuries (God forbid), and then this happening at every school..
    For what will actually happen this year, I think there is no way Pretoria Boys will be that far down. Bias aside, at the very very least, I’d swap KES and Jeppe, if not go and further push KES down to the mid twenties.
    I don’t know much of what is coming from Stellenberg, clearly a real storm on paper, but surely they won’t come 4th?
    My new metric which seems to work a bit better is that I these few questions; how many returning 1st XV players does a school have, and then, how good was the 1st XV in their grade 11 year? In our case (and why I expect a very good year from us) is that we have 9 returning boys, and the 2025 were a more than decent side, just about made 20th spot according to SASS. If the answer still isnt clear to me, then I move 1 down and apply the same logic, so the 2nd team, how many grade 11s, and how solid were they.
    For me, generally, the more guys you have coming back, the better you should be.
    I try stay far away from U16 unless there is an exceptionally good talent or 2 who I know will shift the needle. Watch out for our 10 this year, he might be just that – Ndzalama Mbhalati 😉

    ReplyReply
    9 January, 2026 at 23:24
  5. avatar
    #3 Grasshopper

    If Glenwood can squeak into the Top 30 I’ll be stoked!

    ReplyReply
    9 January, 2026 at 16:04
  6. avatar
    #2 agter_die_pale_pa

    Tragiese nuus oor Kyle Olivier van Drostdy en sy pa. Was deel van Drostdy se kookwater o16s asook Boland GK. Baie sterkte aan die Donkie- en Boland-gemeenskap.
    .
    Ek dink die Donkies kan een van die verrassings wees vir 2026. Sterkte Ysters

    ReplyReply
    7 January, 2026 at 10:47
  7. avatar
    #1 Atlantic

    ….you mean , what the landscape will look like in 2026 and not 2025 :-)

    ReplyReply
    5 January, 2026 at 18:19