26-06-2025
Schools rugby spectacle brings country's best u.16 players to Pretoria
The national Grant Khomo schools rugby week for provincial u16 teams is coming of age this year and rugby fans from Pretoria have the privilege of supporting the country's best u16 rugby players right here on their doorstep.
This year marks only the second time in the tournament's 21-year history that it will be hosted in Pretoria. The previous time was in 2014, when it was hosted at the Tshwane University of Technology sports grounds in Pretoria West.
The prestigious tournament was started by SA Rugby in 2003 to serve as a stepping stone for young players between the u13 Craven Week and the u18 Craven Week, as well as to identify and develop young rugby talent within the u16 age group as part of SA Rugby's official development programmes.
This year, the Grant Khomo week will be presented on the sports fields of St Alban's College in Lynnwood Glen, Pretoria.
In addition to other first-class facilities, which will fit a tournament like this like a glove, the school boasts two very well-maintained rugby fields, on which the tournament's matches will be played.
Although St Alban's rugby teams do not participate in an official league, the school's rugby players have the opportunity to travel nationwide and play against similar schools in almost every major city in South Africa. Locally, their derby against Pretoria Boys High School is a true school rugby festival every year.
The school has 13 rugby teams. These include five senior teams, two u16 teams, three u15 teams and three u14 teams. The first team is known as The Hoops, while the second team is called The Greys.
St Alban's College has already produced two Springboks, namely the double World Cup winner, Bongi Mbonambi and the former Bulls lock, Jason Jenkins, who currently plays for the Sharks.
The Grant Khomo tournament is held over a period of one week, but action only takes place on three days. This year, the tournament kicks off on Monday, June 30, with matches also being played on Wednesday July 2 (Day 2) and Friday July 4 (Day 3).
As is the case with all national schools weeks, only the fixtures for Day One are determined in advance. The fixtures for Day Two and Day Three are then determined according to the results of each day.
On Monday June 30, the action at the tournament will kick off at 09:00 in the morning, when the Zimbabwe and Border Country Districts teams will play on the B field. Half an hour later, the first match will kick off on the A field, when Border and the Leopards will face each other.
The Bulls team will play their first match on Monday at 13:30 on the A-field against Boland, after which the official opening ceremony will take place.
Following the opening ceremony, the main match of the day will be played between WP and Free State. This match is scheduled to start at 15:15.
Other matches to be decided on the A-field on Monday are those between South Western Districts and Eastern Province (10:50), as well as the Sharks against the Golden Lions (12:10).
On the B-field, the opening match will be followed by the Falcons vs Limpopo Blue Bulls (10:20); Griffons vs Namibia (11:40); WP XV vs Pumas (13:00) and the Iqhawe Week team vs Griquas (15:15).
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