All eyes will be on DHL Western Province at the 2014 Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week starting in Mpumalanga on Monday as they look to repeat the impressive feat of finishing all the Craven Week tournaments as the top province.
DHL Western Province have already taken the honours as the unofficial champions in the Under-13 Coca-Cola Craven Week, Under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week and the Under-18 Coca-Cola Academy Week competitions over the past few weeks, and with only the Under-18 Craven Week remaining they will be determined to finish the SARU Youth Weeks on a high note.
This impressive showing follows a clean sweep in the Coca-Cola Craven Week tournaments last year, as they won the final match in the Under-13 Craven Week, Under-16 Grant Khomo Week and Under-18 Craven Week respectively.
They are, however, expected to face tough competition in the next few days as the skills and level of physicality among the top school players continues to improve steadily across the country.
The tournament at HTS Middelburg in Middelburg will run from Monday until Saturday, and it will mark the 51st anniversary of the Coca-Cola Craven Week.
The Itec Limpopo Blue Bulls and Griquas will kick off the competition at 09h20 in the opening match on Monday, with the other big matches being SWD taking on KwaZulu-Natal and hosts the Pumas meeting DHL Western Province in the final match of the day at 15h40. In total five matches will be played on the first day.
All 20 participating teams arrived on Sunday and completed their registration. More than 400 players and their management teams will be based at HTS Middelburg for the duration of the tournament.
Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week fixtures (Day One):
09h20: Itec Limpopo Blue Bulls v Griquas
10h40: Eastern Province CD v Zimbabwe
12h00: Thepa Trading Griffons v Border
13h20: SWD v KwaZulu-Natal
15h40: Pumas v DHL Western Province
THE 2014 DHL WP UNDER-18 CRAVEN WEEK TEAM:
1. G van den Berg (Paarl Gymnasium)
2. J van Zyl (Paul Roos Gymnasium)
3. JP Smith (Bishops)
4. J Willemse (Paarl Gymnasium)
5. R de Villiers (Paarl Boys’ High School)
6. M da Silva (Bishops)
7. MZ Davids (Rondebosch Boys’ High School)
8. S Abrahams (Bishops)
9. H Jantjies (Paul Roos Gymnasium)
10. J MacIntyre (Bishops)
11. E van der Merwe (Paul Roos Gymnasium)
12. E Venter (Paul Roos Gymnasium – captain)
13. J Heunis (Bishops)
14. D Saal (Kasselsvlei High School)
15. G Pieterse (Bishops)
16. S Farmer (Tygerberg High School)
17. W Groenewald (Paarl Boys’ High School)
18. J Korf (Paul Roos Gymnasium)
19. CF du Toit (Paarl Boys High School)
20. J Williams (Boland Landbou)
21. A Cupido (Paul Roos Gymnasium)
22. R Muller (Bellville High School)
Coach: Hein Kriek
Assistant coach: Peter Links
Manager: Petrie Stofberg