The tempo of the 2014 Coca-Cola Youth Weeks will rise significantly on Monday as the Coca-Cola Under-16 Grant Khomo Week and Coca-Cola Under-18 Academy Week players receive the opportunity to make their presence felt.

These tournaments follow the Coca-Cola Under-13 Craven Week and LSEN Week, which were hosted in Durban and Potchefstroom respectively last week, with the DHL Western Province Under-13s having taken the honours in Durban.
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The Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week will be hosted at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in Pretoria and the Coca-Cola Academy Week at HTS Drostdy in Worcester from Monday to Thursday.

With these Youth Weeks playing a vital role in grooming players for senior provincial and national rugby in future, the tempo and competitiveness between the sides is expected to be intense.

Western Province, who emerged victorious against the Blue Bulls in the final match of last year’s Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week, will meet Border, and the Valke will meet the Griffons in the opening matches of the series on Monday at 10h00.

Hosts, the Blue Bulls, will line up against SWD at 16h00, while their sister union, the Limpopo Blue Bulls, take on Namibia.

The Coca-Cola Academy Week will also feature a series of exciting matches on the opening day, with the Griffons, who completed last year’s competition unbeaten, meeting Border on the HTS Drostdy A field, and Griquas taking on Griffons Country Districts on the B field at 08h45.

Hosts Boland will meet the Blue Bulls in what is expected to be one of the top matches of the day at 15h30 in an exciting end the first day’s play. A Boland XV will also look to make their presence felt against the Leopards Country Districts at 13h45.

With several Springboks, including recently capped Bok flyhalf Handré Pollard and forward Teboho Mohoje, fullback Willie le Roux and several other senior national players having progressed through the South African rugby structures from these competitions, the players participating in the tournaments in the next few days are expected to put their bodies on the line to impress the selectors and scouts.

Coca-Cola Under-16 Grant Khomo Week fixtures:
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Day One, TUT Stadium (Pretoria):
10h00: Western Province v Border (A Field)
10h00: Valke v Griffons (B Field)
11h15: KwaZulu-Natal v Golden Lions (A Field)
11h15: Blue Bulls XV v Border CD (B Field)
12h30: Eastern Province v Free State (A Field)
12h30: Griquas v Zimbabwe (B Field)
13h45: Boland v Pumas (A Field)
13h45: Griquas CD v Leopards (B Field)
16h00: Blue Bulls v SWD (A Field)
16h00: Namibia v Limpopo Blue Bulls (B Field)

Coca-Cola Under-18 Academy Week fixtures:

Day One, HTS Drostdy (Worcester):
08h45: Griffons v Border (A Field)
08h45: Griquas v Griffons CD (B Field)
10h00: Golden Lions v Red Valke (A Field)
10h00: Limpopo Blue Bulls v Pumas CD (B Field)
10h00: Border CD v Griquas CD (C Field)
11h15: Pumas v Eastern Province (A Field)
11h15: Blue Valke v SA LSEN (B Field)
11h15: Eastern Province CD v Leopards (C Field)
12h30: Western Province v Free State (A Field)
12h30: Namibia v KwaZulu-Natal CD (B Field)
13h45: SWD v KwaZulu-Natal (A Field)
13h45: Boland XV v Leopards CD (B Field)
15h30: Boland v Blue Bulls (A Field)