Craven Week
 The current Coca-Cola Craven Week logo | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 1964 |
| Number of teams | 20 |
The Craven Week is an annual rugby union tournament organised for schoolboys in the Republic of South Africa. The tournament started in July 1964, and is named after the legendary Springbok rugby union player and coach Dr Danie Craven.[1][2][3]
The tournament has its humble beginnings in an idea by Piet Malan, then Springbok flanker, in 1949, around the time of the South African Rugby Board's 75th anniversary. He wanted schools to feature in the celebrations and approached Danie Craven in Potgietersrus on how this could be done.
Dr Craven took the idea to his board who decided on getting the 15 schools unions together for a week. The man who kept the idea alive however was one Jan Preuyt, a former student at the University of Stellenbosch and teacher at Port Rex Technical School in East London. Preuyt had played rugby for Griqualand West and was also the chairman of Border Schools.
At the time there was no such thing as a South African Schools organisation, and the South African Rugby Board were not involved, so Preuyt and Border Schools arranged the first Craven Week tournament on their own.
The competition began with 15 teams in 1964, growing to 28 in 1987 and 32 in 2000. The format was changed in 2001, and now allows for just 20 teams.
Each year since 1974 a South African schools team has been selected, and the competition has been open to players of all races since 1980 when Craven himself requested that it be done. The competition has since become a hunting ground for talent scouts trying to find the best new players for their provinces and many young upcoming stars see the tournament as an opportunity to further their careers.
Currently the tournament is known as the "Coca-Cola Craven Week" with The Coca-Cola Company as the main sponsor of the event.
Results
Despite there being no official final for the Craven Week tournaments, there is a main match every year that features the two best teams at the tournament. The results of these main matches since 1971 are:[4][5]
| Main matches at the Craven Week | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner-Up | ||||
| 1971 | Kimberley | Western Province | 11–0 | Griqualand West | ||||
| 1972 | Potchefstroom | Western Province | 16–9 | Western Transvaal | ||||
| 1973 | Stellenbosch | Western Province | 36–7 | Transvaal | ||||
| 1974 | Johannesburg | Western Province | 22–12 | South Western Districts | ||||
| 1975 | Pretoria | Eastern Province | 46–13 | Natal | ||||
| 1976 | Wolmaransstad | Boland | 13–9 | Free State | ||||
| 1977 | Oudtshoorn | Eastern Province | 19–17 | Western Province | ||||
| 1978 | Middelburg | Western Province | 12–3 | Free State | ||||
| 1979 | East London | Northern Free State | 9–6 | Free State | ||||
| 1980 | Stellenbosch | Free State | 16–6 | Transvaal | ||||
| 1981 | Worcester | Transvaal | 11–7 | Western Province | ||||
| 1982 | Windhoek | South Eastern Transvaal | 25–7 | Northern Free State | ||||
| 1983 | Upington | Free State | 13–9 | South Eastern Transvaal | ||||
| 1984 | Bloemfontein | Transvaal | 3–0 | Eastern Province | ||||
| 1985 | Witbank | Free State | 23–15 | Transvaal | ||||
| 1986 | Graaff-Reinet | South Eastern Transvaal | 19–12 | Western Province | ||||
| 1987 | Paarl | Natal / Transvaal | 22–22 | N/A | ||||
| 1988 | Port Elizabeth | Western Province | 16–3 | Free State | ||||
| 1989 | Johannesburg | Transvaal | 17–6 | Eastern Province | ||||
| 1990 | Durban | Natal | 18–8 | Northern Transvaal | ||||
| 1991 | East London | Northern Transvaal | 10–9 | Border | ||||
| 1992 | Pretoria | Western Province | 22–15 | Free State | ||||
| 1993 | Secunda | Northern Transvaal | 25–13 | South Eastern Transvaal | ||||
| 1994 | Newcastle | Border / Eastern Province | 13–13 | N/A | ||||
| 1995 | Bloemfontein | Free State | 15–13 | Boland | ||||
| 1996 | Stellenbosch | Northern Transvaal | 24–12 | Western Province | ||||
| 1997 | Kimberley | Northern Transvaal | 29–27 | Western Province | ||||
| 1998 | Vanderbijlpark | Griqualand West | 32–21 | Western Province | ||||
| 1999 | George | Western Province | 15–11 | Eastern Province | ||||
| 2000 | Port Elizabeth | Pumas | 19–18 | Boland | ||||
| 2001 | Rustenburg | SWD | 26–20 | Blue Bulls | ||||
| 2002 | Pietermaritzburg | Western Province | 31–16 | Free State | ||||
| 2003 | Wellington | Western Province | 22–17 | Free State | ||||
| 2004 | Nelspruit | Free State | 17–16 | Western Province | ||||
| 2005 | Bloemfontein | Golden Lions | 38–15 | Eastern Province | ||||
| 2006 | Johannesburg | Blue Bulls | 35–20 | Golden Lions | ||||
| 2007 | Stellenbosch | Free State | 52–3 | Western Province | ||||
| 2008 | Pretoria | SWD | 31–25 | Free State | ||||
| 2009 | East London | Western Province | 19–17 | Free State | ||||
| 2010 | Welkom | Free State | 42–21 | Western Province | ||||
| 2011 | Kimberley | Free State | 28–17 | Lions | ||||
| 2012 | Port Elizabeth | Blue Bulls | 46–0 | Lions | ||||
| 2013 | Polokwane | Western Province | 45–29 | Lions | ||||
| 2014 | Middelburg | Eastern Province | 25–7 | South Western Districts | ||||
| 2015 | Stellenbosch | Western Province | 95–0 | Eastern Province | ||||
See also
External links
- South Africa Schools Rugby Association
- School of Rugby Craven Week Website
- Rugby 365 Craven Week Site
References
- ^ "A bit of Craven Week history". SuperSport. 9 July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ "Coca-Cola Craven Week celebrates 50 years". School of Rugby. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ "History of Craven Week". Schools Tribune. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
- ^ "Main Matches at the Craven Week for High Schools (1971 - 2014)" (PDF). South African Schools Rugby Association. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
- ^ "Venues of Previous Weeks". South African Schools Rugby Association. Retrieved 26 February 2015.