Sadly, the inevitable has happened, and the South African Rugby Union has cancelled all youth weeks for 2020 due to Covid-19. The Grant Khomo U13 and Craven Weeks U16 and U18 are the flagship youth tournaments in the country and act as a stepping stone in many young players’ careers. Many professional and Springbok players was discovered in these youth weeks, which form an integral part of every school boys’ dreams of greatness.
SA Rugby confirmed the cancellation of a number of events and continued contingency planning for others in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, as announced last week.
Jurie Roux, CEO of SA Rugby said: ”Unfortunately, we had to make some very tough calls in terms of local competitions, but we have the buy-in and support from local franchises and the unions, SAREO, My Players and our broadcaster, SuperSport, in this regard. The decision to cancel certain competitions and tournaments is in line with what has been happening across various sporting codes all over the world. We are not shielded from this in South Africa”.
He further stated that in terms of other teams’ participation in certain competitions and hosting of tournaments, they are currently on a return-to-train and play readiness plan, but this is dependent on government advice and decisions, as the pandemic evolves.
The tournaments which are still part of the planning for 2020 are: Local franchise and union competitions planned for June to August as alternatives to Vodacom Super Rugby and Guinness PRO14.
- Currie Cup premier and first divisions
- Provincial U21 competition
- SuperSport Rugby Challenge
- Women’s inter-provincial competition
- International matches involving the Springbok men’s and women’s teams
- HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series involving the Blitzboks
Furthermore, the participation of SA Rugby Sevens Academy and Springbok Women’s Sevens teams will be evaluated as international borders reopen and new dates are received for the World Series qualifiers for 2020.
The following tournaments and competitions have been cancelled for 2020:
- All SA Rugby youth weeks
- SA Rugby provincial U13 and U17 Sevens
- SA Schools U18 Craven Week
- SA Rugby provincial U19 Week
- SA Rugby provincial U20 competition
- SA Rugby provincial Sevens competition
All club and community rugby is still postponed until further notice and SA Rugby reiterated its plea to all clubs, teams, players and coaches to adhere to the lockdown rules.