The 49th Craven Week tournament takes place at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth from 8 to 14 July 2012. Ticket prices in Port Elizabeth will cost R50 for a week pass and R20 for a day pass. School kids in uniform with a chaperone will be allowed in for free.
So, I will be chaperoning the Longhair, in her Holy Rosary uniform to the games – what bad Catholic schoolgirls do after the game will be left up to your imagination and my great titillation though.
It was in 1964 that the very first Craven Week was held in the Eastern Cape in East London and every 12 years in the Eastern Cape thereafter.
Current EP Kings and BRAND NEW DAD, Mpho Mbiyozo was a member of the 2000 Craven Week team that went down to the Blue Bulls. This was a seminal moment in Mpho’s life as he vowed then to make rugby his career – going on to represent South Africa at Sevens as well as Eastern Province, the Stormers and the Kings at the fifteen man game. Mpho’s wife gave birth to their first child this morning – a bouncy baby girl and it was so nice to be able to share just a bit of his joy this morning.
At the launch this morning, a clearly ecstatic new dad, Mpho Mbiyozo remarked; “40% of all Super Rugby players have their roots in the Eastern Cape.”
Other school boy players who went on to greatness after Craven Week have been:
Jan Serfontein, the IRB Junior Player of the Year 2012 at the recent IRB Junior World Championship in Cape Town, was playing in the Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week a just year ago.
Handrè Pollard, another member of the JWC winning Junior Boks squad and who scored 12 points in the pulsating final less than a week ago, showing once more how important this annual showpiece has become for schoolboy rugby.
Eben Etzebeth, a Springbok debutant against England in the recent Castle Incoming Series, also played in the 2009 U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week, confirming this platform not only remains the most iconic schoolboy rugby tournament in the world, but also a passage into professional and representative rugby.
Patrick Lambie – Springbok and Sharks player
Siya Kolisi – new Stormers eighthman
And many more have all go on to greatness
Twenty 22 man teams, including teams from Zimbabwe and Namibia will be taking part in the tournament and staying in three hostels in Uitenhage.
“The Coca-Cola Craven Week is synonymous with unearthing talent and fuelling South African rugby with future Springboks, and we are confident that this year’s participants will need no extra motivation to compete at their best for the duration of the tournament,” said Craig van Niekerk, Coca-Cola South Africa, Marketing Assets Manager. “But it is more than being the vehicle where players begin their quest in tackling the future, it is also aimed at encouraging young rugby players to live an active and healthy lifestyle which is in line with our ‘Live For A Difference’ strategy.”
The U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week, which is named after the legendary rugby player, coach and administrator Dr. Danie Craven, has given rise to some great South African stars from all walks of life. It made history in becoming one of the first multi-racial sporting tournaments in South Africa, opening up its doors to players of all races in 1980.
With the Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week tournament in Port Elizabeth, the Under-18 Academy Week in Wellington (1-5 July) and the Grant Khomo Week for Under-16′s in Johannesburg (1-5 July), the Coca-Cola Youth Weeks promise to be an experience filled with excitement for the whole family – and it cannot be denied that in attending these youth events, you could very well be watching future greats in the making.
SARU Marketing Manager, Sarah Mundy, commented that their contemporary creative and strategic implementations behind Coca-Cola Youth Weeks is directly in line with what SARU wants to do in targeting youth rugby overall.
“It’s vital to develop and revive this tournament all the time. The youth of today want to be involved in exciting and innovative ideas, and marketing the Coca-Cola Youth Weeks this way will motivate young people to become engrossed, participate and consume more rugby,” said Mundy.
