Craven Week’s role in South African rugby has changed with the times

When former Cheetahs and Eastern Province Kings player Ronnie Cooke was growing up, he aspired to represent his province at Craven Week. Today, the tournament remains one of the most recognisable fixtures on the schoolboy rugby ­calendar.

However, as the schools rugby landscape in South Africa has changed, so too has the role that Craven Week plays in it. This is according to Cooke, now head of the local branch of The Team, a global sports and entertainment talent agency. For generations, the premier youth rugby tournament served as a key platform for provincial and national scouts to identify emerging talent. Cooke argues that is no longer the case.

“I’m a rugby traditionalist, meaning I grew up with rugby,” he told Daily Maverick. “I played professional rugby for many years. I believe in the traditions of rugby. I love Craven Week. When I was a boy, I aspired to play Craven Week because it was the flagship competition. And unfortunately, the reality is, it’s not any more.

“No one goes to Craven Week any more to scout players. Once you get to Craven Week, the scouting is done. Players have signed their contracts; universities have offered bursaries to players already.”

Craven Week is an annual under-18 rugby union tournament that dates back to 1964 and features provincial teams selected from the country’s top high school players. More than 200 Springboks, such as Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi and Schalk Burger, have participated in Craven Week.

This year’s Craven Week kicks off today at Grey College in Bloemfontein. It forms part of the South African Rugby Union’s (Saru’s) broader Youth Weeks programme, which includes several provincial tournaments spanning the country. They are staged across several age groups, starting from under-13, and include girls’ rugby.

“The big guys are still [at Craven Week],” said Cooke. “They’re still there. But again, the difference is, in the past, guys would go there and play to show what they can do. I’m not saying they’re not doing it now, but by this time, most of the guys have secured their futures.”

Saru’s general manager of participation and development, Ian Schwartz, agreed with Cooke that Craven Week was previously viewed as the “main national shop window for schoolboy talent”. However, he dis­agreed that it’s been sidelined.

“Today it forms part of a broader, more connected and more inclusive talent identification landscape,” Schwartz told Daily Maverick. “Craven Week sits at the flagship under-18 point of the pathway. It is an important national checkpoint, but it is not the only entry point.

“The pathway must have many entry and exit points, because some players sprint early, some arrive late, some need more time, and some step out and return stronger. Its value lies in allowing selectors to compare players in a high-pressure national environment while still recognising that a player’s development story may have started far away from the television cameras.”

An evolving rugby landscape

Cooke has spent the past seven years as head of The Team and the better part of a decade as a sports agent. His role includes negotiating player contracts, sponsorship agreements and transfers, while the company’s scouting network identifies talent from as young as 12 years old.

Having been immersed in the rugby system as both a professional player and scout, Cooke has observed the increasing professionalisation of the game at youth level. One of the biggest changes has been player ­visibility through, for instance, the rise of social media and platforms such as SuperSport Schools.

By the end of the first quarter of 2026, the SuperSport Schools app surged past 1.4-million registered users. Across the app and channel, there were 19-million total views and 317.7-million consumption minutes. SuperSport Schools broadcasts major school leagues and tournaments such as Wildeklawer and Noord-Suid weekly, which means players are being monitored constantly, long before they reach Craven Week.

“Those are almost the new flagship events,” said Cooke. “At these other school events and tournaments is where you’ll find most of the scouts, most of the rugby unions and universities.”

The growing exposure has coincided with increased investment in schoolboy rugby. Schools are pumping millions into their rugby programmes to remain competitive and attract talent. Top rugby schools are spending an average of about R6-million annually on their first-team programmes, with some allocating as much as R10-million towards bursaries to attract top talent, starting as early as under-14 level.

“Television and streaming have changed the landscape, but they have not replaced the pathway. They have improved visibility for some schools and some players, but South African rugby cannot build its talent system only around what is broadcast,” Schwartz argued. “School rugby is more visible than before, but visibility is not evenly distributed. Not every school is televised, not every talented player plays in a high-profile derby, and not every future Springbok begins his journey on a live broadcast.”

A five-year process

A major event in the Youth Week’s programme is the under-16 tournament known widely as Grant Khomo, which Cooke argues has surpassed Craven Week as the tournament for agents and scouts.

According to Schwartz, many players are indeed identified and known before Craven Week. This is because talent identification is a five-year process in which players are tracked, invested in and reassessed as they get older and grow in the game.

“Every player’s journey is different: some are identified early through well-­resourced schools and televised fixtures; others emerge through provincial trials, FNB Youth Weeks, community programmes, elite player development structures or smaller, rural and non-traditional schools where the cameras are not always present,” he said.

“That is why Craven Week continues to matter. It gives Saru and the provincial unions another national platform to assess talent under pressure, while recognising that po­­ten­­tial is not always found in the most visible places.

“Talent must be watched over time, not frozen in one moment. Some players arrive with reputations; others arrive with opportunity. The magic of the week is that both can leave with a future.” DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.