Mthatha in the Eastern Cape will host the country’s best Under-20 women’s players later this month when 11 provincial unions and an invitational team from Zimbabwe compete in the inaugural SA Rugby U20 Women’s Tournament.

The festival of rugby will run from 24 to 28 September and will take place at the Mthatha Stadium.

The tournament was made possible through a commercial partnership agreement between SA Rugby, the Eastern Cape Department of Sports, Recreation and Arts and Culture, and Likhithanande Engineers.

“By hosting the U20 Women’s tournament in the OR Tambo District, we aim to not only showcase the talent and potential of our young female rugby players but also to inspire and empower women to actively participate in the sport,” said Lynne Cantwell, SA Rugby’s High-Performance Manager for Women’s Rugby.

“Although this U20 competition is only one step in the pathway for women and girls, we see it as an essential preparatory step before senior rugby at a key age grade where drop out has historically been high.

“This event serves therefore as a crucial aspirational platform for the women of our country, providing the opportunity to link junior and senior rugby and helping to develop a strong and inclusive rugby community.

“Women’s rugby will be firmly in the spotlight in the coming months with the Springbok Women playing three Tests in the build-up to the WXV 2 tournament, which we are hosting in Cape Town and Stellenbosch in the second half of October.

“We would like to thank the Eastern Cape Government and Likhithanande, as well as the Border Rugby Union, for joining hands with SA Rugby in making this week possible. It’s a great initiative and will benefit our national women’s teams in the future.”

Following the tournament, a Junior Springbok Women’s team will be chosen for a match in October, with their opponent to be announced in due course.

The teams have been split into two groups for three matches on each of the first two days of action (Sunday 24 and Monday 25 September) after which sides will be ranked for the next two match days, also comprising three encounters per day. All 12 teams will be in action on the final day of the tournament (Thursday 28 September).

Fixtures (first two match days):

Sunday, 24 September
09h30: Limpopo vs Zimbabwe
11h30: Blue Bulls vs Western Province
13h15: Opening Ceremony
14h00: Border vs SWD

Monday, 25 September
09h30: Eastern Province vs Golden Lions
11h30: Griquas vs Free State
13h30: Sharks vs Boland

Issued by SA Rugby Communications