- South African Schools Rugby Union chairperson Noel Ingle said there could be plans to host an Under-16 Rugby week if Covid-19 sanctions allow.
- With the Department of Basic Education halting contact sports last week, rugby's youth weeks have again fallen into the spotlight.
- The various Youth Weeks did not take place last year because of the pandemic.
South African Schools Rugby Union chairperson Noel Ingle said there could be plans afoot for an Under-16 rugby week that's not financially sanctioned by SA Rugby if the Covid-19 conditions allow.
With the Department of Basic Education putting a halt to contact sports last week because of rising Covid-19 infection rates, SA Rugby's age group provincial tournaments that are critical for talent identification are again in peril.
Last year, all of them fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic as schools rugby was stopped in its tracks in early March.
The same has happened this year, but schools had got in a fair bit of rugby before Angie Motshegka's ministry put the break on contact sport.
By the time contact sport was halted, various schools across the country had cancelled derby days because of Covid-19 infections.
Ingle, who's the principal of Glenwood Preparatory School in Durban, said a meeting next month will give them proper direction.
"Grant Khomo Week won't be a SA Rugby endorsed tournament as they don't have the money to sponsor the Under-16 Week," Ingle said.
"The various associations are looking at that as an alternative, but we're going to have a meeting on 7 June and we're going to make joint decisions about the future of the tournaments with the best ability we can under the Covid-19 conditions."
SA Rugby hasn't yet publicly provided direction on whether the Under-18 Craven Week tournament will take place, but the absence of the Under-13 and Under-16 weeks have the potential of muddying the pipeline.
While fully cognisant of the devastation that Covid-19 has wrought in all spheres of SA's society, Ingle said there is going to be long-term impacts that'll be felt because of the unmitigated disasters caused by Covid-19.
"There are age groups that have not played provincial rugby for two years now and for some now, it would have been at Under-13 level," Ingle said.
"They may go into a tournament at some point on the back of little rugby, but I've also realised that children are resilient."
The academic year hasn't been halted, but Ingle said they hoped that there would be a drop in infections that'll allow for schools rugby in the third term for the schools that have the capacity.
"We haven't given up all hope though, so we hope that some things are still developing, but they are Covid-19 dependent," Ingle said.
"I know different schools are looking to move rugby to the third term and adjusting seasons so that some rugby can be played.
"It's a solution that some schools may look at so that some rugby can be played, while the other sports also don't suffer."