PRETORIA – THE capital city, Pretoria will be a hive of rugby activity later this year when the first instalment of the South African rugby’s Youth Weeks is held.

The Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) will host the 2016 Coca-Cola Youth Weeks for the Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) Week on June 27-30.

After the LSEN Week, the Under-13 Coca-Cola Craven Week, Under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week, to be held the following month at the Paarl Gymnasium and Kearsney College in Durban, will follow.

This will culminate in the Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week on July 11-16

South African Rugby Union (SARU) Chief Executive Officer, Jurie Roux, confirms the dates and venues.

“The new structure of our Youth Weeks will have several benefits, the biggest of which is that we will be able to ensure that the Mobi-Unit coaches, the national selectors, our High Performance staff and the SA Rugby Academy Coaches will be able to attend all the tournaments,” Roux says.

He says in the past, events were either split up into two teams to keep an eye on all the tournaments or alternatively, attend each tournament for only a few days.

“Another advantage is that player education with regards to our rugby pathways, safety campaigns, referee recruitment programmes and contracting could be done simultaneously with both groups of players.

“The new structure will also create a festival of rugby at each venue for the players, their families and friends, while boosting the camaraderie among the players.

With these changes, the players and supporters can look forward to an action-packed SA Rugby Youth Weeks series from start to end,” Roux says.