How Teams Are Organized and Matches Planned
Competition structure
Each school will have the opportunity to bring 2 squads of players, playing in 2 different competitions. Because this is seen as preseason preparation players will be allowed to be moved between squads. A typical A and B section per group of schools will be determined where the respective A and B teams will play against each other in different groups.
The competition structure will be amended as the interest of the respective competitions increase, and for now it will vary between a model of 8 teams, or 12 teams or 16 teams to be determined before the end of May. Each A team will be expected to play 4 games in the 7 allotted days to the competition, with 4 matches for the B teams.
The ideal is to determine the ‘Summer Champ’ team of the next year where schools in a pool will play 3 round robin matches followed by a final, and other respective play off matches to determine a pool winner.
Ideally all participating schools will be asked to bring a squad consisting of the following characteristics:
- 40 x players
- 6 x props
- 3 x hookers
- 2 x teams of 25 players per match from the 40. (A and B teams will not play on the same times.)
- Rolling subs will be used.
- 30 minutes playing time (A Squads)
- 30 minutes running time (B squads)
Date and Venue
Matches will be played between 5 and 11 December, where all A & B teams will play 4 matches.
Do take note the HSBC Sevens is in Cape Town the same weekend and the Sunday will be an ideal opportunity to experience that.
Let your school be the next summer champ
Which Schools
The organisers want to see that we have a lineup of schools appreciated by the South African public. The honours of being the ‘Summer Champ’ will create the expectation of being the team to beat the following year.
For the rugby purists, the competition structure will stay flexible till the 31st of May, whereafter all groups will be finalised.
At the date of launch a few prominent schools, with strong rugby programs, have already indicated that they would be very keen to participate in Stellenbosch, with the first list of participating schools being released very soon.
Strength-versus-strength in pre-season is extremely important and all schools are welcome to enter. All participating schools will be put in pools of 8-16 of equal strength, with a competition format leading to a winner of the specific pool.
For clarification, even the smallest of schools can participate. Schools will indicate their required level of strength and who they want to be compared with. They will be placed into a pool of equally strong schools to play the respective matches in a fair and competitive environment.
We will have 4-5 pools consisting of 8 to 16 teams each. Pools will contain evenly matched schools, assisting schools to measure themselves in their preseason preparation
It is the organisers’ dream to evolve the festival over time to include:
- Summer Champs
- Summer Futures
- Summer Breakthroughs
- Summer Warriors
All of the above will be separate competitions on separate levels of strength. All agreed with each respective school.
Once entries are full, the allocation of pools will be finalised. Only 40 schools will be allowed to enter in year one, allowing us to do the following:
- Group 1 – 8 – 16 teams
- Group 2 – 8 teams
- Group 3 – 8 teams
- Group 4 – 8 teams
Entry fee for a team to be enrolled in this competition will be confirmed before 1 May 2024.
Schedule to
be confirmed
Accommodation
Schools are welcome to stay wherever they want to, but affordable accommodation will be offered to the schools at local school residences in Stellenbosch. This will allow schools to save costs and make the festival as affordable as possible.
