The Coastal Section, which will run concurrently with the Iqhawe Week at Paarl Gymnasium, features four teams, namely Boland, Eastern Province, DHL Western Province and the Cell C Sharks.
The Inland Section, which will be hosted at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg, will feature six teams, namely the Vodacom Blue Bulls, Valke, Toyota Free State, Xerox Golden Lions, Leopards and Phakisa Pumas.
The teams in the Coastal Section will each face each other once during pool play, with the top team on the standings at the end of the three rounds advancing to the final, while the Inland Section will be played in a knock-out format based on the teams’ log positions from the 2018 season, with the top team earning their place in the final.
The final will be hosted at the home ground of the winner of the Coastal Section on the first weekend in October. Should DHL Western Province host the final, the match will be played as a curtain-raiser for the Springbok Women’s Test against Scotland at City Park in Athlone.
DHL Western Province will face Boland in an entertaining Western Cape derby on the opening day’s play of the Coastal Section on Monday, 23 September, with Eastern Province taking on the Cell C Sharks.
The first round of the Inland Section will see the Vodacom Blue Bulls take on the Valke, the Xerox Golden Lions face the Phakisa Pumas, and Toyota Free State and Leopards take on one another.
This will be followed by the second round of matches on Wednesday, 25 September, and last round of pool games on Friday, 27 September.
SA Rugby U19 Championship fixtures:
Inland Section: Emirates Airline Park (Monday, 23 September):
10h00: Toyota Free State v Leopards (QF3)
12h00: Vodacom Blue Bulls v Valke (QF1)
14h00: Xerox Golden Lions v Phakisa Pumas (QF2)
Coastal Section: Paarl Gymnasium (Tuesday, 24 September):
14h30: DHL Western Province v Boland
16h00: Eastern Province v Cell C Sharks
Inland Section: Emirates Airline Park (Wednesday, 25 September):
10h00: Playoff: Two teams that do not qualify for Semi-finals
12h00: Semi-final 2: Winner Q2 vs Winner Q3
14h00: Semi-final 1: Winner of Q1 vs Best loser (based on points’ difference)
Coastal Section: Paarl Gymnasium (Thursday, 26 September):
14h30: DHL Western Province v Eastern Province
16h00: Boland v Cell C Sharks
Inland Section: Emirates Airline Park (Friday, 27 September):
10h00: Two last-placed teams according to rankings
11h30: Two best-placed runners up according to rankings
13h00: Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2
Coastal Section: Paarl Gymnasium (Saturday, 28 September):
15h30: Cell C Sharks v DHL Western Province
14h00: Eastern Province v Boland
Final: Date and venue TBC
