{"id":92105,"date":"2026-03-18T14:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=92105"},"modified":"2026-03-18T14:14:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:14:21","slug":"rugby-championship-u20-heads-back-to-gqeberha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=92105","title":{"rendered":"Rugby Championship u20 heads back to Gqeberha"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"SANZAAR\u2019s Rugby Championship U20 competition returns to the iconic Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, when the best junior talent from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina converges on Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape at the end of April.<\/p>\n

The southern hemisphere\u2019s next generation of stars descend on the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole for the second successive year, with the action kicking off on Freedom Day, 27 April, followed by match days on 3 and 9 May as the teams step up their preparations for the Junior World Championship in Georgia in June and July.<\/p>\n

Following last year\u2019s tournament, the Junior Boks and New Zealand Under-20s went on to contest the final for the world crown with captain Riley Norton\u2019s team going on to take gold for South Africa.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the U20 Rugby Championship will be priced from only R35 per person per day for two matches, and will be sold exclusively by Ticketmaster \u2013 CLICK HERE<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer said it was a feather in the cap of SA Rugby and the Eastern Cape to host the third instalment of this tournament for a second time.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year\u2019s event was a massive success, and we are thrilled that this tournament will be returning to Gqeberha,\u201d said Oberholzer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Eastern Cape has a rich rugby culture and a passionate fan base, and like last year we expect good crowds to come to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium to see the four teams in action across three double-header match days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe combination of top-notch facilities at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and superb accommodation and training options, coupled with the enthusiastic support of the people of the Eastern Cape will make this another memorable experience for everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

SANZAAR CEO Brendan Morris said: \u201cFollowing the success of the tournament in Gqeberha last year, SANZAAR is pleased to announce that the 2026 U20 Rugby Championship will again head to South Africa this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year New Zealand retained the title with an exhilarating 48-45 win over the hosts South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe third edition of this important Championship will again be played at the wonderful Nelson Mandela May Stadium in Gqeberha as Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa go head-to-head over three rounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs in previous years the tournament will provide a vital pathway for up-and-coming rugby talent through exposure to essential international competition and provide development opportunities for the next generation of coaches, team management and match officials. SANZAAR sincerely thanks SA Rugby for its support of the Championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second international rugby event headed to Gqeberha in the coming months after it was announced recently that the Springboks will kick off their 2026 season against the Barbarians at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday, 20 June.<\/p>\n

Fixtures:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday, 27 April<\/strong><\/p>\n

14h00: New Zealand v Australia<\/p>\n

16h10: Junior Boks v Argentina<\/p>\n

Sunday, 3 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

14h00: New Zealand v Argentina<\/p>\n

16h10: Junior Boks v Australia<\/p>\n

Saturday, 9 May<\/strong><\/p>\n

14h00: Argentina v Australia<\/p>\n

16h10: Junior Boks v New Zealand<\/p>\n

Issued by SA Rugby Communications<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SANZAAR\u2019s Rugby Championship U20 competition returns to the iconic Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, when the best junior talent from South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina converges on Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape at the end of April. The southern hemisphere\u2019s next generation of stars descend on the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole for the second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":92106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/92106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}