The annual U16 Grant Khomo week took a controversial turn after Western Province were reportedly pulled out of appearing in the final match against Free State for not meeting SA Rugby’s racial quotas.

Western Province were originally scheduled to take on Free State in the unofficial final of the tournament on Thursday at Boland Landbou in the Western Cape.

Both teams were unbeaten after Western Province claimed wins against Boland (49-12) and the Blue Bulls (25-18), while Free State beat Border (29-20) and the Golden Lions (23-9).

However, according to a report by Netwerk24, a late change to the schedule has seen the Blue Bulls scheduled to face Free State in the final game, while Province will take on the Lions in the penultimate match.

This is reportedly because Western Province did not meet SA Rugby’s requirement to field at least 11 players of colour in the matchday-23 in the win against the Blue Bulls earlier in the week.

Injuries to two of Western Province’s players in their opening game forced them to call up two white players from the Western Province XV side against the Bulls.

All other fixtures on the final remain as scheduled.

Day Three Fixtures:
08h30: South Western Districts v Pumas, A Field
08h30: Limpopo Blue Bulls v Zimbabwe, B Field
08h30: Border Country Districts v Free State XV, C Field
09h50: Boland v Eastern Province, A Field
09h50: Griquas v Namibia, B Field
09h50: Griffons v Valke, C Field
11h10: Western Province XV v Sharks, A Field
11h10: Leopards v Border, B Field
12h30: Western Province v Golden Lions, A Field
13h50: Blue Bulls v Free State, A Field

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images