Previously, all South African provincial unions competed in both an Under-21 and an Under-19 competition each season.
That format was retained for the seven leading provincial unions at youth level, but the competition for the remaining eight provincial unions was changed to an Under-20 competition from 2016 onwards.
[1] The tournament was won by Griffons U20; they beat Boland U20 22–16 in the final played on 7 October 2016.
The top four teams qualified for the title play-off semi-finals.
For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets: The following matches were played in the 2016 Under-20 Provincial Championship:[3][4]