Although the week is meant to be a festival, with no overall winner, the two top sides are always matched in the last game of the final day and EP and the SWD Young Eagles got the nod on the back of two strong performances each earlier in the week
EP caused the first upset of the tournament when they beat the highly-fancied Western Province side 14-10 in their opening encounter, and they went on to beat the Golden Lions 13-3 on the second day.
SWD beat KwaZulu-Natal in their first game and then caused a bit of a surprise when they comfortably beat the Blue Bulls 22-10 on day two.
The quality of rugby produced by the two sides, in the process, made them deserved participants in the week’s showpiece game, and they obliged by producing an entertaining spectacle that delivered seven tries and featured lots of running rugby.
It was SWD’s exciting backs that got them into the final game, but their forwards were well beaten on Thursday and they could not produce enough quality possession for them to run with.
EP, on the other hand, looked like a well-balanced side, their forwards drove well and dominated in the loose phases, and they too have backs that can tear defences to tatters.
In the end EP scored five tries, via Jason Vers, Justin Antonie, Martin Groenewald, Peet Schoeman and Sintu Majenzi. Theo Stapelberg added a penalty and three conversions. Douw Schoeman and Geor Malan were the SWD try-scorers, one of which was converted by Arno Moolman.
The Valke gave Free State quite a scare in the main curtain-raiser. They led 15-3 at one stage and 15-10 at half time and looked the better side in the earlier stages of the game.
The Free Staters came back strongly after the break, however, and scored two quick tries to go 22-15 ahead. It was all Valke again in the final few minutes and they came within inches of crossing the tryline on a number of occasions. Free State’s defence held out, however, and they finished the week one of only two unbeaten sides, along with Eastern Province.
Friederich Durow, Julian Delicado, and Reinhard Arndt scored tries for Free State, with EW Viljoen adding a penalty and two conversions.
The Valke’s tries were by Morne Swart and Xoliswa Ngwenya. Kobus Englebrecht kicked a penalty and a conversion.
The Golden Lions and KwaZulu-Natal got the proceedings going on the main field on the final day and the Lions won a scrappy game 22-12. The icy early morning conditions and melting frost did not make for much attractive rugby, but the Lions forwards dominated and when they kept it tight they were able to keep their opponents under pressure.
The Lions outscored Natal by three tries to two and were deserved winners in the end. Their try-scorers were Bandile Semelane, Godfrey Ramaboea and Alpheus Ngwenya. Rihan De Clerk kicked a penalty and two conversions. Siqinseko Butelezi and Narcel Coetzee scored tries for KwaZulu-Natal with Coetzee converting one of them.
The Blue Bulls, who had battled earlier in the week, put it all together in the first half of their game against the Griffons. They scored four glorious first half tries including possibly the score of the week, which came from a movement that began behind their own tryline.
They seemed to go to sleep after half time, however, and the Griffons came back strongly to close the 38-0 half time deficit to 38-12 in the end.
The SA national selectors spent the week in Queenstown and they earmarked 50 players who will be invited to a high performance training camp in Cape Town in September. The names will be announced after next week’s Coca-Cola Craven Week in Kimberley.
Of the 40 years of its existence, Coca-Cola has been part of the week for the past 26, a statistic the company is proud of. “Coca-Cola sponsors tournaments at the highest level and we are fully aware that no country can be successful without a strong development programme in place and Coca-Cola has played a major role in finding Springboks. More than 90 percent of the current squad have competed in one of the Coca-Cola Youth Weeks,” said Zayd Abrahams, Head of Sparkling Beverages, Coca-Cola South Africa.
Abrahams said further: “But the four weeks we are involved with, namely the Coca-Cola U13, Academy, Under 16 and Under 18 weeks are also about living for a difference and living a healthy lifestyle. These are the messages we also promote throughout each tournament.”
Thursday’s Results
Leopards 24 Border CD 13,
Namibia 25 Griquas CD 19,
Boland 11 Border 10,
Griquas 22 Limpopo 13,
Western Province 19 Pumas 17,
Golden Lions 22 KwaZulu-Natal 12,
Blue Bulls 38 Griffons 12,
Free State 22 Valke 15,
Eastern Province 34 SWD 12
All pictures are from Gallo Images
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| Free State celebrate during the match between Free State and Valke on day 4 |
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| Godfrey Ramaboea scores as Ntlantla Ngubane tackles him during the match between KZN and Golden Lions |
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| Godfrey Ramaboea tackled by Ntlantla Ngubane during the match between KZN and Golden Lions |
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| Hendri Storm looks on as Sintu Manjezi on his way to score during the match between EP and SWD |
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| Jade Solomons scores during the match between Blue Bulls and Griffons on day 4 |
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| Jurie Linde scores during the match between Blue Bulls and Griffons on day 4 |
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| Linley Kritzinger tackles Elroy Schoeman during the match between EP and SWD on day 4 |
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| Noel Kapank tackles Douw Schoeman during the match between EP and SWD on day 4 |
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| Peet Schoeman tackles Douw Schoeman during the match between EP and SWD on day 4 |
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| Timothy Price tackles Jason Vers during the match between EP and SWD on day 4 |
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