Free State are the unofficial Coca-Cola Craven Week champions for the second year in a row after they beat the Golden Lions 28-17 in the final game of the 2011 week in Kimberley on Saturday.
They were undoubtedly the top side on view at the tournament and they simply had too much ammunition for a Lions side that looked like they had never fully recovered from their bruising encounter against KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.
Free State were the sharper at the breakdown, forcing a number of turnovers, and their backs made full use of the ball that came their way. They led 28-5 for much of the second half before a late rally by the Lions saw them score two tries to make the scoreline a bit more respectable.
The Lions gave away too many penalties, and turned the ball over too often to be competitive and Free State were deserved winners.
Free State’s tries were scored by Ruwellyn Isbel, KK Hlongwane and Jan Serfontein. Jan Strumpher kicked three penalties and two conversions.
For the Lions Jaco Van der Walt, Dirk Kotze and Sifiso Shabangu scored tries. Sifiso Shabangu kicked a conversion.
The Blue Bulls beat KwaZulu-Natal 29-8 in the main curtain-raiser.
The Natallers were strangely subdued in the game and looked like they had played their final when they went down narrowly to the Golden Lions on Thursday. The Bulls, on the other hand, were determined to end off on a high note and they did just that.
They dominated in all phases of the game and outscored the opponents by five tries to one. A number of their players will not have done their SA Schools chances any harm in the game.
The Blue Bulls tries were scored by Carlo Engelbrecht, Jermaine Kleinsmith, Roelof Smit, Thabo Mabuza and Faf Tredoux. Tredoux also kicked two conversions.
Tyler Fisher got the sole KwaZulu-Natal try and Siyabonga Tom kicked a penalty.
The Northern Free State Griffons became the only other side, after Free State, to finish the week with three wins out of three when they beat the Valke 34-28 in the first match on the A field.
They had to come back from a 20-5 deficit to get the win. It was their tricky backs who did the business, scoring two late tries to secure victory.
The Griffons tries were scored by David van Biljon, Kirsten Heyns, Ruan Van Rensburg and Jaco Enslin. Enslin also kicked two penalties and four conversions.
Jaco Cronje scored two tries for the Valke, with Andrew Van Tonder and Innocent Mokoena getting the others. Warren Potgieter added two penalties and a conversion.
In the second game of the day the Pumas beat Western Province 39-34 in an exciting clash which saw 10 tries scored and fortunes see-saw throughout. The Pumas went comfortably ahead early on, however, and Province were always playing catch-up rugby. In the end they ran out of time and their poor week, by their high standards, ended with just one win out of three.
The Puma’s impressive flanker, Kwagga Smith, scored two tries, as did Reinard Griesel. Neil Meyer scored one try and Kobus Wolmerans kicked two penalties and four conversions.
Andre Walker, Andreas Dercksen, Handre Pollard, JP Lewis and Ryno Van der Merwe dotted down for Province. Timothy Swiel kicked a penalty and three conversions.
In matches on the outer fields on the final day, Griquas made it two out of three by beating Limpopo 34-29, Border condemned SWD to their second loss out of three, beating them 40-22, while Namibia beat Zimbabwe 55-18 in their annual “international” game.
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.”
Results
Leopards 83 Border Country 21, Eastern Province 34 Boland 34, Griffons 34 Valke 28, Namibia 55 Zimbabwe 18, Griquas 34 Limpopo 29, Pumas 39 Western Province 34, Eastern Province Country 29 Griquas Country 19, Border 40 SWD 22, Blue Bulls 29 KwaZulu-Natal 8, Free State 28 Golden Lions 17.
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