It took an injury-time penalty by Lions flyhalf Jaco Van der Walt to secure the win after the Natallers had clawed their way back from being 16-5 down at halftime to lead 18-16 with five minutes to go.
The Lions stuck to their task, however, working their way up field through forward driving movements in the final minutes to be in a position for the shot at goal.
Free State also came from behind to beat the Blue Bulls in another high quality game on Wednesday to book their place in Saturday’s concluding fixture.
The Lions scored a try through C-Than Moos. Van der Walt kicked a conversion and four penalties.
Tyler Fisher and Siyabonga Tom scored tries for KwaZulu-Natal, with Tom kicking two penalties.
Western Province got back on the winning track following their disappointing loss to KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday, beating Border 42-26 on Thursday. They raced to a 34-0 lead by half time, and then went to sleep allowing Border to come back with four second half tries.
It was too little too late, however, and Province had the final say with a late try.
The Western Province tries were by Andre Warner, Jacobus Van der Merwe, JP Lewis, Ryno Van der Merwe, Tshepo Motlale and Timothy Swiel. Swiel also kicked two penalties and three conversions.
Dylan De Wilzen, Siphesihle Punguzwa, and Simphume Msuntwana scored tries for Border. Joshua Stander converted three of them.
A feature of this week has been the performance of some lesser fancied unions. The Valke’s win over SWD and KwaZulu-Natal’s victory over Western Province where both long in the coming and a victory in a similar vein was the Northern Free State Griffons’ 31-16 win over Eastern Province on Thursday.
The boys in purple thoroughly deserved the victory. Their forwards dominated up front and their backs were more inventive with ball in hand.
As far as can be remembered by old-timers at the week, this is the first time since the 1982 week in Windhoek that the Griffons (or Northern Free State before them) have beaten Eastern Province at the tournament.
The Griffons outscored their opponents by four tries to one. Theirs were by Brendan October, Jacobus Enslin, Kallie Erasmus and Kirsten Heyns. October also kicked three conversions. EP got a try through Jean Pittaway. Selwyn Davids added three penalties and a conversion.
The Griquas Country Districts side got the ball rolling on the fourth day and they warmed the hearts of the local crowd with a 33-16 win over the Border Country Districts side. They produced a workmanlike performance and were just getting into their stride when the game was disrupted by a lengthy break for an injury and they never regained their rhythm after that.
They still scored five tries and were never really threatened.
The tries were scored by AJ Bowen, Andre Esterhuyse, David Burden, Eswyn Heyns and Gabriel Liebenberg. Herman Share and Peter Walters kicked two conversions apiece.
Mpolase Linamandla scored a try for the Border Country team, Divandre Sissing kicked two penalties and a conversion and Lungile Yamba dropped a goal.
The Limpopo Blue Bulls were way too strong for the visitors from Zimbabwe. They starved them of possession, and when the Zimbabweans stopped tackling in the second half, the floodgates opened.
Limpopo eventually ran in 11 tries. Four players – Anton Du Toit, Don Mlondolozi, Viljoen Dreyer and Madala Ndinisa – scored two tries each, with the others coming from Harold Verster, Juan Smit, Royes Auret, and Jacobus Marais. Marais also kicked a penalty and nine conversions, for a personal tally of 26 points. The lone Zimbabwe try was by Garth Mieklem converted by James Forrester.
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 – Griquas Country 33 Border Country 16,
Limpopo 81 Zimbabwe 7,
Griffons 31 Eastern Province 16,
Western Province 42 Border 26,
Golden Lions 19 KwaZulu-Natal 18.
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| Carel Swart from KZN during day 4 of the Coca-Cola Under 18 Craven Week during the game between KZN and Lions |
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| Chris Massyn from Golden Lions during day 4 of the Coca-Cola Under 18 Craven Week during the game between KZN and Lions |
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| Dirk Kotze from Golden Lions celebrates during day 4 of the Coca-Cola Under 18 Craven Week during the game between KZN and Lions |
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| Marco Klopper from Griffons during day 4 of the Coca-Cola Under 18 Craven Week during the game between Griffons and EP |
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| Border saying a prayer before the match during day 4 of the Coca-Cola Under 18 Craven Week during the game between WP and Border |
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| Brendan Cope from KZN during day 4 of the Coca-Cola Under 18 Craven Week during the game between KZN and Lions |
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| Siyabonga Tom from KZN during day 4 of the Coca-Cola Under 18 Craven Week during the game between KZN and Lions |
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| Ramone Samuels from WP during day 4 of the Coca-Cola Under 18 Craven Week during the game between WP and Border |
Where can n I get the pictures of the griffons Cravenweek photos of 2011
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