The
long awaited under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Youth Week kicked off at the
Tshwane University of Technology today.
Twenty
provincial teams from around the country locked horns and scouts were there in
numbers with the hopes of snapping up some of the country’s best young
athletes.
The
regular strong provincial showing from Western Province, Free State, Lions,
Bulls and Sharks continued as they all displayed a strong and entertaining
running brand of rugby.
Western
Province took on Border in a one sided affair that saw Western Province win by
9 unanswered tries, with 8th man Khanya Ncusana scoring a hat trick.
KwaZulu-Natal
and the Lions played in an evenly tight match up that saw the lead exchange
hands a number of times but it was the Lions who hung on to their 5 point lead
to see off the Sharks. Lion’s Wandisile Simelane scooped the man of the
match award and contributed 12 of his teams 22 points.
In
other matches the Free State dispatched a valiant Eastern Province and Boland
edged out Pumas. The Griffons did just enough to comfortably overcome the Red
Valke.
The
Blue Bulls XV showed little to no mercy as they beat the Border County District
team 64 – 3 and Zimbabwe’s Travis Landing did well to set up his team’s 19 – 15
win over the Griquas. The Griquas CD team triumphed in their physical encounter
with the Leopards.
Blue
Bulls beat South West Districts 40-19 and Namibia beat Limpopo Blue Bulls 29-19
in the final games of the day.
Former
Springbok and Blue Bulls scrumhalf Derick Hougaard had this to say about the
tournament: “This is an important youth rugby week. At this age the
players are starting to show their worth and I am pleased to see so many scouts
are here as they need to identify and nurture the future talent. I also think
it’s a great opportunity for players to make a name for themselves before they
progress through to the under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week. I also encourage these
young players to watch the other provincial teams in action.”
Former
SA 7’s Captain Paul Delport attended the first day of play to look for talent
for his Springbok 7’s Academy. “Each team only played one game today and
the players need to settle in a bit more, but I have to say that I am impressed
so far and there are a couple of youngsters I will keep my eye on
tomorrow. It’s a very important identification stage for SA rugby.
We are all looking for youngsters to place in various elite squads.”
Delport
says that looking for 7’s players requires certain qualities. “We look
for different qualities in players to the conventional XV brand of rugby, but
it is also important for them to be able to move seamlessly through either
code. Those are the kind of guys we are looking for, guys with all-round
ability and all round skill that are willing to work hard.”
Play
will resume Tuesday at the TUT stadiums in Pretoria and
teams will be scheduled head to head according to their performance today.
RESULTS:
Border
0
vs Western
Province 61
KwaZulu-Natal
17
vs Golden
Lions
22
Free
State
48 vs
Eastern Province 12
Boland
22 vs
Pumas
19
Blue
Bulls
40
vs
SWD
19
B-Field,
TUT Stadium
Valke
6 vs
Griffons
19
Blue
Bulls
XV
64
vs Border CD
3
Griquas
13 vs
Zimbabwe
15
Griquas
CD
14
vs Leopards
12
Namibia
29
vs Limpopo
Blue Bulls 19
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