Only four of the 18 teams participating in the U13 Coca-Cola
Craven Week at Grey College in Bloemfontein remained unbeaten at the end of the
second day’s play on Tuesday as the tournament switched into a different gear.
Nine teams entered the day’s play with round-one wins in the
bag, but Eastern Province, the Golden Lions, Western Province and the Blue
Bulls were the only unbeaten teams by the end of the round.
Eastern Province registered a narrow 17-14 victory against
KZN, while the Golden Lions forced their way to a 18-12 victory against Border,
Western Province defeated the Limpopo Blue Bulls 41-10 and the Blue Bulls beat
SWD 22-0 in another entertaining day of rugby.
The clash between Eastern Province and KZN was nail-biting
as the teams fought until the end, with the Eastern Cape outfit just pipping
their Durban counterparts. Eastern Province outscored KZN three tries to two in
what was a tight tussle from the outset, but it was EP’s defence that stood out
as they shut out the determined KZN team close to their tryline on several
occasions in the dying minutes.
The Golden Lions produced an effective performance to build
up a 15-0 halftime lead against Border. But the Eastern Cape side fought back
strongly in the second half and scored two tries compliments of Litelihle
Bester, one which was converted. A second-half penalty goal by the Lions,
however, saw them secure an 18-12 victory.
Western Province, meanwhile, overcame a strong challenge
from the Limpopo Blue Bulls in a physical encounter to register a 41-10
victory. The Cape side was particularly strong at taking advantage of the
opposition’s mistakes and using their fantastic support play to sneak their way
through the gaps and around the defence. This earned them a rewarding seven
tries, while they limited the Limpopo side to two.
The Blue Bulls literally powered their way to a 22-0 Victory
against SWD as the team played to their strengths by using their bigger players
to force their way through the defence, which they backed up with good support
play. SWD tried hard to force their way into the Blue Bulls half throughout the
match, but the Pretoria side’s solid defence combined with their ability to win
turnovers denied the George side from scoring a single point for their
efforts.
Earlier, Namibia ran circles around Border CD on attack.
Their forwards laid a solid foundation upfront and their backs ran hard on
attack and snuffed out the gaps in the defence. This effective display earned
them a staggering 14 tries, with centre Jurenzo Julius and Louw Rossouw each
scoring a hat-trick, which they also converted, to guide the team to a 92-12
victory.
The Griffons dominated their clash against the Pumas from
the outset and they did well to force their way over the advantage line, which
earned them two first-half tries and a 17-0 lead at the break. They added
another try in the second half, while Pumas winger Samkelo Ntshapela touched
down twice for his team. But these efforts were not enough, and left them
settling for a 22-10 defeat.
The clash between the Valke and Griquas was quite physical
as the teams used their forwards in an attempt to gain ascendancy. The Valke,
however, had the upper hand as they managed to break through the gaps in
defence and they used their chances well to run in six tries, while they
conceded only one, for a 36-7 victory.
Leopards flanker Divan Pieters, meanwhile, was a star player
in his team’s 66-7 victory against Zimbabwe as he scored four of the side’s 10
tries in a one-sided encounter. Zimbabwe managed to score only one converted
try in the first half and they were unsuccessful in their attempts to add to
this in the second half as the Leopards defended with intent.
Boland put their speedy backs to good use in their clash
against hosts, the Free State, which paved the way for their 26-10 victory.
Boland scored two tries in the first half and added two more after the break,
while Free State No 8 Johannes Hendrik Botha scored in each half in what marked
the hosts’ only points.
The U13 teams will have Wednesday off to recover from the
opening two rounds, while the U16 teams will battle it out in their second
round after resting on Tuesday.
U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week day two results (Tuesday, 9
July)::
U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week day two fixtures
(Wednesday, 12 July):
09h30 – Griffons v Western Province XV
09h30 – Leopards v Valke
10h45 – Namibia v KZN
10h45 – Zimbabwe v Border CD
12h00 – Golden Lions v Blue Bulls
12h00 – Griquas v Eastern Province
13h15 – Limpopo Blue Bulls v Boland
13h15 – Pumas v Free State XV
14h30 – Border v SWD
15h45 – Free State v Western Province
Issued by SA Rugby Communications
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