EP, KZN
dominate day two of the Coca-Cola Craven Week
Eastern Province and KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday stamped their
authority on the second day of the Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week at the
Markötter Sports Complex at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch as they
registered encouraging victories in the top match-ups of the day.
Eastern Province, who took top honours at last year’s
tournament, were in fine form against SWD in a repeat of the 2014 final match
and registered a 41-31 victory, while KwaZulu-Natal defeated the Golden Lions
18-16 in a nail-biting encounter.
Griquas, the Valke and Griquas CD also started off their
campaigns on a high note as they secured victories against the Leopards,
Eastern Province CD and Zimbabwe respectively.
The third round of matches will be played on Wednesday, with
hosts DHL Western Province taking on the Griffons and Boland going up against
Border.
For a full run of play report, please click on the link
provided
Eastern Province started off their clash against the SWD
Eagles with a bang thanks to their ability to create point-scoring chances and
to capitalise on them. The team delivered a solid display with their forwards
and backs combining well, while flyhalf Curwin Bosch dictated play with
distinction and backed this up with his golden boot, which allowed them to
dominate proceedings throughout the match.
Eastern Province had the first say thanks to a try by Riaan
van Rensburg in the third minute, and they added another in the 17th
minute, while Bosch slotted over a drop goal, while SWD were only able to kick
a penalty in the half. This convincing start pushed the Port Elizabeth side
15-3 ahead at the break.
The second half proved to be a try festival as the teams
showed fantastic flair on attack and backed this up with fine decision-making.
While Eastern Province continued to build on their solid first half with
another two tries, SWD they found their rhythm on attack and the rewards
followed as they scored four tries to match that of the Eastern Cape side. Two
extra penalties and another two drop goals by Bosch to take his personal tally
in the match to 21 points, however, proved to be the difference between the
sides on the scoreboard. These heroics earned Eastern Province a 41-31
victory.
Scorers:
Eastern Province – Tries: Khewzi Mafu, Mohamed Connelly,
Lubabalo Dobela, Riaan van Rensburg. Conversions: Curwin Bosch (3). Penalties:
Curwin Bosch (2). Drop Goals: Curwin Bosch (3).
SWD Eagles - Tries: Manie Libbok (2), Christo Hamman, Luvuyo
Ndevu. Conversions: Manie Libbok (4). Penalty: Manie Libbok.
The battle between KwaZulu-Natal and the Golden Lions was
epic with the teams put their bodies on the line throughout the clash. The
Lions opened up the scoring in the fourth minute with a penalty by Mthi
Simelane, but this was cancelled out by KwaZulu-Natal as they crossed the chalk
for the first try of the match. The exchanges that followed were tight,
resulting in both teams opting for penalties to get points on the board. The
Lions, however, fought back and their efforts paid off with a converted try
four minutes before the break, which earned them a 13-10 halftime lead.
The second half was equally intense as the teams continued
to use their physicality in the hope of powering their way through the defence,
but with neither side giving an inch, they opted for penalties once again, with
Simelane slotting over his third three-pointer and KwaZulu-Natal’s Bader
Pretorius his second.
The Sharks, however, dominated territory and this allowed
them to apply immense pressure on the Lions. But the Johannesburg team absorbed
the pressure well. The Durban side’s efforts eventually paid off in the final
minute as Xolisa Guma crossed the tryline to secure a nail-biting 18-16
victory.
Scorers:
KwaZulu-Natal – Tries: Xolisa Guma, Mulalo Sadiki.
Conversion: Bader Pretorius. Penalties: Bader Pretorius (2).
Golden Lions - Try: Tiaan Van der Merwe. Conversion: Mthi
Simelane. Penalties: Mthi Simelane (3).
The clash between the Leopards and Griquas was a physical
forward battle as the teams both used their big forwards to try to force their
way onto the front foot. On occasions they looked for space out wide in an
attempt to sneak through to the tryline, but with the teams closely matched on
attack and defence, it proved to be an epic battle until the end as only five
points separated the sides on the scoreboard for a lengthy period in the second
half.
The Leopards opened up the scoring in the 12th
minute with a try, but back-to-back tries by Griquas’ Janco Cloete within three
minutes pushed the Kimberley side into the lead. The Leopards hit back with two
tries of their own minutes later to take a 17-14 halftime lead.
Griquas tightened up their defence in the second half and
stepped up their attack, which allowed them to break through the determined
Leopards’ defence for another two tries, one of which was by Janco Cloete to
secure his hat-trick. This earned Griquas a hard-earned 28-17 victory.
Scorers:
Leopards – Tries: Marthinus Vermeulen, Edmund Rheeder,
Jacobus Dreyer. Conversion: Andre Kock.
Griquas - Tries: Rian Kotze, Janco Cloete (3). Conversions:
Gert Nortje (4).
A strong finish by the Valke in which they scored three
tries in the last 20 minutes against Eastern Province CD, earned them a
morale-boosting 43-27 victory in their opening match of the tournament.
The
Valke started the clash on an encouraging note with four tries in the first
half to only two by Eastern Province CD, which pushed them 26-12 ahead at
halftime.
The Eastern Cape side, however, came out firing in the
second half with two tries in two minutes by Geoffrey Dakin and Xolile
Mdlokovana, which allowed them to reduce the deficit on the scoreboard
tremendously. But the Valke cancelled this out as they powered their way to a
strong finish with three tries to secure a convincing victory.
Scorers:
Valke – Tries: Xander Crause (2), Erich Cronje, Ntshepe
Kokong, Dylan Van der Walt, Marco Niemandt, Franklin Wagner. Conversions:
Xander Crause (4).
Eastern Province CD - Tries: Geoffrey Dakin, Gevanhier Blom,
Xolile Mdlokovana (2). Conversions: Geoffrey Dakin (2). Penalty: Geoffrey
Dakin.
Griquas CD and Zimbabwe were involved in a tight tussle from
the outset as both teams tried hard to breach the defence but battled to force
their way through. With the Griquas CD defence holding well in the middle of
the field, Zimbabwe opted to spread the ball wide and this paid off as they
scored the first try of the match compliments of Ben Meredith, which proved to
be the only points of the half.
The second half was equally tight as Griquas CD used their
forwards in an attempt to gain ascendancy, with flank and captain Cobus Wiese
leading by example, while Zimbabwe’s backs made their presence felt.
These strengths earned them each a try in the third quarter,
but mistakes at crucial times by Griquas CD denied them from crossing the line
a few more times. Griquas CD, however, staged a dramatic comeback in the dying
minutes as they crossed the tryline twice to snatch a 17-12 victory.
Scorers:
Griquas CD – Tries: Dolf Zandberg, Wynand Terblanche, Dian
Dry. Conversion: Adri du Plessis.
Zimbabwe - Tries: Ben Meredith, Tarisai Mapfumo. Conversion:
Ben Meredith.
Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week day-two results:
Eastern Province 41 - 31 SWD Eagles
KwaZulu-Natal 18 - 16 Golden Lions
Leopards 17 - 28 Griquas
Valke 43 - 27 Eastern Province CD
Griquas CD 17 - 12 Zimbabwe
Under-18 Coca-Cola Craven Week day-three fixtures:
09h00 – Limpopo Blue Bulls vs Border CD
10h30 – Free State vs Namibia
12h00 – Blue Bulls vs Pumas
13h30 – Boland vs Border
15h00 – DHL Western Province vs Griffons
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