Os du Randt's son Thian plays in the U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week

The under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week, currently underway at the Tshwane University of Technology,  got off to a great start for Free State flank, Thian Du Randt, a pupil of Bloemfontein’s Grey College.

A highlight of the day yesterday was Free State’s surprisingly comfortable 48-12 win over Eastern Province for which Thian received the Powerade Power Through Player of the Match award. 

According to Thian, Free State did not start well in Monday’s game against Eastern Province but they played far better in the second half and he hopes that for the rest of the week he will continue to play that way.

Thian played in the Coca-Cola under-13 Craven Week three years ago, before moving on to Grey, a move he says has changed his life. “It is because of Grey that I have achieved what I have so far,” he said. “It is turning me into the man I am today. I love school and I am doing well both on and off the playing field.”

Thian’s early success on the rugby field has come as no surprise to his father, double World Cup winner and assistant coach of the Cheetahs Super Rugby team, Os Du Randt.

He was 9 years old when his father gave up playing rugby, and as such doesn’t remember much of the Springbok legend’s career. He would however like to carry on where his father left off and keep the family name alive in the world of rugby. “I would love to become a professional rugby player and follow in the footsteps of my dad,” he said.

Thian does however understand the importance of finding a balance between sport and education and credits his mother with keeping him grounded. “She constantly reminds me that education is as important as rugby and I will need a qualification when my playing days are over,” he said. He is determined to do a BCom accounting degree when he finishes school.

Thian is enjoying the under-16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week.  “Firstly there are 11 Grey players in the team so it is like playing for the school, but the others, who are mostly from HTS Louis Botha, are also fantastic people and there is a great spirit in the team,” he said.

Tightly contested games at the Under 16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Rugby Week

There is no official winner of the Under 16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Rugby Week, currently underway at the Tshwane University of Technology.  Instead the fixtures for the second and final day of play see teams placed according to their strengths.

And the second day of play today saw all teams pick up the pace with five going into the third and final day unbeaten.

Eastern Province and the Pumas started off proceedings in a tightly contested thriller only separated by 2 points. EP’s centre Sibabalwe Mzanywa scored a hat trick and Mario Olivier successfully slotted all his teams’ conversions that lead to his team’s triumph over the Pumas.

A late surge from Pumas through Du Preez van der Merwe almost got the Pumas back in the game but the EP team held on to their win.

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and South West Districts (SWD) played in a 70-point match that saw KZN come out on top, 45 – 25. The Shark’s Tonny Mahlangu scored a brace, and his teammate Francke Botha scored a hat trick as the Sharks steam rolled past SWD in a great display of running rugby.

The Blue Bulls XV made no mistake as they went on to their second tournament victory when they met Namibia. The Namibians trailed by only 4 points in a gutsy display of rugby. The Blue Bulls XV’s Carl Koch delivered the winning try for his team.

Zimbabwe scraped past the Griquas CD winning by a mere 1 point. Griquas CD had an opportunity to win the match with a 58^th minute penalty that sailed wide, much to the delight of the Zimbabwean team who finally ended the match 11 – 10.

In yet another tough and close encounter the Griffons beat Boland 23 – 24 to stay unbeaten after their two matches.

In other matches the Bulls beat the Free State 23 -10, Limpopo Blue Bulls won 23 – 14, and Valke beat Border 13 – 9.

In what some may call the fixture of the day, Western Province (WP) took on the Gauteng  Lions. Both teams just came from a confident win after Day 1’s action. WP was trailing when they went into the but came out fighting and scored two tries by Athi Magwala which was enough to bring the WP team to victory.

Teams will have a rest tomorrow and will resume with their final fixtures on Thursday with the toughest teams going  up against each other.  WP will take on the home team,  Blue Bull in the final match.  This is a replica of the 2013 final, which was won by WP.

RESULTS:

A-Field, TUT Stadium

Pumas 26  vs EP 28

KZN 45 vs SWD 25

Boland 23 vs Griffons 24

Blue Bulls 23 vs Free State 10

Western Province 24 vs Golden Lions 11

B-Field, TUT Stadium

Border CD 0  vs Leopards 46

Blue Bulls XV 19 vs Namibia 14

Griquas CD10  vs Zimbabwe 11

Limpopo Blue Bulls 23  vs Griquas 14

Valke 13 vs Border 9

Day 1 of the U18 Coca-Cola Academy Week ends with a humdinger

Boland and the Blue Bulls end the first day of the U18 Coca-Cola Academy Week held at HTS Drosdty in Worcester on Monday with the hardest fought match of the day.

The Blue Bulls ended up disappointing a very partisan crowd as they scored a try with a couple of minutes to go to beat Boland 31-24 in a game where each team kept on taking the lead only to lose it a couple of minutes later.

The Blue Bulls scored their tries through a brace from Lylle Maart and tries from Shakeel Fredericks  and Chevan Swart. Boland were kept in the game by a brace from Jaydrin Kotze and a try from lock Jaco Abel.

Western Province was the most impressive team on the day. They were full of running against an outgunned Free State side and looked like a complete team, with big strong forwards and skilled hard-running backs.

Carlu Sadie, Danrich Visagie, Michael Meyer, Mitchell Carstens, Mujaahid van der Hoven and Taigh Schoor all crossed the for Province line in the one sided affair.

Free State could only manage one try through Johan Steyn after he was setup by a brilliant solo run by George Mokhomo in the last quarter of the game, but the Western Province had already won the game by then.

Eastern Province was another team to shine when they beat the Mpumalanga Pumas in one of the most exciting games of the day.

In the first 30 minutes of the first half the teams traded tries with Pumas wing Fana Ngwenya  and lock Lukhanyiso Makaula scoring and nippy Eastern province scrumhalf Lucianon Grootboom and eigthman Dean van der Westhuizen responding with their own tries. Eastern Province managed to edge ahead 23-17 in last 5 minutes of the first half, thanks to two penalties kicked by Garrick Mattheus.

EP then showed their class in the second half scoring another four tries through Dean van der Westhuizen, his second of the match, Denver Johan Kleu, Duan Joe Du Plessis, Duwayne Baartman to two from the Mpumalanga Pumas winning the game 49-31.

The Gauteng Lions work made to work hard by the Red Valke who led the game until half time. The Lions only got into their game in the second half to score 19 unanswered points to win by a flattering 26-12.

There were also big wins for Eastern Province Country districts who beat the Leopards 37-0, the Blue Valke who beat the SA LSEN team 31-8 and Border who beat the Griffons 34-10.

Day 1 Results

Griffons 10  Border 34, Griquas 17 Griffons CD 18, Border CD 0 Griquas 33, Limpopo Blue Bulls 31 Pumas CD 3, Golden Lions 26 Red Valke 12, EP CD 37 Leopards 0, EP CD 37 Leopards 0, Pumas 31 Eastern Province 49, Border CD 0 Griquas CD 33, Valke 31 SA LSEN 8, Western Province 43 Free State 5, Namibia 22 KwaZulu-Natal CD 22

UNDER 16 COCA-COLA RUGBY YOUTH WEEK KICKS-OFF

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 8^th 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