Bloemfontein Youth Weeks, Day 2 Review
It was another day of classy rugby action at Grey College in Bloemfontein on Tuesday as the Under-18 Craven Week and Academy Week saw the teams that watched from the sidelines on Monday taking to the field in their first round of matches.
The SA Rugby Craven Week matches were competitive throughout the day with a few late tries alleviating the pressure on some of the sides.
The Western Province XV, Blue Bulls, their Blue Bulls XV counterparts, Griquas and Griffons would be pleased with their victories, which saw them kick off their campaigns on a strong note.
The SA Rugby Academy Week also produced its fair share of entertainment with the Griffons and Pumas cruising to big wins, while it also proved to be a good day for Border, Griquas Country Districts, the Blue Bulls XV, Golden Lions Academy XV and Valke.
The day’s action took the points scored in the first two days of the Craven Week to 414, with 81 Tries, and 498 points and 77 tries in the Academy Week.
All of the Craven Week matches were reported individually on the Rugby365 website.
SA Rugby Academy Week match summaries
Griffons outplayed Griquas completely for the biggest win of the day in the tournament, with their 10 tries steering them to a comprehensive 64-5 victory. Such was their dominance they built up a 33-5 lead at the break. Their fine finishing saw nine players cross the tryline, with Thapelo Moshodi (flank) scoring twice, while Tshepang Morake (wing) scored a try and kicked four conversions for 13 points. Their rock-solid defence, meanwhile, limited Griquas to a first-half try.
The Pumas produced a solid performance all around against the SA LSEN team for a rewarding 52-15 victory, scoring an impressive eight tries in the process. The Mpumalanga side raced to a 33-5 half-time lead and continued this fine form as the match progressed to get their campaign off to a solid start. Pumas No.8 Tshimo Mogale contributed a brace, with Ricardo Schonfeldt (flyhalf) kicking six conversions for a personal total of 12 points, while they limited the SA LSEN side to three tries.
Griquas Country Districts dominated their clash against the SA LSEN XV from the outset, building up an encouraging 26-14 halftime lead en route to their 45-33 victory. A total of 12 tries were scored in the match – all by different players – with Griquas Country Districts accounting for seven of them. The SA LSEN XV tried hard to make their presence felt, with Luan Gouws (flyhalf) leading the charge with a try and four conversions, but their efforts were not enough to counter the opposition.
Border’s patience and will to attack handed them the edge in their clash against the South Western Districts Eagles, with the side registering a 26-8 victory thanks to their four tries to one. In stark contrast to the East London outfit who backed themselves with ball in hand, South Western Districts opted for goal kicks at times as they battled to breach the defence, and they found themselves defending most of the time. Border, however, used the first half to find their feet as they held a slender 7-3 lead, but they found their rhythm and crossed the chalk three times in the second half.
The clash between the Blue Bulls XV and Griffons Country Districts was nail-biting from the outset with the team’s neck-on-neck for most of the match. They entered the break tied at 14-14 before the Pretoria side edged through for a 26-24 victory. Blue Bulls XV No.8 Xander Nel and Bongani Ndlovu (centre) each scored two tries to match the four by the central team, but scrumhalf Wihan Strauss’ three conversions to only two by the opposition sealed the win.
The Golden Lions Academy XV also held their nerve in a tightly-fought encounter against Namibia to secure a narrow 22-19 victory, with five penalty goals seeing them through for the win despite being outscored three tries to one. The Gauteng side inched their way to a 13-12 halftime lead, but Cameron Melville (flyhalf) proved to be star of the day as he kicked all the penalty goals and converted the team’s only try to account for 17 of the team’s points.
The Golden Lions Academy team, meanwhile, went down 36-31 in a physical encounter against the Valke despite leading 19-12 at the break. Valke flank Bishop Mohono and fullback Jason Edwards each crossed the chalk twice, which helped the side to a total of six tries, while Golden Lions Academy centre Diego Swartz tried in vain to keep his team in the game with his two tries and three conversions for a rewarding 16 points.
Under-18 Craven Week
Results
Day 2 – 2 July 2019
Blue Bulls XV vs Golden Lions XV, 32-21
Blue Bulls vs Border, 35-24
Griffons vs Eastern Province Elephants, 28-24
Griquas vs Limpopo, 35-24
Western Province XV vs Golden Lions, 18-14
Day 1 – 1 July 2019
Free State Cheetahs vs Sharks, 46-24
South Western Districts Eagles vs Pumas, 43-22
Valke vs Leopards, 43-24
Western Province vs Boland, 50-24
Fixtures
Day 3 – Wednesday, 3 July 2019
A Field
11.00: Pumas vs Leopards
12.30: Boland vs Valke
14.00: South Western Districts Eagles vs Sharks
15.30: Free State Cheetahs vs Western Province
Under-18 SA Rugby Academy Week
Results
Day 2 – 2 July 2019
Blue Bulls XV vs Griffons Country Districts, 26-24
Border vs South Western Districts Eagles26-8
Golden Lions Academy XV vs Namibia, 22-19
Griffons vs Griquas, 64-5
Griquas Country Districts vs SA LSEN XV, 45-33
Pumas vs SA LSEN, 52-15
Valke vs Golden Lions Academy, 36-31
Day 1 – 1 July 2019
Boland vs Zimbabwe, 45-29
Leopards vs Sharks Country Districts, 27-24
Limpopo vs Eastern Province Elephants, 47-24
Pumas Country Districts vs Border Country Districts, 20-17
Sharks vs Free State, 41-38
Western Province vs Blue Bulls, 73-10
Western Province XV vs Eastern Province Elephants Country Districts, 41-17
Fixtures
Day 3 – Wednesday, 3 July 2019
A Field
08.20: Blue Bulls vs Leopards
09.40: Limpopo vs Western Province XV
B Field
08.20: Blue Bulls Country Districts vs Sharks Country Districts
09.40: Pumas Country Districts vs Eastern Province Country Districts
11.00: Free State Cheetahs vs Boland
12.20: Eastern Province vs Zimbabwe
13.40: Western Province vs Sharks
Iskmsued by SA Rugby Communications
