Craven Week Results - Day 3

Again a perfect day in Pretoria where the Craven Week went into its third day at Affies.

Griquas Country Districts vs Border Country Districts, 61-0

This match was really one-way traffic as the boys from Griquas Country Districts, the old North Western Cape in area and colours, were far too strong and well organised for the boys from Transkei.

After the 35 minutes of the first half, the score was already 35-0, That they did not exceed this in the second half was more their own doing than their opponents’.

André Walters, the Griquas Country Districts flyhalf from Hoërskool Namakwaland in Springbok, converted all but the last of his side’s nine tries. His scoring was remarkable and so was that of right wing Jaco Visser of Duineveld in Upington. The speedster scored four tries.

Scorers:

For Griquas Country Districts:
Tries:  André Walters,  André Schoeman, Rassie Taljaard, Jacobus Barnard, Jaco Visser 4, Johan Steenkamp
Cons: André Walters 8

Eastern Province Country Districts vs Limpopo, 17-13

This was a thriller.

Eastern Province Country Districts looked buried for all money, down 13-0 as Gouws Prinsloo kicked huge penalties, his second from 60 metres out, and then a try set up by clever interpassing and scored by scrumhalf ??.

At half-time the men from the Far North led 13-0.

Then gradually Eastern Province Country Districts got into the game. First tall Marlow lock Christoffel du Randt managed to get over for a try from close quarters and then Marlow flyhalf Gouws Prinsloo ran 60 metres with speed and cunning to score under the posts. 14-13. It was a great try.

But things were not over as Limpopo attacked with a will. First Meiring hit the woodwork with a kick close in. The ball ricocheted back into the field of play and Limpopo carried on attacking till their hands let them down.  Then Meiring missed with a drop.

Instead, on the stroke of time, it was Eastern Province Country Districts who had the last say when Prinsloo goaled a penalty.

Scorers:

For Eastern Province Country Districts:
Tries: Christoffel du Randt, Gouws Prinsloo
Cons: Gouws Prinsloo 2
Pen: Gouws Prinsloo

For Limpopo:
Try: Andries Botha
Con: Ewald  Meiring
Pens: Ewald Meiring 2

Boland vs Namibia, 44-6

It was such a strange game. For much of it Namibia were competitive. The score was 6-all at half-time and just 11-6 and then the Namibians seemed to lose all heart and interest. They vanished like a shower of rain in the desert. From then on the game became almost unopposed running for Boland as they ran in try after try – six of them for a result which looked less one-sided than it was. The Namibians simply could not cope with the speed, skill and creativity of the Bolanders.

Scorers:

For Boland:
Tries: Dashton Wellman 2, Garth April, Hermanus Janse van Rensburg, Sampie Mastriet, Vincent Koch 
Cons: Garth April 4
Pens: Garth April 2

For Namibia:
Pens: Corne Diergaardt, Dane van Zyl

Western Province vs Blue Bulls, 34-12

The game started at a frantic pace and both teams came out with clear intent to make amends for their defeats on the first day. The pressure was on both teams representing the two biggest unions in South Africa. Another defeat would mean that they would have a poor Craven Week by their high standards.  The pressure told early on as both teams made silly mistakes in the first ten minutes.

Western Province were first to settle though and scored in the fifteenth minute. Going blind from a ruck in the Blue Bulls 22-metre area the forwards exchanged passes to free up flank Helmut Lehmann, who did brilliantly to get a pass inside as he was driven into touch. The inside pass was taken by a fellow Paarl Gim forward Jacquin Rogers who crashed over to score. Fylhalf JH Potgieter converted from out wide.

The Blue Bulls looked to strike back immediately and were successful in freeing up left-wing Katlego Magakwe, who did well to beat his opposite number. Unfortunately the ball was dislodged from his grasp two metres short of the Western Province line. That was all the Blue Bulls had to show for the half really as Province turned up the heat from then on.

Louis Schreuder at scrumhalf for Western Province provided a better link between backs and forwards and the combinations were also beginning to gel. Province scored again in the twenty-fifth minute via tighthead prop Marcel van der Merwe. Inside centre Louis Jordaan got the forwards on the front foot with a good angled run from a scrum inside the Blue Bulls 22-metre area. The forwards drove on and van der Merwe had to work hard to get the ball down over the Blue Bulls line. Potgieter again added the conversion.

Western Province were beginning to build some confidence now and their backs created a wonderful counter-attack try soon after. Logan Solomons sprinted into space on the outside before timing his inside pass to winger JR Esterhuizen to perfection.  Esterhuizen finished off and Potgieter was again successful with the easy conversion.

Potgieter banged over a 55-metre penalty on the stroke of half-time to give Western Province a convincing and well-deserved 24-nil half-time lead.

Western Province would have been weary of letting things slip in the second half as they did in their first game but they came out and showed great maturity in maintaining the momentum. They never let the Blue Bulls into the game and dominated territory from the outset.

After two good attacks, another good counter from the backs and a forward drive that saw them tackled into touch over the corner flag, Western Province got the crucial first score of the half. From a scrum the backs executed a set move which saw the blindside wing Tythan Adams come into the line outside the inside centre Louis Jordaan. Jordaan timed his pass to perfection as did Adams his run and after the conversion Western Province were thirty points clear.

The Blue Bulls began to gain some possession after this but were to lateral in their running, which was also mostly from inside their own half. Eventually they created some space and had some luck. A Katlego Magakwe chip was made a hash of by the Western Province cover defenders and Zandre de Bruin, who had followed up well accepted a gift try.  Juan-Claude Roos was unsuccessful with the conversion.

The Blue Bulls had their tails up now and were running with a lot more purpose. Province came close to scoring off a Blue Bulls mistake but after another great Richard Collins run the Blue Bulls found themselves back down in the Western Province 22-metre area. In classic Blue Bulls fashion they drove a line-out and gained a penalty. The ball found its way to Juan-Philip Pike who drove within a metre of the Western Province line.  Scrumhalf Willem Odendal picked up and dived over for the Blue Bulls second try. Roos converted to make it 31-12 to Province.

With less than ten minutes remaining though it was to little to late for the Blue Bulls and when Potgieter banged over another penalty for Western Province with five minutes remaining it was game over for the hosts. It was a convincing win for Western Province and a bitter pill for the Blue Bulls, who usually perform so well at the youth weeks, to swallow.

Scorers:

For Western Province:
Tries: Jackquin Rodgers, Johan Julyan, John-Ronald Esterhuizen, Tythan Adams
Cons: JH Potgieter 4
Pens: JH Potgieter 2

For Blue Bulls:
Tries: Zandre de Bruin, Willem Odendaal
Con: Juan-Claude Roos

South Western Districts vs Pumas, 30-13

South Western Districts picked up where they left off in beating the Blue Bulls on Monday with a ferocious performance against the Pumas.

South Western Districts were on the board as early as the second minute as lock Neil Kapp went over on the blindside after a ruck close to the Pumas line. Fullback Renier de Villiers failed with the conversion as did Pumas flyhalf Gary van Aswegen with a penalty a minute later after South Western Districts had made a hash of the kick-off.

South Western Districts came straight back at the Pumas from the kick-off and scored a lovely try through their lively backs. Winger Vogan Lourens was played into space and could have scored himself but unselfishly offloaded to centre Adrian Fransman to score. De Villiers failed with the conversion but was successful with a penalty a few minutes later to see South Western Districts leading by fifteen points inside fifteen minutes.

The Pumas were somewhat shell-shocked at this point but to their credit they never gave up trying. They were rewarded for their efforts with a penalty converted by van Aswegen.

South Western Districts did not let this and some over robust play as times by the Pumas deter them though and before half-time they added another score. Their skipper and No. 8 CJ Stander finished off a beautifully executed line-out drive. De Villiers again missed the conversion.

The Pumas attacked through the phases until after the hooter, trying to bring their exciting wings in to the game. They were awarded another penalty, which van Aswegen again missed leaving the score 20-3 at the interval.

The Pumas coaches spoke some stern words at the break and their boys came out with a much better attitude in the second half. They gave the ball more air and contested with rucks with a lot more vigour. They had an early opportunity to decrease the deficit but fullback Ulrich Beyers was off target on this occasion.

Beyers made amends minutes later with two strong runs which resulted in a try for flyhalf Gary van Aswegen. Beyers first broke the defensive line as the Pumas countered from deep. From the next phase he again made a telling incursion before releasing van Aswegen to score and convert.

Both kickers missed kickable penalties before van Aswegen eventually found his range and put the Pumas within one score with fifteen minutes remaining.      

This seemed to fire the boys from George back into action and Erick Colyn cut the line and came close to scoring as did Vogan Lourens after a good counter started by livewire South Western Districts scrumhalf Enrico Acker. Eventually the pressure told and CJ Stander waltzed over for his second try from a tapped penalty close to the Pumas line. The conversion was missed from virtually in front to leave the score at 25-13 with less than ten minutes remaining.

The Pumas threw everything into attack in the final minutes of the game but the South Western Districts defence held firm as it had done the entire game. The Pumas countered from deep and as often happens they conceded an intercept to Adrian Fransman in the last minute of the game. Another easy conversion was missed as South Western Districts wrapped up a convincing and well-deserved 30-13 victory, which could see them into the final on Saturday.

Scorers:

For South Western Districts:
Tries: Adrian Fransman 2, Christiaan Stander 2, Garrick Matthee
Cons: Renier de Villiers
Pens: Renier de Villiers

For Pumas:
Try: Gary van Aswegen
Con: Gary van Aswegen
Pens: Gary van Aswegen 2

Results

Day 1

South Western Districts vs Blue Bulls, 26-21
Pumas vs Western Province, 19-17
Boland vs Limpopo, 32-21
Namibia vs Border Country Districts, 36-11
Eastern Province Country Districts vs Griquas Country Districts, 28-10

Day 2

Free State vs Golden Lions, 44-29
KwaZulu Natal vs Griffons, 34-15
Valke vs Griquas, 40-32
Eastern Province vs Leopards, 45-22
Zimbabwe vs Border, 18-10

Day 3

Griquas Country Districts vs Border Country Districts, 61-0
Eastern Province Country Districts vs Limpopo, 17-13
Boland vs Namibia, 44-6
Western Province vs Blue Bulls, 34-12
South Western Districts vs Pumas, 30-13