U18 Sevens Win Easily
There were six teams taking part and the Baby Blitsbokke won all six of their matches, scoring 283 points against 24. The only close match was the first one against Namibia who scored the 24 points that the South Africans conceded. They met again in the Final and the South African team ran away with the match.
In the Final, the South Africans dominated from start to finish. Marnus Potgieter scored a try in the first minute and led 28-0 at half-time.
There was also an Under-19 Trophy competition on the go, won in the Final by Windhoek High School who beat Windhoek Gymnnasiuum 31-19.
The matches were played over two days – 3 March and 4 March 2017. The matches were played at Windhoek Gimnasium which was celebrating its artificial playing surface, the first in Namibia.
Round Robin Results
Namibia vs Botswana, 38-0
South Africa vs Zambia, 66-0
Namibia vs Zambia, 40-0
South Africa vs SA All Stars, 28-0
Germany vs Zambia, 31-0
South Africa vs Namibia, 35-24
Namibia vs SA All Stars, 19-14
South Africa vs Germany, 48-0
South Africa vs Botswana, 59-0
Namibia vs Germany, 34-10
Play-offs
5/6th place: Botswana vs Zambia, 19-12
3rd/4th place: SA All Stars vs Germany, 33-7
1st/2nd: South Africa vs Namibia, 45-0
Marius Schoeman, formerly a Sevens star and currently the manager of the Sevens Academy, was pleased with the tournament and his team's performances, especially in the final.
He said: "There are some very talented players amongst the group and I can predict that some of these players can become Blitzboks in future, should they pursue the sevens pathway. We need to find, nurture and develop the next generation of sevens players for the national team and I think this was a good look into that future for us.
"The more tournaments we play in, the better for the players to get use to the structures and the Sevens system and the better chance we have for them to fit into the national set-up.
"The pitch was great and the tournament was well-organised, so it was worth our while to go there."
SA Rugby Sevens Academy Under-18 team: Pepsi Buthelezi (Durban High School), Sanele Nohamba (vice-captain, Durban High School), Sebastiaan Jobb (Duineveld), Mark Snyman (Helpmekaar College), Rikus Pretorius (captain, Grey College), Janco van Heyningen (Grey College), Angelo Davids (Stellenberg), Qamani Kota (Welkom Gymnasium), Ruben Beytel (EG Jansen), Muzi Nyakane (Ben Vorster), Henco Martins (Paarl Gymnasium), Marnus Potgieter (Affies) and the travelling reserve, Henk Cilliers (Grey College).
