SWD, Boland, Valke dominate SARU Under-18 Sevens
The SARU Under-18 Sevens tournament got off to a thrilling start on Monday at Hoërskool Monument in Krugersdorp with SWD, Boland and the Valke remaining unbeaten to stamp their authority on the opening day.
The Leopards, Western Province, Blue Bulls, Pumas and Limpopo Blue Bulls also had strong starts to the competition, which allowed them to book their places in the Cup quarterfinals with SWD, Boland and the Valke.
Each of the 16 participating teams played three matches on the opening day, with the top sides advancing to the Cup quarterfinals and the bottom eight teams booking their places in the Plate quarterfinals.
The tournament, which concludes on Tuesday, was attended by SA Sevens Academy manager Marius Schoeman, injured Springbok Sevens players, captain Kyle Brown and Paul Delport, and SARU GM of Development Mervin Green.
A number of SA Schools players participated in the tournament including the Blue Bulls’ Arnold Gerber and Andell Loubser, SWD’s JT Jackson, Edmund Rheeder from the Leopards and Cobus Wiese from Griquas.
SWD showed their class from the outset as they thumped Eastern Province 38-5 and then defeated Namibia 26-12 and the Leopards 21-14 to secure the top spot in their pool.
Boland, meanwhile, were forced to settle for a 12-12 draw against the Valke in their opening match but both teams bounced back strongly with Boland registering a convincing 34-5 victory against KwaZulu-Natal and a 40-7 victory against Border.
The Valke also got the better of Border as they cruised to a 47-0 victory and then finished the opening day’s play with a 24-0 win against KwaZulu-Natal.
In the Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday the Valke will meet the Leopards, SWD takes on Boland, Western Province will battle it out with the Blue Bulls and the Pumas go up against the Limpopo Blue Bulls.
KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Province, Namibia, Border, Free State, the Griffons, Golden Lions and Griquas, meanwhile, will battle in out in the Plate quarterfinals on Tuesday.
SARU Under-18 Sevens day-one results:
Round-one:
Boland 12 – 12 Valke
SWD 38 – 5 Eastern Province
Border 15 – 19 KwaZulu Natal
WP 19 – 26 Free State
Blue Bulls 19 – 12 Pumas
Leopards 35 – 10 Namibia
Limpopo Blue Bulls 28 – 19 Griquas
Golden Lions 33 – 17 Griffons
Round-two:
SWD 26 – 12 Namibia
Valke 47 – 0 Border
Leopards 38 – 33 Eastern Province
KwaZulu-Natal 5 – 34 Boland
Blue Bulls 27 – 19 Griffons
WP 29 – 7 Griquas
Golden Lions 5 – 22 Pumas
Limpopo Blue Bulls 36 – 10 Free State
Round-three:
Valke 24 – 0 KwaZulu-Natal
Eastern Province 19 – 28 Namibia
Boland 40 – 7 Border
SWD 21 – 14 Leopards
Free State 26 – 7 Griquas
Pumas 36 – 5 Griffons
WP 28 – 0 Limpopo Blue Bulls
Blue Bulls 15 – 17 Golden Lions
SARU Under-18 Sevens fixtures day two:
Bowl quarterfinals:
09:20 – KwaZulu-Natal vs Eastern Province
09:40 – Namibia vs Border
10:00 – Free State vs Griffons
10:20 – Golden Lions vs Griquas
Cup quarterfinals:
10:40 – Valke vs Leopards
11:00 – SWD vs Boland
11:20 – WP vs Blue Bulls
11:40 – Pumas vs Limpopo Blue Bulls
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