SA Rugby Youth Weeks thrill on opening day
The SA Rugby Youth Weeks kicked off on an exciting note on Monday with a series of big wins and hard-fought encounters characterizing the opening day’s play at the National Girls U18 Week and Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) Week in Welkom and Durban respectively.
In the National Girls U18 Week, hosted at the HT Pelatona Projects Stadium, Western Province, Boland, Zimbabwe and Border Country Districts registered comprehensive victories to get the tournament off to a strong start, while the Leopards, Golden Lions, Boland and Golden Lions EE stamped their authority in the LSEN Week.
In the main matches in Welkom, Border, who won the final match of the tournament in last year’s edition of the tournament, broke away in the second half against the Blue Bulls after leading 8-7 to win 25-7, while Western Province delivered a fantastic display all-around to defeat KZN 59-0, with the team scoring an impressive nine tries.
Boland, who faced the Limpopo Blue Bulls in the opening match of the day, cruised to a 34-0 halftime lead, and secured an impressive 46-14 victory, while Border CD overcame a closely-fought first half against the Pumas to touchdown six times for their 32-7 victory.
Zimbabwe, meanwhile, scored seven tries in their 39-5 win against Griquas, while Eastern Province defeated SWD 20-5 after leading 10-5 at the break.
Free State also started the competition on a high note as they produced a strong second half performance to outplay the Lions 22-5, while the Griffons crossed the try line three times and limited the Leopards to a converted try only thanks to their solid defense for their 17-7 victory.
In the LSEN Week at Glenwood High School in Durban, meanwhile, the Golden Lions overpowered the Blue Bulls EE 44-7, while their Golden Lions EE counterparts defeated the Griffons 36-18 in the opening matches of the day.
The Leopards registered the biggest victory of the day as they defeated hosts, KZN, 57-5 with Eric Lamb scoring a hat-trick and Amogelang Gorekwang two tries as they racked up eight tries in the match.
Western Province’s successful goal-kicking, meanwhile, earned them a 24-15 victory against the Blue Bulls in the North-South derby, despite each side scoring three tries, with Luther Springbok scoring twice; while Boland, who took top honours last season, secured a rewarding 47-5 victory against Eastern Province, as Xavier Exquire scored two of the team’s seven tries.
In the other match-ups, Free State outscored the Pumas three tries to two for a 24-12 victory, while the Valke managed to hold off a strong challenge after the break by SWD to for a 24-15 victory.
National Girls U18 Week day one results (Monday, 3 July):
Boland 46-14 Limpopo Blue Bulls
Free State 22-5 Golden Lions
Griquas 5-39 Zimbabwe
Pumas 7-32 Border Country Districts
Griffons 17-7 Leopards
Eastern Province 20-5 SWD
Western Province 59-0 KZN
Border 25-7 Blue Bulls
LSEN Week day one results (Monday, 3 July):
Golden Lions EE 36-18 Griffons
Golden Lions 44-7 Blue Bulls EE
Western Province 24-15 Blue Bulls
Free State 24-12 Pumas
Valke 24-15 SWD
Boland 47-5 Eastern Province
Sharks 5-57 Leopards
LSEN Week day two fixtures (Tuesday, 4 July):
09h00 – Eastern Province v Pumas
09h00 – Sharks v Blue Bulls EE
10h20 – SWD v Blue Bulls
10h20 – Leopards v Griffons
11h40 – Free State v Lions
13h00 – Valke v Western Province
14h20 – Boland v Lions EE
Issued by SA Rugby Communications
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