Valke take top honours in LSEN Week
The Valke on Thursday took top honours in the Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) Week at Glenwood High School in Durban as they delivered an impressive performance to defeated Boland 25-12 in the final match of the tournament.
The Valke built up an encouraging 20-7 halftime lead as they scored two tries and slotted over two penalty goals, while Boland were only able to score a converted try. The second half was tight with each team only adding a try to their tally, but the strong first half by the Kempton Park side was sufficient to secure the victory.
In the other big game, the Western Province powered their way to a 45-0 halftime lead against the Golden Lions, which laid the foundation for their 55-5 victory despite a closely-fought second half. The Cape side delivered a well-balanced performance on attack and defence and capitalised on their point-scoring chances to touch down eight times.
The clash between the Blue Bulls and Eastern Province was nail-biting from start to end, as each team scored three tries. A successful penalty goal and two conversions by the Eastern Cape side to three successful conversions by the Bulls, however, earned Eastern Province a narrow 22-21 victory.
The Leopards staged a dramatic comeback from 14-17 down against the Golden Lions EE to win 50-17 thanks to an eight-try romp in which flyhalf Zolile Ntutela scored three tries and scrumhalf Eric Lamb and replacement back Brandon Swiegers two each. These scores contributed to Ntutela finishing the tournament as the top points’ scorer with 70 points and joint top try-scorer with Lamb with six tries each.
SWD were in fine form against the Free State as they ran riot on attack to score 12 tries for a total of 68 points after building up an encouraging 36-12 lead at the break. Winger Jason Jacobs scored a hat-trick for SWD, while Free State winger Abedenego Anash scored two of his team’s three tries.
The Pumas and Griffons also ensured that they finished the tournament on a high note, with the Pumas scoring a notable 12 tries to defeat KZN 72-0, with flanker Sthandiwe Sibiya and winger Thapelo Chiwene each scoring hat-tricks, while the Griffons recorded a rewarding 48-7 victory against the Blue Bulls EE thanks to their eight tries.
The National Girls U18 Week, meanwhile, will conclude on Friday, with Border and Western Province meeting in the final match in a repeat of last year’s tournament finale.
The next round of SA Rugby Youth Week tournaments will kick off on Monday with the U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week and U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week being hosted at Grey College in Bloemfontein.
LSEN Week day three results (Thursday, 7 July):
KZN 0-72 Pumas
Blue Bulls EE 7-48 Griffons
SWD 68-17 Free State
Blue Bulls 21-22 Eastern Province
Golden Lions EE 19-50 Leopards
Golden Lions 5-55 Western Province
Valke v Boland
National Girls U18 Week day three fixtures (Friday, 7 July):
10h00 – SWD v Blue Bulls
10h00 – Pumas v Leopards
11h10 – Zimbabwe v Boland
11h10 – Free State v Griffons
12h20 – Eastern Province v Border CD
12h20 – Griquas v Lions
13h30 – KZN v Limpopo Blue Bulls
14h10 – Western Province v Border
Issued by SA Rugby Communications
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