Free State take top honours at U17 Interprovincial Sevens
Free State on Saturday took top honours in style in a gripping final day at the Under-17 Interprovincial Sevens at Durban High School with an impressive 35-12 victory against the Blue Bulls.
The Golden Lions won the Plate Final, Border the Bowl Final and Eastern Province the Shield Final.
Upsets were the flavour of the day in the Cup quarter-finals as Western Province, the Golden Lions and the Griffons, who all advanced through the pool rounds unbeaten on Friday, suffered defeats.
Western Province, who won the title in 2014 and 2015, went down 17-7 against hosts, KwaZulu-Natal, while Free State defeated the Golden Lions 19-12, Boland beat the Griffons 24-19 and the Blue Bulls defeated the Falcons 24-19.
Free State built on this fine form in the semi-final as they held their nerve to defeat KwaZulu-Natal 24-17, while the Blue Bulls beat Boland 26-21 to book their place in the Cup final.
The first half of the final was gripping as the teams threw everything at one another, which saw Free State take a narrow 7-5 lead. But they found their rhythm in the second half and earned the rewards as they ran in three more tries, while the Pretoria side managed only one.
The Plate Final was equally entertaining with the Griffons taking a 7-5 lead as each side crossed the tryline only once in the first half. The Lions added two unconverted tries in the second half to only one by the Griffons, which earned them a narrow 15-14 victory.
In total 1694 points and 275 tries were scored over the two days, while only one penalty goal was scored.
Under-17 Interprovincial Sevens day-two results – Saturday, 1 October:
Griquas 12-22 Pumas (Bowl quarter-final)
Namibia 28-26 Limpopo Blue Bulls (Bowl quarter-final)
Eastern Province 7-21 Leopards (Bowl quarter-final)
SWD 7-31 Border (Bowl quarter-final)
Western Province 7-17 KwaZulu-Natal (Cup quarter-final)
Free State 19-12 Golden Lions (Cup quarter-final)
Griffons 12-24 Boland (Cup quarter-final)
Falcons 19-24 Blue Bulls (Cup quarter-final)
Griquas 14-17 Limpopo Blue Bulls (Shield semi-final)
Eastern Province 29-10 SWD (Shield semi-final)
Pumas 35-17 Namibia (Bowl semi-final)
Leopards 17-36 Border (Bowl semi-final)
Western Province 5-24 Golden Lions (Plate semi-final)
Griffons 24-10 Valke (Plate semi-final)
KZN 17-24 Free State (Cup semi-final)
Boland 21-26 Blue Bulls (Cup semi-final)
Limpopo Blue Bulls 24-49 Eastern Province (Shield Final)
Pumas 12-38 Border (Bowl Final)
Golden Lions 15-14 Griffons (Plate Final)
Free State 35-12 Blue Bulls (Cup Final)
Issued by SA Rugby Communications
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