Handful of teams make early strides at U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week
The Blue Bulls, KwaZulu-Natal, Border, SWD and DHL Western Province on Monday made their presence felt early on in the Under-13 Coca-Cola Craven Week as they registered impressive victories to keep themselves in contention for a place in the final match on Friday.
The Itec Blue Bulls defeated Zimbabwe 40-0 and Border beat the Limpopo Blue Bulls 29-7, while KwaZulu-Natal defeated hosts the Pumas 21-7 on a thrilling day’s action. SWD also registered a convincing 19-0 victory against the Free State and DHL Western Province beat the TW Profile Service Valke 24-19 in their opening matches.
Boland, Border CD, Namibia and the Bidvest Golden Lions also registered encouraging victories to start their campaigns on a high note.
The Blue Bulls proved to be the best attacking team as they ran in six tries, while Border were hot on their heels with five and Border CD on four.
Pumas 7 (0) KwaZulu-Natal 21 (14)
KwaZulu-Natal delivered a solid display against the Pumas as their forwards laid a solid foundation upfront and their backs showed their class on attack by moving the ball throughout the match to stretch the defence. They earned the rewards for these efforts with two first-half tries, while the Pumas battled to break through the defence. This earned the Durban side a 14-0 lead.
They built on this form in the second half and added their third try to stretch their lead to 21-0. The Pumas fought back strongly with their forwards, but the effective KwaZulu-Natal defence managed to shut them out despite three attempts in a row to cross the chalk. They eventually crossed the tryline in the dying minutes compliments of Hardus Rothman to add their first and only points in the match.
Scorers:
Pumas – Tries: Hardus Rothman. Conversions: Alec Vermaak.
KwaZulu-Natal – Tries: Ngcebo Mdabe, Kwanele Khumalo, Khwezi Mbongwa. Conversions: Mathew Halstead.
DHL Western Province 24 (17) TW Profile Service Valke 19 (5)
DHL Western Province dominated the first half against the TW Profile Service Valke from the outset as they delivered a fine all round performance, which set them up for a 24-19 victory. Their pack dominated, while their backs did well to spread the ball and find gaps in the defence, which they took full advantage of before the break for a 17-5 lead.
The TW Profile Service Valke, however, refused to give up and scored their second try of the match in the second half thanks to a powerful showing by their forwards. They threatened to score again twice in the dying minutes, and earned the rewards with a late try by Zander Maree to come within five points of the Cape side.
Scorers:
Western Province – Tries: Ethan James, Luke Burger, Quinn Visser. Conversions: Jack Cloete (3). Penalty: Jack Cloete.
Valke – Tries: Keagan Balfour, Tyler Skudder, Zander Maree. Conversions: Kyle Benadie (2)
Limpopo Blue Bulls 7 (7) Border 29 (10)
Border overcame a close first-half against the Limpopo Blue Bulls to secure a convincing 29-7 victory as they raced to the tryline an impressive five times. Bamanye Mahela and Joshua Van Vreden each crossed the tryline twice to force their team into the lead against the Limpopo side.
Border secured a narrow 10-7 lead at the break with two tries to one, and they added three five-pointers in an encouraging second half to outplay their counterparts. With their defence holding well, the Limpopo Blue Bulls were unable to add to their score after the break.
Scorers:
Limpopo Blue Bulls – Try: Willie Potgieter. Conversion: Ruan Basson.
Border – Tries: Bamanye Mahela (2), Joshua Van Vreden (2), Lwanga Bongco. Conversions: Sihlalo Benge (2)
Boland 20 (10) Leopards 15 (10)
The first half between Boland and the Leopards was tense as the teams proved to be closely matched, with each side scoring a converted try and penalty, which saw them enter the break at 10-10. Boland’s Curwin Gertse, however, had the first say in the second half as he scored their second try and another penalty to increase his tally for the match to 13 points.
Armand Cloete of the Leopards added their second try nine minutes before the final whistle, but they were unable to add to this and were forced to settle for a 20-15 defeat.
Scorers:
Boland – Tries: Curwin Gertse, Jan Jeremias De Villiers Fourie. Conversions: Curwin Gertse, Kyle David Nasson. Penalties: Curwin Gertse (2).
Leopards – Tries: Armand Cloete, Marco Botha. Conversion: Theuns Steyn. Penalty: Theuns Steyn.
Itec Blue Bulls 40 (26) Zimbabwe 0 (0)
The Itec Blue Bulls were in fine form in their clash against Zimbabwe and ran in three tries in the first 16 minutes to secure a 26-0 lead at the break. They continued this dominance in the second half with a solid effort on attack and defence, which allowed them to add three more tries to increase their tally for the match to six.
Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, all their efforts were countered by the Pretoria team, which left them scoreless in the match.
Scorers:
Blue Bulls – Tries: Chris Schoombee (2), Pieter Venter, Wonder Mkhonto, Zandre Du Toit (2). Conversions: Jooste Nel (5)
Eastern Province 12 (5) Bidvest Golden Lions 13 (10)
The Bidvest Golden Lions started their clash against Eastern Province with a bang as Regardt Fourie crossed the tryline in the second minute to take a 5-0 lead. But Eastern Province did well to string together phases on attack and hit back with a try of their own in the 18th minute compliments of Lathita Nqebe. The Lions, however, cancelled this out with their second try before half time to take a 10-5 lead at the break.
The second half was hard-fought as the teams ran hard at each other. Such was the closeness of the half the Lions were only able to add a penalty to their score, while Nqebe crossed the tryline for the second time for the Port Elizabeth side, which allowed them to come within a point of the Lions on the scoreboard. The Johannesburg team, however, held on in the dying minutes to secure a 13-12 victory.
Scorers:
Eastern Province – Tries: Lathita Nqebe (2). Coonversion: Daniel Smith.
Golden Lions – Tries: Denis Balt, Regardt Fourie. Conversion: Sebastine Watney.
Griquas 7 (7) Namibia 12 (12)
Namibia secured their first victory of the week as they defeated Griquas 12-7 in a tight clash. Griquas opened up the scoring in the sixth minute with a try by Elric Moolman, which they converted successfully. However, back-to-back tries by Namibia, of which one was converted, pushed them into a 12-7 lead at the break.
Both teams tried hard to add to the score in the second half but were denied by the solid defence. Namibia, however, had an opportunity to slot over a penalty to extend their lead late in the match, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
Scorers:
Griquas – Try: Elric Moolman. Conversion: Keanan Wentzel.
Namibia – Try: Johann Janse van Rensburg, Niel Holtzhausen. Conversions: Kian Fransman.
Free State 0 (0) SWD 19 (5)
The first half between SWD and the Free State was tight as both teams threw everything at one another on attack and supported this with a solid defensive effort. SWD, in particular, tried hard to use their pack to gain ascendancy, while both teams tried to spread the ball wide on attack.
A try by SWD in the first half and another two in the second half, however, pushed them into a convincing lead on the scoreboard, while they managed to shut out the Free State completely thanks to their water-tight defence, which rattled the Free State into mistakes at crucial times.
Scorers:
SWD: Tries: Caston Michaels, Janus Ferreira, Jowin Jantjies. Conversions: Cameron Sharp (2)
Griffons 16 (6) Border CD 22 (0)
Border CD staged a dramatic second-half comeback against the Griffons after trailing 6-0 at the break, as they ran in an impressive four tries to secure a 22-16 victory. The Griffons slotted over two penalties in the first half compliments of Du Toit Van Huyssteen, and managed to cross the tryline twice in the second half for their 16 points.
But their defence let them down in the second half, which came at the price of a defeat as Border CD hit their straps and did well to convert their try-scoring chances into points.
Scorers:
Griffons – Tries: Katleho Chabanyane, Tshepiso Mzizi. Penalties: Du Toit Van Huyssteen (2).
Border CD – Tries: Asphe Bhunqane, Athenkosi Mutala, Luyanda Dyani, Siphe Nonkwenke. Conversion: Luyanda Dyani.
U13 Coca-Cola Craven Week day-one results:
Pumas 21 – 7 KwaZulu-Natal
Western Province 24 – 19 Valke
Limpopo Blue Bulls 7 – 29 Border
Boland 20 – 15 Leopards
Blue Bulls 40 – 0 Zimbabwe
Eastern Province 12 – 13 Golden Lions
Griquas 7 – 12 Namibia
Free State 0 – 19 SWD
Griffons 16 – 22 Border CD
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