Rugby news from Western Province:
WPRFU hosts Craven Week in Paarl:
The SA Rugby Youth Weeks festival will reach an exciting conclusion in Paarl this week as the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week and Coca-Cola Academy Week teams battle it out for top honours in the last of seven tournaments at Paarl Boys’ High’s Brug Street grounds, with a number of last year’s SA Schools team players selected to represent their provinces again.
DHL Western Province U18 captain Adrian Alberts, Morne Brandon (Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions), Jordan Clarke, Celimpilo Gumede (Sharks), Diego Appollis (Blue Bulls) and Banele Mthenjane (Pumas) all played for the SA Schools team in 2017 and will return to Paarl for more provincial action this week.
The action kicks off at 08h00 on Monday morning with the Sharks CD meeting the Blue Bulls CD, and Namibia taking on Valke CD in the opening Coca-Cola Academy Week games, while the Thepa Trading Griffons and the Blue Bulls XV will get the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week underway at 10h40.
Four U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week matches will be played on the opening day, with the Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions – who were the top team last season – taking on Eastern Province, and hosts, DHL Western Province, meeting the King Price Pumas, while Border take on Limpopo.
The other 10 teams battling it out in the competition, which was revamped to ensure strength-versus-strength action, will take to the field in their opening round on Tuesday.
The Coca-Cola Academy Week, meanwhile, will feature seven day-one matches, with the main games pitting Boland up against the Sharks, and DHL Western Province against the Pumas. The Blue Bulls, who took top honours last year, will kick off their campaign on Tuesday against Eastern Province.
Entry fee to the tournaments is R35 for adults and R20 for Under-18s. Weekly tickets can also be purchased at R150 for adults and R100 for U18s.
U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week (Paarl Boys High):
Monday, 9 July:
10h40 – Thepa Trading Griffons v Blue Bulls XV
12h10 – Border v Limpopo
13h40 – Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions v Eastern Province
15h40 – DHL Western Province v King Price Pumas
Tuesday, 10 July:
09h30 – Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions XV v DHL Western Province XV
11h00 – Valke v Leopards
12h30 – Boland v Griquas
14h00 – Sharks v SWD
15h30 – Free State v Blue Bulls
Coca-Cola Academy Week (Paarl Boys High):
Monday, 9 July:
08h00 – Sharks CD v Blue Bulls CD
08h00 – Namibia v Valke CD
09h20 – Old Mutual Zimbabwe v SA LSEN
09h20 – Griquas v Valke
10h40 – Border v Leopards
12h00 – Boland v Sharks
13h20 – DHL Western Province v Pumas
Tuesday, 10 July:
08h00 – Griquas CD v Griffons CD
08h00 – Pumas CD v Border CD
09h20 – Eastern Province CD v Limpopo
10h40 – Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions CD v DHL Western Province CD
12h00 – SWD v Thepa Trading Griffons
13h20 – Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions v Free State
14h40 – Blue Bulls v Eastern Province
The post WPRFU hosts Craven Week in Paarl appeared first on WP Rugby.
DHL WP U19 fight hard but go down at DHL Newlands:
DHL Western Province U19 showed great fighting spirit in their narrow 31-27 defeat against Vodacom Blue Bulls U19 at DHL Newlands on Saturday.
It was a tough first outing for the youngsters, who scored four tries and fought back valiantly their first game of the season, which was played as a curtain-raiser to the Vodacom Super Rugby clash between the DHL Stormers and the Cell C Sharks at DHL Newlands.
The opening exchanges were firce, with neither side giving an inch in a tense first 15 minutes in the sunshine at DHL Newlands.
The visitors opened the scoring when inside centre Jay Cee Nel burst through to put them 7-0 up.
The hosts got on the scoreboard with a penalty from flyhalf Chris Schreuder, but the Vodacom Blue Bulls U19 responded with a second try, through replacement prop Wiehan Bezuidenhout.
The Pretoria side would go into the half-time break with a commanding 19-3 advantage following a third try via flyhalf Vaughen Isaacs, leaving DHL Western Province U19 with it all to do in the second half.
They extended that lead early in the second half with a try in the corner from fullback Qamani Kota, which was converted from the touchline by Isaacs.
DHL Western Province U19 got over the tryline through a driving maul, with loosehead prop Dian Bleuler getting it down, but their opponents responded with a second try from Kota, to make it 31-8 heading into the final 15 minutes.
The home side were desperate to make a comeback and came up with tries from flyhalf Schreuder, big lock Ian Katwanga and replacement Henro Meyer, but it was not enough to avoid what was a narrow 31-27 defeat in the end.
The scorers:
For DHL WP U19:
Tries: Bleuler, Schreuder, Katwanga, Meyer
Cons: Schreuder 2
Pen: Schreuder
For Vodacom Blue Bulls U19:
Tries: Nel, Bezuidenhout, Isaacs, Kota 2
Cons: Isaacs 3
DHL Western Province U19: 15 Quan Eyman, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 David Kriel, 12 Waqar Solaan, 11 Aaron Zeederberg, 10 Christopher Schreuder, 9 Lucky Dlepu, 8 Francke Horn (captain), 7 Tonderai Chiwambutsa, 6 Bevan Prinsloo, 5 Herman le Roux, 4 Ian Katwanga, 3 Joshua du Preez, 2 Chris Rossouw, 1 Dian Bleuler.
Replacements: 16 Ru-Hann Greyling, 17 Alexander Mbete, 18 Hugo Pienaar, 19 Marcel Theunissen, 20 Henro Meyer, 21 Gerado Jaars, 22 David Coetzer, 23 Aydon Topley.
The post DHL WP U19 fight hard but go down at DHL Newlands appeared first on WP Rugby.
DHL WP U16 end on a high:
DHL Western Province U16 claimed a 34-8 win against SWD U16 on the final day of the U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week in Kimberley on Friday.
The U16 team found their rhythm in the second half against SWD to outplay the George side in the end.
The first half was tight as the Capetonians took a narrow 12-8 lead, but their patience on attack and ability to round off their attacking opportunities allowed them to cross the chalk five times, while their solid defence in the second half denied SWD from adding to their score.
Free State powered their way to top honours in the U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week at Hoërskool Diamantveld in Kimberley on Friday as they delivered a solid all-round performance to outplay the Blue Bulls by 31-24.
The Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions were in sublime form against the King Price Pumas and showed class on attack to run in an impressive eight tries en route to their 50-26 victory. Thomas Goliath and Ocean Tshimbalanga scored two tries apiece, while Seb Watney kept the scoreboard ticking with five conversions, which proved too much Mpumalanga outfit, who scored four tries.
Boland also delivered a fine attacking performance in their clash against the Valke, which paved the way for a convincing 40-12 victory, with the team running in a notable six tries. Louis de Jager scored twice, while Hugo Mostert scored a try and kicked five conversions for a personal tally of 15 points.
The Thepa Trading Griffons also finished off their campaign on a solid note as they overpowered the Leopards completely for a rewarding 31-0 win. Benni Human scored three of his team’s five tries, while the side’s watertight defence ensured that the Potchefstroom team remained scoreless.
Limpopo were equally solid in their performance against Border CD as they dominated on attack and did well to shut out the opposition on defence, which paved the way for their 31-11 win. Their effective attack saw them run in five tries, while Border CD opted for two penalty goals to add to their only try to push their score in double-digits.
The Sharks were made to work hard for their 26-21 victory against the hosts, Griquas, as the teams were closely matched on attack and defence. In the end, the Durbainites’ four tries to three by the home team, earned them the narrow win.
In the international, Zimbabwe made their presence felt thanks to a balanced showing between their forwards and backs to defeat Namibia 19-7 thanks to their three tries to only one by Namibia.
The SA Rugby Youth Weeks festival will conclude next week in Paarl with the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week and Coca-Cola Academy Week at Paarl Boys’ High’s Brug Street grounds.
U16 Coca-Cola Grant Khomo Week final round results (Friday, 6 July):
Border 35-7 Eastern Province
Namibia 7-19 Old Mutual Zimbabwe
Sharks 26-21 Griquas
Border CD 11-31 Limpopo
DHL Western Province 34-8 SWD
Valke 12-40 Boland
Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions 50-26 King Price Pumas
Thepa Trading Griffons 31-0 Leopards
Free State 31-24 Blue Bulls
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Super Rugby Team of the Week: Round 18