South Africa’s best Under-16 boys will be on show at the SA Rugby Grant Khomo Week, which will be staged at Hoër Landbouskool Boland in the Western Cape over the next four days.
The tournament marks the start of SA Rugby’s annual Youth Weeks programme and will run from 26 to 29 June. Twenty teams will be in action across the matches played on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
The competition was initially scheduled to take place at the Paul Roos Gymnasium’s Markötter Fields in Stellenbosch. Due to the heavy rains in the region, those pitches are no longer fit for play, and the decision has been taken to move the Grant Khomo Week to Hoër Landbouskool Boland.
Running rugby was made extremely difficult in the windy conditions and the teams that were able to dictate the match with effective kicking were 80% the favourites to win their fixture.
Match Reports: Monday 26 June
Western Province 41-12 Boland
A lot was expected from the Boland, however, Western Province's class, speed and accuracy of their attack sent an early warning to the other teams attending the u/16 Grant Khomo. Western Province scored seven tries to the two of Boland.
Scorers:
Western Province: Tries: Luchwayito Mbatiswana, Jayden Joubert, Josh Neill, Dante Christians, Jadon Ocks, Briint Davids, Morne Noble. Conversions: Leighton Brinkhuis (3).
Boland: Tries: Gideon Scheepers, Junaide Stuart. Conversion: Giano Da Kosta.
Free State 29-20 Border
Free State U16 fought back after trailing 07-13 at the halftime break to down Border 29-20, however, it must be said that Border fought until the end. Both teams showed a willingness to attack with their exciting backs despite the wind. Five of the seven tries scored during the match were scored by the backs.
Scorers:
Free State: Tries: AJ Booysen, De Wee Brendon, Ethan Adams, Vuyisile Titoti. Conversions: Thristan Maree (3). Penalty: Thristan Maree.
Border: Tries: Dan Carr, Splash Magwebu (2). Conversion: Bungqina Nuku. Penalty: Bungqina Nuku.
Griffons 12-36 South Western Districts
The first half was very even and the teams changed sides at 12-12 with the match still balanced on a knife's edge. However, the replacements of SWD made a big difference with the replacement hooker and prop scoring tries in the second half. The SWD scored four unanswered tries in the second half to cruise to an easy 36-12 win.
Scorers:
Griffons: Tries: AJ Myburgh, Gehan Hendricks. Conversion: JM Rensburg.
SWD: Tries: Johannes Snyman, Lohan Gerber, Lee-winn Pretorius, Jerniqo Gallant, Sinesihle Mdlankomo, Kai Pratt. Conversions: Warren Labuschagne (3)
Leopards 15-12 Limpopo Blue Bulls
With the wind really unpleasant this match was a stop-start affair as both teams struggled to cope with the conditions. However, the brilliant effort of the Leopards number 8 KG Legodi who scored two great tries eventually the difference between the two teams.
Scorers:
Leopards: Tries: KG Legodi (2), Tyran Masango.
Limpopo Bulls: Tries: Kian Du Plessis, Junior Malesa. Conversion: Anzio Swartbooi.
Western Province XV 50-03 Free State XV
In a one-sided match, the Western Province XV scored eight unanswered tries to beat their visitors 50-03 after leading 26-03 at the halftime break.
Scorers:
Western Province XV: Tries: Attie Van Der Lingen, Steph Van Der Merwe, Markus Muller (2), Tristan Joubert (2), Leo Weber, Migael Turner. Conversions: Markus Muller (5).
Free State XV: Penalty: Jan Hendrik.
Sharks 27-31 Blue Bulls
The Sharks started like a house on fire and scored three tries early tries to lead 19-10 at the halftime break. They continued their onslaught in the second half, however, a desperate Blue Bulls slowly clawed their way back into contention to score the match-winning try after time was already up. The Sharks were the better team for most of the match, however ........
Scorers:
Sharks: Tries: Josh Grant, Khazimla Makali, Zekhethelo Siyaya (2). Conversions: Zander Vorster (2). Penalty: Liyema Nela.
Blue Bulls: Tries: Albert Smit, Stefan Mcdonald, Zirk Meyer, Leskin Samuels. Conversions: Ruben Groenewald (4). Penalty: Ruben Groenewald.
Zimbabwe 10-12 Namibia
Zimbabwe started like a house o fir and scored two tries to one of the more structured Namibian team to lead 10-07 at the halftime break. Namibia scored an early try in the second half to lead 12-10 and defended like Trojans for most of the second half to keep Zimbabwe from scoring the winning points.
Scorers:
Namibia: Tries: Dirk Farmer, Hanre Cocklin. Conversion: William Beukes.
Zimbabwe: Tries: Hunter Falkenberg, Chima Nwadike.
Golden Lions 39-07 Valke
A match that struggled to get going with the windy conditions making it difficult for both sides to attack, however, the Gloden Lions scored two tries with their bruising forwards to lead 10-00 at the halftime break. The Golden Lions' backline started to land the passes in the second half with the back three scoring a try each as the game opened up. The Golden Lions scored seven tries to one of the Valke to win 39-07.
Scorers:
Golden Lions: Tries: Clinton Agu (2), Eugene De Lange, Rio Tshambalanga, Deveno Bernado, Jade Rollinson, Jeandre Uithaler. Conversions: Jeandre Uithaler (2).
Valke: Try: Dihan Crause. Conversion: Doan Nel.
Eastern Province 26-14 Border Country Districts
Both sides initially struggled with the conditions and switched sides without any score on the scoreboard. During the second half, Eastern Province outscored a smaller Border Country Districts CD four tries to two with the dominating forwards of the Eastern Province scoring three of the four tries they scored.
Scorers:
Eastern Province: Ross Atkinson, Matthew Harvey, Petrus Kleinhans, Gelden Van Niekerk. Conversions: Joshua Smith (3).
Border Country Districts: Tries: Lime Gxotani, Azu Magqaza. Conversion: Mihlali Fayo (2)
Pumas 38-10 Griquas
Initially, Griquas used their speed out wide to pin the Pumas in their own half, however, the Pumas fought their way back into the match to go into the second half sharing the lead 10-10. The Pumas scored four unanswered tries in the second half, as their brilliant backline made good use of the constant quality attacking ball to run Griquas off their feet wo win 38-10 after seventy minutes of exciting rugby.
Scorers:
Pumas: Tries: D'angelo Roberts, Mattew Abbey, Divan De Kock, Siyanda Dennison, Hencoe Janse Van Rensburg, Jacques Greyling. Conversions: Mattew Abbey (4)
Griquas: Tries: Pieter Smit, Clinton Brits.
