DHL Western Province powered past Sanlam Boland while the Sharks High Schools side put Eastern Province to the sword at the FNB U18 Craven Week at Hoërskool Middelburg on Tuesday.
The second day of the tournament served up a series of engaging contests, with 39 tries scored over the course of the four matches – and 14 of those coming in the Western Cape derby.
Valke wing Dihan Crause scored a brace in the first fixture of the day, as the East Randers fought back from an early deficit to go to half-time with a 19-12 lead. The Leopards had the final say, though, with No 8 Tiaan Koen crashing over the tryline in the 69th minute to secure a valuable 29-29 draw for his side.
The game between Border and Suzuki Griquas was in the balance, before the boys from the Eastern Cape raced clear after the break. Griquas’ discipline cost them in the second stanza, and Border took full advantage, scoring six tries in all.
Eastern Province went toe to toe with the Sharks in a fiercely contested first half, but struggled to live with the KwaZulu-Natalians in the latter stages of the game.
Sharks fullback Zekhethelo Siyaya – who represented SA Schools in 2024 – scored a long-range try after half-time, and finished with a tally of 10 points, while replacement back Nathan Aneke grabbed a brace to boost his side to an emphatic 41-10 win.
In the final match of the day, WP – who finished last year’s tournament unbeaten – got their campaign off to an explosive start when they thrashed Boland 80-18 in the Western Cape derby.
No 8 Quintin Potgieter scored a hat-trick for Province, while flyhalf Ethan van Biljon contributed 15 points to the cause.
The FNB U18 Craven Week will continue at Hoërskool Middelburg on Wednesday, with the Limpopo Blue Bulls taking on the Griffons in the first fixture. The Obaro Golden Lions and South Western Districts, who claimed impressive wins against the Blue Bulls and Free State respectively on day one, will meet in the final clash of the day.
FNB U18 Craven Weekday two schedule (Tuesday, 8 July):
Leopards 29-29 Valke
The first half was an action-packed 35 minutes of rugby with the Valke taking the lead after time was already up. The Valke led 19-12 at the halftime break. The second half was also all action, and the Valke led 29-24; however, a last-gasp attack by the Leopards led to an unconverted try to "deservedly" secure a 29-29 draw.
Teams:
Leopards: 1 Ulrigh Du Preez, 2 Juan Van Rhyn, 3 De Waal Coetzer, 4 Aidan Jonker, 5 Jaime Davids, 6 KG Legodi, 7 Franco Dumond, 8 Tiaan Koen, 9 Bernard Niemand, 10 Eduard Dreyer, 11 Elzeno Schalkwyk, 12 Winton Abrahams, 13 Jordan Rathebe, 14 Tyran Masango, 15 Brendin Mathyse. Replacements: 16 Fanie Linde, 17 Tlhalefo Thobedi, 18 Matthew Redelinghuys, 19 George Bingudza, 20 Tiaan De Kock, 21 Rea Motsusi, 22 Oratile Sekoto, 23 Marques Jantjies.
Valke: 1 Khumo Maimane, 2 Lesego Moitse, 3 Deveraux Weideman, 4 Jacques Van Tonder, 5 Jaco Engelbrecht, 6 Daniel Wawina, 7 Daniel Kazambo, 8 Alec Mohlala, 9 Yani Mokiri, 10 Juan van Aswegen, 11 Dihan Crause, 12 Christopher Combrinck, 13 Wian Riekert, 14 Otlotleng Zulu, 15 Deshean Pietersen. Replacements: 16 Marco Ventura, 17 Ruan Rossouw, 18 Elshaan Duminy, 19 Juandre Pretorius, 20 Slade Mowbray, 21 Tumi Moloi, 22 Tshepo Molakeng, 23 Joshua van Rensburg.
Border 36-17 Suzuki Griquas
Another close match with Border scoring with minutes to go to lead 17-10 at the halftime break. The action continued relentlessly; however, the Border started to open up a gap and led 29-17, scoring five tries to the two of Griquas after sixty minutes of play. The Border continued their brilliance on the attack and added one try despite a brilliant effort on the defence of Griquas.
Border: 1 Amyoli Ngxongwana, 2 Bulumko Manqina, 3 Zeake Mata, 4 Ethan Schoeman, 5 Luca Liebenberg, 6 Jeffrey Niland, 7 Hlumelo Gobile, 8 Acwenga Saul, 9 Ayola Somhlahlo, 10 Ndimphiwe Songqwaba, 11 Milani Mdide, 12 Sbabalwe Magwebu, 13 Owam Nqweniso, 14 Ncuthu Kepe, 15 Bungqina Nuku. Replacements: 16 Liam Hansen, 17 Robert John-Onsunkwo, 18 Ahlunile Gqwetya, 19 Ebenezer Sarpong, 20 Dominic Stegmann, 21 Travis Enslin, 22 Njongo Mbanga, 23 Oliver Schmidt.
Griquas: 1 Letlotlo Assegaai, 2 Jade Coetzee, 3 Pako Kopeledi, 4 MG Van Greuning, 5 Zuan Rautenbach, 6 Tiaan Serfontein, 7 Stefan Strauss, 8 Enrique Boshoff, 9 Ruben van Der Linde, 10 Aidan Gadeija, 11 Caylib Stevens, 12 Jonathan Harding, 13 Pieter Smit, 14 Themba Kella, 15 Clinton Brits Replacements: 16 Jaydrian Jacobs, 17 Manqoba Hinana, 18 Dian Ellis, 19 Jacobus Wessels, 20 Jayden De Klerk, 21 Yibonge Mapi, 22 Vinchenzo Davids, 23 Ezlin Swartz.
Sharks High Schools 41-10 Eastern Province
The Sharks scored two tries in the first ten minutes of the match to lead 10-03. Despite being the dominant team for the rest of the first half, Eastern Province failed to add points to the scoresheet. The Sharks scored in the first two minutes of the first half and added four tries during the next twenty-five minutes to lead 41-03. Eastern Province scored a deserved late try to cut the Sharks' lead to 41-10, which was the final score.
Sharks: 1 Indiphile Mlotshwa, 2 Okuhle Mbanjwa, 3 Alande Ngubane, 4 Lian Terblanche, 5 Lwandile Mlaba, 6 Cyril Cherayi, 7 Wasi Vyambwera, 8 Zander Muller, 9 Liam Simpkins, 10 Stefan Moolman, 11 Jadrian Afrikaner, 12 Sean McGough, 13 Nathan Aneke, 14 William Ridl, 15 Zekhethelo Siyaya. Replacements: 16 Josh Grant, 17 Sphephelo Ntshangase, 18 Bandile Mncwango, 19 Chad Howe, 20 Jamie Wimble, 21 Zander Vorster, 22 Niyema Nela, 15 Rourke O'Sullivan.
Eastern Province: 1 Ike Ukekwe, 2 Zandre Van Der Mescht, 3 Ross Atkinson, 4 Damian Le Roux, 5 Ruben Van Dijk, 20 Likhona Bill, 7 Josh Mackenzie, 8 Petrus Kleinhans, 9 Luke Doyle, 10 William Stevens, 11 Cole Hilpert, 12 Ciaran Killian, 13 Erin Nelson, 14 Damien Witbooi, 15 Meyer Prinsloo. Replacements: 16 Janu Janse Van Rensburg, 17 Evan Mucka, 18 Andre van der Merwe, 19 Neshaun Bester, 20 Liyema Katikati, 21 Jaiden Brewis, 22 Lucritia Magua, 23 Tristan Kemp.
DHL Western Province 73-18 Sanlam Boland
The Western Province led for most of the first half, and as soon as they hit third gear, they scored six unanswered tries to lead 40-06 at the halftime break. Despite Boland scoring two tries in the second half, Western Province continued scoring at will, and ended scoring five further tries to secure a 73-18 win.
Western Province: 1 Jordan Jooste, 2 Altus Rabe, 3 Juan Van Der Merwe, 4 Jaythen Orange, 5 Juvan Burden, 6 Briint Davids, 7 Josh Neill, 8 Quintin Potgieter, 9 Morne Noble, 10 Achmat Behardien, 11 Cole Moultrie, 12 Markus Muller, 13 Albert Lourens, 14 Jeneall Davids, 15 Ethan Van Biljon. Replacements: 16 Ismaeel Conrad, 17 Bulela Mbala, 18 Matthew Van der Merwe, 19 Jayden Joubert, 20 Gert Kemp, 21 Jayden Brits, 22 RJ Davids, 23 Jadon Ocks.
Boland: 1 Amaan Adendorff, 2 JP Lotriet, 3 Linrique Mason, 4 Morne Coetzer, 5 Heinrich Redelinghuys, 6 Werno Ramsauer, 7 Gerhard Goosen, 8 Joshua Steenkamp, 9 Braydon Joseph, 10 Zion Rabie, 11 Darren Makeza, 12 Johan van der Walt, 13 Jeraldo Davids, 14 Harold De Silva, 23 West-lee Uithaler. Replacements: 16 Liam van Der Westhuizen, 17 Stefan Le Roux, 18 Joshua Swarts, 19 Clint Afrika, 20 Gideon Scheepers, 21 Caleb Cornett, 22 Lorenzo Kroutz, 23 JT Adams.
