DHL Western Province and Border on Monday dominated the scoreboard on the opening day of the 2014 Coca-Cola Under-13 Craven Week held at Glenwood High School in Durban.
Province proved far too classy for Mpumalanga, beating the Lowvelders 56-0 in the biggest win of the day, whilst Border delivered a polished performance, easing past the Blue Bulls 52-10.
The Leopards proved far too strong for Border Country Districts and won 37-5, whilst Boland carried too many guns for Griffons, winning 43-12.
Griquas were another team to score at will, beating Zimbabwe 36-12, but the other matches proved to be tightly contested affairs.
In an early morning upset, SWD held on to beat Free State 10-8, hosts KZN came up short against the Golden Lions, who won 15-12 and Eastern Province kept out Limpopo Blue Bulls to win 17-12. The Valke also battled hard to overcame a plucky Namibian side by 13-0.
Golden Lions 15 (12) KZN 12 (7)
The Golden Lions started like a house on fire, scoring a converted try in the third minute of the match, but KZN fought back well to score after 12 minutes of play.
A second Golden Lions try had them in the lead at the break and although Zander van der Merwe scored for the hosts with five minutes to play, a late penalty by Jo Raldo Olivier gave the Golden Lions the result they wanted.
Scorers:
Golden Lions: Tries: Theo Molaolwa, Wian Steenkamp. Conversion: Jo Raldo Olivier. Penalty: Olivier.
KZN: Tries: Carlo Miller, Zander van der Merwe. Conversion: Dean Wolhuter.
Western Province 56 (22) Pumas 0 (0)
Western Province ran in ten tries in a one-sided match with left-wing Junaid Abrahams scoring the first hat-trick of the tournament.
The Cape side scored at will in the opening minutes with tries in the second, fourth, 12th and 20th minute and continued the relentless onslaught on the Pumas tryline in the second half. Abrahams scored in the fourth minute and added the other two in the second half.
Scorers:
DHL Western Province: Tries: Dalvon Blood (2), Fabrizio Linnert, Junaid Abrahams (3), Kerwin Stewart (2), Meiring Ebersohn, Mogammad Esau. Conversions: Linnert (2), Stewart.
Border 52 (17) Blue Bulls 10 (5)
Border scored seven tries on route to a stunning win over one of the traditional powerhouse teams of the week. They stunned the Blue Bulls early, scoring three tries in the opening 15 minutes and never looked back from that.
The accurate boot of Border lock, Rayden Masters, aided his side’s effort even further as he kicked five conversions to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Scorers:
Border: Tries: Chulumanco Mfakadolo, Lawuka Bata (2), Matthew Karelse, Mntungwa Mapantsula, Sipo Javu (2), Tiaan Jonker. Conversions: Rayden Masters (5), Marcello Flemmer.
Blue Bulls: Tries: Lohan Potgieter, Raynard Roets.
Leopards 37 (13) Border Country Districts 5 (5)
The North West teams started slowly, but once they found their rhythm and support play there was only one team on the field. Border held out for 11 minutes with Mzwamazizi Ngalo scoring, but could not contain the bigger and more physical Leopards side much longer after that.
The second half belonged to the Leopards, who also used the accurate boot of flyhalf Estiaan Schonfeldt to keep the scoreboard ticking. The flyhalf contributed 22 points to finish the day as top points-scorer.
Scorers:
Leopards: Tries: Estiaan Schonfeldt (2), Henco van Wyk, Rossouw Karsten (2). Conversions: Schonfeldt (3). Penalties: Schonfeldt (2).
Border CD: Try: Mzwamazizi Ngalo
Eastern Province 17 (0) Limpopo Blue Bulls 12 (7)
Both teams scored two tries in the match, but thanks to the accurate place-kicking from EP fullback Michael Paddock, the coastal side could register yet another win over an inland one.
Paddock proved to be the main contributor towards victory in the second half, scoring a try and converting it himself before kicking a late penalty to secure the win.
Scorers:
EP: Tries: Michael Paddock, Yolisa Dladla. Conversions: Paddock (2). Penalty: Paddock.
Limpopo BB: Tries: Roy Stewart, Siphiwe Tjale. Conversion: Lucian Simpson.
Valke 13 (5) Namibia 0 (0)
Only two tries were scored in this tightly contested affair and the Valke will take heart from the fact that they used the limited scoring opportunities better than Namibia did.
It took the Valke 16 minutes to score the opening try of the match when Tiaan Botes crashed over. The flyhalf could not convert a second half try by Elliott Asieng, but did manage a late penalty to seal the result.
Scorers:
Valke: Tries: Tiaan Botes, Elliott Asieng. Conversion: Botes. Penalty: Botes.
Boland 43 (29) Griffons 12 (0)
The Northern Free State side never got going in this encounter, whilst Boland hit the straps running.
It was all over as contest at half-time and although the Griffons manage two tries in the second half, they left it way too late to make a contest of it. Boland will be pleased though with their interplay, resulting in no less than seven different players crossing the Griffons line.
Scorers:
Boland: Tries: Adrian Dirks, Ashwell Kampi, Brian Zake, Christiaan Burger, Eon Solomons, Juan van Zyl, Tyler Bocks. Conversions: Nathan Engelbrecht (2), Conray Maart, Adriaan Engelbrecht.
Griffons: Tries: George Cronje, Niel Janse van Rensburg. Conversion: Dylan Smit.
Griquas 36 (10) Zimbabwe 12 (7)
It was still close at half-time in this exciting match, but in the second half Griquas showed why they were ranked as one of the pre-tournament favourites.
The Kimberley-based team scored four tries in the second half and proved to be well-drilled with too much skill for Zimbabwe.
Scorers:
Griquas: Tries: Bernardes van Staden, Deon le Roux, DM Hohls, Pierich Siebert, Stoney Steenkamp (2). Conversions: Adriaan Horn (3).
Zimbabwe: Tries: Nataizya Chininga (2). Conversion: Tawanda Muyeye.
SWD 10 (5) Free State 8 (3)
The early match has spectators on their feet and it proved to be a very close affair. Both teams only managed one try apiece as good defence held sway, but both coaches will feel that a number of try-scoring opportunities went astray as well.
The Free State had the early lead through a penalty, but when Xander Botha scored before the break, SWD took the lead.
An early second half try by the Free State side saw them in front again, but a try by Marno April gave SWD the edge. A late penalty attempt to win the match was missed by Free State and SWD could punch in the air in victory.
Scorers:
SWD: Tries: Marno April, Xander Botha.
Free State: Try: Heinrich Killian. Penalty: Obakeng Nketsi.
* The 2014 Under-18 LSEN Week also kicked off at Olen Park in Potchefstroom, with DHL Western Province going down 13-26 to SWD.
Under-18 LSEN Week results (Day One):
Pumas 32 (17) KZN 32 (18)
Golden Lions 15 (5) Free State 21 (18)
Falcons 35 (17) Blue Bulls 29 (10)
Blue Bulls EE 26 (7) Boland 41 (7)
Griffons 17 (5) Eastern Province 18 (13)
Western Province 13 (10) SWD 26 (18)
