South Western Districts caused a major upset at the 41st Coca-Cola Under-13 Craven Week when they beat hosts Free State 15-10 in the main match of the opening day at Grey College in Bloemfontein.
There were also wins on Monday for Griquas, Boland, Valke, Leopards, Blue Bulls, Border, Western Province and Limpopo.
The Eagles took just three minutes to open their account, left wing Kurtwill Marks dotting down to give his side a 5-0 lead. Free State replied in the 19th minute when tighthead prop Naudé Naudé powered over to level the scores going into halftime.
SWD made it 10-5 soon after the break when replacement Darryn Fortuin went over before another Eagles replacement, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, crossed in the 29th minute to give his side what proved to be an unassailable 15-5 lead. Free State wing Ronaldo Davids scored a consolation try but the hosts were unable to reel in the deficit.
The 18-team tournament, which includes sides from Namibia and Zimbabwe this year, will continue on Tuesday, with the first of nine matches kicking off at 10h00.
Monday’s Results – Day 1:
Namibia (0) 0
Griquas (26) 36 – Tries: Desmond Jacobs, Marthinus Opperman (2), Marthinus Strauss (2), Riaan Genis. Conversions: Rikus Pretorius (3).
Griffons (0) 0
Boland (7) 15 – Tries: Michael Goodall, Thaakir Abrahams. Conversion: Herbert de Kock le Roux. Penalty: Keagan Lee Whitten.
KZN (3) 3 – Penalty: Jacobus Truter.
Valke (10) 18 – Tries: PJ Jacobs, Ruben Miller. Conversion: Lionel Ueckermann. Penalties: Ueckermann (2).
Zimbabwe (0) 0
Leopards (42) 56 – Tries: Siyam Kwedane, Steven Rossouw (2), Yonela Lubuzo, Zandre van der Berg (4). Conversions: Louis van Schalkwyk (8).
EP (6) 6 – Penalties: Johan Lombaard (2).
Blue Bulls (12) 31 – Tries: Dylan Nysschen (2), Jaco Labuschagne, Thembo Monareng (2). Conversions: Werner Nel (3).
Lions (3) 8 – Try: Henry Sinclair. Penalty: Sinclair.
Border (7) 10 – Try: D Coetzer. Conversion: Coetzer. Penalty: K Kroutz.
WP (17) 36 – Tries: Alexander Wedgwood, Bernardus Drotskie (2), Muller du Plessis, Xolani Masembathe, Zakareeyah Sallie. Conversions: Henry Chamberlain (3).
Pumas(5) 5 – Try: Khanya Gama.
Limpopo (7) 14 – Tries: Allie Sefole, Carl du Plessis. Conversions: Ernst Louw (2).
Border CD (0) 12 – Tries: Solibanzi Nkonzo, Vuyo Mriti. Conversion: Unathi Mbuku.
Free State (5) 10 – Tries: Naude Naude, Ronaldo Davids.
SWD (5) 15 – Tries: Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Darryn Fortuin, Kurtwill Marks.
Tuesday’s Fixtures – Day 2:
A field:
10h00 – Lions vs EP
10h50 – Pumas vs Griffons
11h40 – Valke vs Boland
12h30 – WP vs Leopards
13h20 – Blue Bulls vs Border
14h10 – Zimbabwe vs Namibia
15h00 – Free State vs KZN
B field:
10h00 – Limpopo vs SWD
10h50 – Griquas vs Border CD
