The U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week and Coca-Cola Academy Week tournaments will reach an exciting conclusion in Paarl this Saturday, with DHL WP taking on the Sharks in the unofficial final. With Friday a designated rest day, here are your Saturday fixtures and a tournament wrap to date.
FINAL DAY FIXTURES
U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week final day fixtures (Brug Street Grounds):
08h00 – SWD v King Price Pumas (A Field)
08h00 – Griquas v Unitrans Limpopo Blue Bulls (B Field)
09h30 – DHL Western Province XV v Ultimate Aim Blue Bulls (A Field)
09h30 – Eastern Province v Leopards (B Field)
11h00 – Build-it Border v Free State (A Field)
11h00 – Blue Bulls XV v Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions XV (B Field)
12h30 – Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions v Boland (A Field)
12h30 – NWU Valke v Thepa Trading Griffons (B Field)
14h00 – Sharks v DHL Western Province (A Field)
U18 Coca-Cola Academy Week final day fixtures (Paarl Gymnasium):
08h00 – Sharks v Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions (A Field)
08h00 – Griquas v Eastern Province CD (B Field)
08h00 – Blue Bulls CD v DHL Western Province CD (C Field)
08h00 – Leopards v Griquas CD (D Field)
09h30 – Build-it Border v Blue Bulls (A Field)
09h30 – Boland v Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions CD (B Field)
09h30 – Griffons CD v Sharks CD (C Field)
09h30 – Pumas CD v Valke CD (D Field)
11h00 – SWD v Valke (A Field)
11h00 – Eastern Province v Thepa Trading Griffons (B Field)
11h00 – Limpopo Blue Bulls v Pumas (C Field)
11h00 – Border CD v SA LSEN (D Field)
12h30 – DHL Western Province v Free State (A Field)
12h30 – Old Mutual Zimbabwe v Namibia (B Field)
Wrap – Day 1 – MON 9 July
The U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week and Coca-Cola Academy Week tournaments got off to an exhilarating start on Monday, with an exciting mix of big wins and nail-biting clashes keeping spectators gripped throughout the day.
In the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week, the hosts, DHL Western Province ran riot on attack against the King Price Pumas as they broke through the defence at will and rounded off their chances, which earned them a 72-10 victory. The team powered their way to a 36-10 lead, and continued to navigate their way through the defence as the game progressed, which allowed them to touch down an impressive 11 times. The match was particularly memorable for Dawid Kellerman who scored four of his team’s tries.
In the Coca-Cola Academy Week, the hosts, DHL Western Province, outplayed the Pumas 57-28 thanks to their classy attacking display, which saw them run in a whopping nine tries. Mark Etzebeth, Louwan Horn and Justin Cupido all scored braces, while they limited the Pumas to four.
U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week day one results (Monday, 9 July):
Thepa Trading Griffons 51-17 Blue Bulls XV
Build-It Border 68-17 Unitrans Limpopo Blue Bulls
Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions 46-25 Eastern Province
DHL Western Province 72-10 King Price Pumas
Coca-Cola Academy Week day one results (Monday, 9 July):
Sharks CD 22-27 Blue Bulls CD
Namibia 41-8 Valke CD
Old Mutual Zimbabwe 29-27 SA LSEN
Griquas 36-39 Valke
Build-it Border 31-18 Leopards
Boland 21-43 Sharks
DHL Western Province 57-28 Pumas
Day 2 – TUES 10 July
The U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week and Coca-Cola Academy Week kept the passionate Paarl crowd gripped in another entertaining day’s action at Paarl Boys’ High’s Brug Steet Grounds on Tuesday, as 24 teams battled it out in their opening matches after watching their counterparts kick off the action on Monday.
A strong second-half showing by the DHL Western Province XV saw them break away from the Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions XV on the scoreboard to earn a rewarding 57-15 victory. The first half was close as the teams hard ran on attack, with each side breaching the defence twice to enter the break level on 10-10. The home team, however, dominated the second half to increase their try tally to nine for a runway victory, with Mikyle Vraagom making a solid contribution with two tries and six conversions for 22 points.
An extra conversion by the Bidvest Golden Lions CD edged them to a 25-23 victory against DHL Western Province CD in a nail-biting encounter in which both sides gave everything. Each team scored three tries and two penalty goals, but the Johannesburg side scored two conversions to one by the home side for the win.
U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week day two results (Tuesday, 10 July):
Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions XV 15-57 DHL Western Province XV
NWU Valke 63-24 Leopards
Boland 61-14 Griquas
Sharks 46-28 SWD
Free State 38-21 Blue Bulls
Coca-Cola Academy Week day two results (Tuesday, 10 July):
Griquas CD 13-17 Thepa Trading Griffons CD
Pumas CD 8-15 Border CD
Eastern Province CD 34-10 Limpopo Blue Bulls
Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions CD 25-23 DHL Western Province CD
SWD 29-20 Thepa Trading Griffons
Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions 28-36 Free State
Blue Bulls 26-7 Eastern Province
DAY 3 – WED 11 July
The U18 Coca-Cola Youth Week tournaments continued to deliver top-class action on Wednesday, with six teams still unbeaten at Paarl Boys’ High’s Brug Street Grounds – DHL Western Province and Build-it Border in the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week, and the Valke, DHL Western Province, Namibia and Old Mutual Zimbabwe in the Coca-Cola Academy Week.
The matches may have been hard-fought, but the players all embraced the spirit of good sportsmanship by participating in the handshake challenge by shaking hands before and after each match.
DHL Western Province and the Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions were involved in an epic main game of the day in the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week, but the home team’s solid forward play and determined defensive effort saw them register a 13-5 victory. The team from the Western-Cape kicked two penalty goals to a try by their counterparts from Gauteng, which saw them take a 6-5 lead at the break. The second half was equally tight, with both sides trying hard to break through the defence, but DHL Western Province crashed through for their only try of the match, by Adrian Alberts, to seal the victory.
In the Coca-Cola Academy Week, the hosts, DHL Western Province, were in top form against the Sharks as they delivered a complete performance to overpower the Durbanites 67-14. Xavier Adams was in superb form as he scored a hat-trick, while Louwan Horn and Raven Smith each scored two tries. The team’s effective defence, meanwhile, limited the Sharks to one try per half for their efforts.
U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week day three results (Wednesday, 11 July):
Blue Bulls XV 55-5 Unitrans Limpopo Blue Bulls
Eastern Province 29-45 King Price Pumas
Build-it Border 52-12 Thepa Trading Griffons
DHL Western Province 13-5 Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions
Coca-Cola Academy Week day three results (Wednesday, 11 July):
Build-it Border 22-25 Valke
Leopards 14-29 Sharks CD
DHL Western Province 67-14 Sharks
SA LSEN 26-22 Valke CD
Namibia 18-15 Griquas
Blue Bulls CD 19-44 Old Mutual Zimbabwe
Boland 41-24 Pumas
DAY 4 – THURS 12 July
Not even the cold and wet conditions could put a dampener on the spirits on the fourth day of the U18 Coca-Cola Youth Weeks at Paarl Boys’ High’s Brug Street grounds on Thursday, with the Sharks, DHL Western Province XV and Boland continuing their winning ways in the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week, and Free State, SWD, the Thepa Trading Griffons in the Coca-Cola Academy Week.
For the fourth straight day the stands were packed, despite pouring rain at times, as the players delivered a top-class display of junior rugby in a fantastic showcase of the talent on offer.
In the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week, DHL Western Province XV built on their strong form in their opening match on Tuesday to defeat NWU Valke 26-8, scoring three tries to one, with Allister Williams dotting down twice. The home side produced a dominant performance on attack and supported this with a dedicated defensive effort, which saw them concede only a try and penalty goal.
In the Coca-Cola Academy Week, Limpopo retained possession and applied consistent pressure on DHL Western Province CD, while they made the most of their point-scoring chances to earn a 25-14 victory. The Limpopo side were 12-7 ahead at the break and they added their third try in the second half to take a 19-14 lead before kicking two vital penalty goals in the dying minutes to push the match out of range for the home side.
U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week day four results (Thursday, 12 July):
Leopards 17-6 Griquas
Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions XV 24-38 SWD
DHL Western Province XV 26-8 NWU Valke
Boland 19-17 Ultimate Aim Blue Bulls
Free State 20-29 Sharks
U18 Coca-Cola Academy Week day four results (Thursday, 12 July):
DHL Western Province CD 14-25 Limpopo Blue Bulls
Griquas CD 26-26 Pumas CD
Thepa Trading Griffons 15-6 Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions CD
Thepa Trading Griffons CD 17-8 Border CD
Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions 21-21 Eastern Province
SWD 45-15 Eastern Province CD
Blue Bulls 18-29 Free State
The teams will have Friday off to rest before taking to the field in a jam-packed closing day on Saturday.
