Sharks show their teeth in Craven Week warning

The Sharks registered an impressive 53-33 victory against the Blue Bulls, while Namibia overpowered the Valke 52-36, the Leopards outplayed Old Mutual Zimbabwe 72-17 and GWK Griquas defeated Eastern Province CD 42-20 in the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week

In the Coca-Cola Academy Week, meanwhile, the Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions XV overpowered Old Mutual Zimbabwe 62-14, while Valke Platteland defeated Border CD 51-12 and the SA LSEN (Learners with Special Education Needs) team earned a convincing 57-36 win against Tshepa Trading Griffons CD.

There were, however, a few close encounters in both tournaments, with SWD defeating Eastern Province 27-22 in the flagship tournament, while Pumas CD pipped Namibia 16-15, the Blue Bulls beat the Free State 26-23 and the Pumas defeated the Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions 23-22 in the Coca-Cola Academy Week.

Outside of the results, it was notable day in the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week as female referee Aimee Barrett-Theron became the first woman to take charge of a match in the tournament.

U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week

SWD held off a strong challenge from Eastern Province for a 27-22 victory, with their prop Dian Bleuler scoring a brace for his team. The team’s packs were closely matched, but the talented SWD backline handed them the edge to outscore the Port Elizabeth team four tries to three after taking a 19-10 lead at the break.

The Sharks, meanwhile, used their solid foundation up-front to dominate the first half against the Blue Bulls, which paved the way for their six tries and an encouraging 38-7 halftime lead.

The Blue Bulls fought back strongly in the second half and closed the gap to 38-28 as the Sharks reduced to 14 men for a dangerous charge into a ruck.

The coastal side, however, stuck to their game plan to retain possession and earned the rewards as they two more tries to their tally and a penalty goal, which ensured that the Pretoria side’s four second-half tries were insufficient to push them into the lead.

The match was particularly special for Sharks scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba who scored a try, a penalty goal and five conversions.

Namibia staged a strong comeback against the Valke in the opening match of the day from 19-0 down to register a rewarding 52-36 victory in their first match of the tournament.

The Namibian forwards laid a solid foundation for the team as they dominated the scrums, while the side did well to spot the gaps in the defence and take advantage of them, with centre Gerswin Mouton earning a hat-trick.

The Valke, in turn, started the match strongly and scored three back-to-back tries, but the Namibians tightened up their defence and limited them to only two more for the match.

The Leopards delivered a solid performance all around against Old Mutual Zimbabwe, which saw them run riot on attack for a 72-17 win. The first half was competitive as the Potchefstroom side took a 20-7 lead, but they broke loose in the second half and ran circles around the defence to finish the match with 11 Tries.

Fullback Bertru Jones three tries, while flyhalf Hanru Van Rooyen scored two tries, seven conversions and a penalty goal. Despite this, Old Mutual Zimbabwe refused to give up and forced their way over the tryline twice late in the match.

GWK Griquas’ ability to maintain their structure on attack throughout their clash against Eastern Province CD and their constant pressure paid off as they secured a 40-20 victory.

The Kimberley side built up an encouraging 25-8 halftime lead and they picked up where they left off after the break to run in a total of six tries, while they defended with intent to keep the Eastern Cape side down to three.

U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week day three fixtures (Wednesday, 19 July):

09h00 – Tshepa Trading Griffons v Border CD
10h35 – Boland v GWK Griquas CD
12h05 – Border v Limpopo Blue Bulls
13h45 – Free State v Pumas
15h30 – Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions v DHL Western Province

Coca-Cola Academy Week day three fixtures (Wednesday, 19 July):

08h30 – Limpopo Blue Bulls v GWK Griquas CD
09h55 – GWK Griquas v Sharks CD
11h20 – Eastern Province v SWD 
12h45 – Eastern Province CD v Valke CD
14h10 – DHL Western Province v Sharks