THE Eastern Province school rugby teams produced a mixed bag of results at the various age group tournaments around the country.
At times some of the EP sides delivered some brilliant performances but there were also some disappointing results along the way at last week’s tournaments.
One of the highlights was the victory over the strong Free State combination by the EP u/13 side in Krugersdorp.
After losses against the Lions and Western Province, the EP boys showed their fighting spirit to beat Free State 33-26 in their last match.
In the first two matches there were encouraging signs, although they were on the back foot most of the time, which indicated EP could beat Free State if they put their best foot forward.
At times, EP scrummed really well with the scrum anchored by the heaviest player at the tournament, the tight head prop of Grey Junior, Lucas Wheeler. He weighs in at 107kg.
The line-outs were a problem for EP, but they defended well, even in the matches they lost where they just fell away at the end of those two encounters. There were some exciting attackers in the EP back line and the try by outside centre, Yibanathi Grawana (Kenton Primary), against WP, was one of the gems of the week.
At the U/18 LSEN Week in George, EP won two of their three matches.
The EP side, consisting mostly of Bergsig boys, produced seven players for the national team that was picked at the end of the week.
Another huge honour for the side was that the code of conduct and best discipline award went EP’s way.
Luciano Cowie, Delano Draai, Babalo Xuza, Luvuyo Yeye, Ethan Vaaltyn, Zinidene Witbooi and Clayton Welgemoed are the EP representatives in the national team.
The performances of the u/18 and u/16 teams in Welkom showed that girls’ rugby in the province is on the right track. The u/18s gave fine displays in a 15-3 victory over the Pumas and the narrow loss of 17-19 against the Lions. The u/16s were unbeaten at the week, winning all three matches. The u/18 Craven Week is taking place at Rondebosch Boys’ High this week and the Academy Week is in Wellington.
We have got a panel of experts together to name the top EP player at the Craven Week in this column next week – so watch out to see who it is.
Results
U/16 Grant Khomo Week, Kimberley:
Sharks 42, EP 13; Western Province XV 45, EP 7; SWD 31, EP 7.
U/16 VKB Week, Frankfort:
EP 25, Rooikatte 0; EP 40, Leopards 19; Titans 27, EP 21.
U/13 Craven Week, Krugersdorp:
Lions 43, EP 5; Western Province 24, EP 5; EP 33, Free State 26.
