The interschools rugby season in Nelson Mandela Bay might be entering a break but the provincial players can’t wait for the highlight of the year.
It is not long before the Craven Week starts with the first matches being played at Rondebosch Boys’ High on July 4.
Eastern Province will be in action against Griquas on the first day and would love to start the tournament with a victory.
Coach Elric van Vuuren of Despatch and the captain, Liselihle Maphekula of Graeme College, will soon step up the preparations for the big week.
The LSEN (learners with special education needs) schools’ side of Eastern Province is also a team to watch out for this year.
Bergsig of Kariega has 18 players in the squad and there was no pro-blem with their interplay when they beat Free State 64–5 in a fine display this week.
The coming break is also a challenging period for the school coaches who must make sure their players who aren’t involved in the various provincial tournaments, are ready to resume action after the July holiday.
There are some mouth-watering clashes when the fixtures resume on July 23; Framesby taking on Grey High is one of them.
Some interesting matches took place this past week and Graeme College was in no holiday mood when they beat Daniel Pienaar 71–3 in Kariega.
Brandwag played well to overcome Itembelihle 39–8 and DF Malherbe and Victoria Park were involved in a match that could have gone either way. DF hung on to win 15–12.
Last week’s First XV results:
- Brandwag 39, Ithembelihle 8;
- Graeme College 71, Daniel Pienaar 3;
- Hudson Park 36, Stirling 17;
- DF Malherbe 15, Victoria Park 12;
- Dale College 13, Kingswood 12.
Moment of the week:
The improvement that the Ithembelihle team is showing and the spirit with which they approach every match.
