The Western Cape is the heartland of school rugby in South Africa. This was again evident in a fantastic last match on Saturday in the final round of the U18 Craven Week in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.
Western Province (WP) beat South Western Districts (SWD) 27-21 in a thrilling contest to end yet another Craven Week unbeaten – three wins from three matches.
The SWD Eagles did not stand back and WP had to pull out all the stops to win this one. It was the Eagles who scored first but WP hit straight back with three tries to lead 17-9 at halftime.
WP was ready to take control in the second half but SWD had other ideas. When WP lost a player due to a yellow card, the SWD used this opportunity to fight back.
Although pushed the whole way, WP kept their noses in front and in the end had enough in the tank to secure victory, scoring four tries to two.
Earlier in the day the Bulls, after a shaky start, thrashed Eastern Province 76-24. Wing Thabiso Simelane scored two of the Bulls tries and ended the tournament as the leading try scorer with six.
In a humdinger the Lions got home 27-26 against the Western Province XV.
Free State looked very solid in a 34-12 victory over the Sharks. The Leopards were way too strong for the Limpopo Blue Bulls, winning 54-7.
Griquas edged the Falcons 28-18 and the Pumas gave the home crowd lots to cheer about when they destroyed Border 48-12.
U18 Craven Week Day 5 results
WP 27, SWD 21
Bulls 76, EP 24
Golden Lions 27, WP XV 26
Leopards 54, Limpopo Blue Bulls 7
Free State 34, Sharks 12
Griquas 26, Falcons 19
Pumas 48, Border 12
