JOHANNESBURG – The Golden Lions and Blue Bulls took top honours in the Under-18 Craven Week and Academy Weeks in an exciting finish to the SA Rugby Youth Weeks series at St Stithians College on Saturday.
The Golden Lions defeated the Sharks 45-18 in a thrilling final match in the Craven Week, while the Blue Bulls outplayed Western Province 49-37 in the main match in the Academy Week.
In stark contrast to the opening four days play in the tournaments, the other matches proved to be close, which kept fans gripped throughout the day.
The Lions got the final match of the Craven Week off to a strong start as wing Tino Swanepoel navigated his way to the tryline in the ninth minute.
But the Sharks hit back soon after with scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba slotting over a penalty goal, which they backed up with two tries in two minutes by Conan le Fleur and Cham Zondeki respectively.
The teams exchanged penalty goals soon after through centre Kennedy Mpeku and Nohamba, which pushed the Sharks 18-11 ahead going into halftime.
The hosts bounced back with intent in the second half, with flank Franco Schutte crashing over the tryline two minutes after play resumed and the successful conversion saw them level the scores.
Both sides had opportunities in the following minutes, which they were unable to capitalise on.
A subsequent penalty goal by Mpeku and back-to-back tries in two minutes by wing David Cary and flank Mark Snyman, however, earned them a 17-point cushion with 12 minutes left on the clock.
This fuelled their motivation as Mpeku inflicted further damage with a penalty, while flank PJ Jacobs forced his way over the tryline on the stroke of fulltime for a rewarding 45-18 victory.
Craven Week Results
Eastern Province CD 70-0 Border CD, Limpopo Blue Bulls 34-57 Griquas, Namibia 45-21 Zimbabwe, Valke 43-41 Griquas CD, Eastern Province 29-26 Leopards, SWD 49-36 Pumas, Boland 12-42 Griffons, Border 40-45 Blue Bulls, Free State 54-33 Western Province, Sharks 18-45 Golden Lions.