Southern sides continue to impress at Craven Week

Eastern Province and Western Province maintained their unbeaten records, while there were wins for the hosts, South Western Districts, and Free State on the third day of the SA Rugby U18 Craven Week at Outeniqua Park in George.

EP continue to impress at the 2023 edition of the Craven Week. Two days after claiming a 26-23 win against a more-fancied Free Side, they racked up a 40-26 victory over Boland, with flanker De Wet Fourie scoring two of their six tries.

WP went into the fixture against the Sharks on the back of a convincing win against SWD. The clash between the two coastal giants on Wednesday lived up to the hype, with WP emerging as 35-24 victors.

Earlier in the day, SWD edged the Valke 20-19 to record their first win of the competition. Free State also bounced back from their recent defeat, scoring eight tries in their commanding 54-14 victory over the WP XV.

The Craven Week action will continue on Thursday morning, with Griquas meeting the Limpopo Blue Bulls at 10h30 in the first game of the day, with the last encounter a Gauteng derby between the Lions and Bulls.

U18 Craven Week Day Three Results:

Valke 19 (11) – Tries: Lynhge Pretorius, Oregopotse Shilubane. Penalty goals: Duan du Toit (3).
South Western Districts 20 (5) – Tries: Brendan Gouws, Keanon Jantjies, Jay-Jay Daters, Kurt Coetzee.

Western Province XV 14 (0) – Tries: Louw du Toit, Daniel van der Merwe. Conversions: Leejay Petersen (2).
Free State 54 (42) – Tries: Ranon Fouche, Stefan Venter, Jean-Henri Smit, Keegan Scholtz, JJ Theron, Christiaan van Der Westhuizen, Pieter van der Merwe, Pharrel van Wyk. Conversions: Ian van der Merwe (7).

Eastern Province 40 (20) – Tries: De Wet Fourie (2), Burrie van Heerden, Aiden de Villiers, Imaani Pemba, Dominic Malgas. Conversion: Lucraine Muggels. Penalty goal: Muggels.
Boland 26 (12) – Tries: Petrus Coetzee, Carick Kustoor (2), James Daniels. Conversions Luan Giliomee (3).

Western Province 35 (27) – Tries: Justin Amos, Haashim Pead, Jameel De Jongh, Gilermo Mentoe. Conversions: Yaqeen Ahmed (3). Penalty goals: Ahmed (3).
Sharks 24 (14) – Tries: Phiwo Kubheka, Liam Terblanche, Maurice Willemse. Conversions: Chris Horak (3). Penalty goal: Horak.

U18 Craven Week Day Four Fixtures:

10h30: Griquas v Limpopo Blue Bulls

12h00: Border v Pumas

13h30: Griffons v Leopards

15h00: Golden Lions v Blue Bulls