Two of the three undefeated sides at the 2022 Craven Week, tournament hosts Western Province and the Blue Bulls, will contest the final match of this year’s showpiece in Rondebosch on Saturday.
The Blue Bulls put in an impressive display to beat SWD by 34-15 on a rainy day which tested different skill sets to earlier in the week, when matches were played in clear conditions, while the Pumas, the only other undefeated team at the tournament, were equally impressive in the way they dismantled Griffons, winning 48-18.
The Golden Lions bounced back from their opening defeat to beat Free State 30-22, meaning that the Bloemfontein side suffered two consecutive defeats at the tournament.
In the opening match of the day, Limpopo Blue Bulls beat the Leopards by 24-17 in a tight encounter. The Limpopo side scored four tries to three in yet another entertaining match at the tournament, which showed that despite the two-year absence, it has not lost the ability to thrill crowds and bring the best out of players.
The match between the Golden Lions and Free State was a tight affair, with the Gauteng side holding a two-point lead at the break. The eight-point winning margin was largely because of the goal-kicking by their fullback, JT Kapank, who slotted three penalty goals at crucial times to maintain the scoreboard pressure and it delivered the win for his side.
The Pumas ran the Griffons side off their feet, scoring eight tries to three. They were dominant from the start, scoring three unanswered tries in the first half and, although the team from Welkom offered some resistance in the second half, the Pumas accelerated and won easily in the end.
The Blue Bulls earned their stripes against a gutsy SWD side by relentless pressure from their pack and accurate kicking from their halfback pairing. They adapted the best to the slippery conditions and every time it looked like SWD were building momentum, the Pretoria team would score points to halt that again.
Scorers on day four:
Pumas 48 (19) – Griffons 18 (3)
Pumas – Tries: Fumani Chauke, Francois Odendaal, Danny van Staden, Tyron Moolman, Grant de Jager, Rinkhals Smit (2), Philasande Ntshapela. Conversions: Hardus Visser (4).
Griffons – Tries: Jayleigh Arends, Kaleb Kriek, Ruben Kruger. Penalty goal: Nalie Kiewiet.
Golden Lions 30 (10) – Free State 22 (8)
Lions – Tries: Ruan Welman, JT Kapank, Deon Groenewald. Conversions: Kapank. Penalty goals: Kapank (3).
Free State – Tries: Jermairon Ruiters, Ulrich Wahl, Penalty Try. Conversion: Bradley Giddy. Penalty goal: Giddy.
Limpopo Blue Bulls 24 (12) – Leopards 17 (5)
Limpopo – Tries: Carl Dohse, Joy Ngobeni, Orediretse Rathokolo (2). Conversions: Tristan Brits (2).
Leopards – Tries: Zandro Bezuidenhout, Erich Snyman, Teboho Sekonyela. Conversion: Snyman.
Blue Bulls 34 – SWD 15
Blue Bulls – Tries: De Wet Lottering (2), Abri van der Westhuizen, Mietie Erasmus. Conversions: Stehan Heymans. Penalty goals: Heymans (2).
SWD – Tries: Michael Lamont, Werner Groenewald, Conversion: John-Taylor Strydom. Penalty goal: Strydom.
Final day fixtures for Saturday:
Meadows Two
9am: Leopards vs Boland
10:30am: Limpopo Blue Bulls vs Eastern Province
Meadows One
9am: Pumas vs Griquas
10:30am: Valke vs Griffons
Tinkie Heyns Field
9am: Western Province XV vs Free State
10:30am: Golden Lions vs Border
12pm: Sharks High Schools vs SWD
1:30pm: Western Province vs Blue Bulls
ICYMI – WP, Border shine on competitive Craven Week day
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
