KZN rugby youngsters beaten
Western Province, meanwhile, took the top honours at the Coca-Cola Academy Week at the Isak Steyl Stadium in Vanderbijlpark as they defeated the Blue Bulls 36-24 in the final match.
In the other big match-ups in Oudtshoorn, Western Province thumped the Blue Bulls 33-12 thanks to their hard-running on attack, while the Pumas and Boland played to a 24-24 draw and Eastern Province defeated Free State 34-17.
The Limpopo Blue Bulls, meanwhile, completed the tournament on a high note as they registered their third victory in as many games, after defeating hosts the SWD Eagles 30-17. Border and Griquas, meanwhile, remained unbeaten.
In Vanderbijlpark, Western Province scored an impressive six tries, with a hat-trick by Jean-Pierre Smith, to only three tries by the Pretoria side to secure the victory.
In the other main games the Golden Lions pipped the Free State 20-19, while SWD thumped the Griffons 38-3.
This result for SWD allowed them to complete the competition unbeaten, while KwaZulu-Natal CD, Griquas CD, and the Griffons registered a clean-sweep of victories.
Golden Lions 31 (17) KwaZulu-Natal 24 (19)
KwaZulu-Natal showed their intent early on against the Golden Lions as they worked their way into the Lions’ 22m area three times in the opening exchanges. This paid off with a try in the corner by Malakiwe Zondeki in the ninth minute. But the Lions struck back with a stunning try by Travis Gordon, who dashed to the tryline and pushed off a defender to score, which levelled the scores at 5-5. The Johannesburg side again found space out wide and forced their way through the defence for two more tries to power their way to a 17-5 lead. KwaZulu-Natal, however, forced their way back with a series of pick-and-goes which allowed them to cross the line for the second time to reduce the deficit to 17-12. The Lions’ lead was short-lived as the Durban side scored another try in the minutes leading up to the break and converted successfully to take a narrow 19-17 lead going into the break. KwaZulu-Natal dominated territory and possession in the early stages of the second half, but the Golden Lions defence denied them from crossing the tryline. In turn, meanwhile, the Johannesburg side did well to spread the ball on attack, which opened up a gap for Muzilikazi Manyike to sneak through for a 24-19 lead. This lead, however, was cancelled out minutes later as the Durban side forced their way through to the tryline once again to level the scores at 24-24. Both teams opted to kick into space in the hope of breaching the defence for a lead in the dying minutes. The Lions received a penalty soon after, but the ball hit the upright which denied them from taking the lead. The Lions, however, forced their way over the tryline in the 57th after showing fantastic patience on attack and the conversion was successful, pushing them 31-24 ahead. They held onto this lead to come out tops in the tournament.
Scorers:
Golden Lions – Tries: Travis Gordon, Muzilikazi Manyike, Yanga Hlalu, Zandre van der Berg (2). Conversions: Kennedy Mpeku (3).
KwaZulu-Natal – Tries: Alfred Holder, Kamvelihle Fatyela, Malakiwe Zondeki, Juan van der Mescht. Conversions: Morne van Rensburg (2).
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
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