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South Western Districts continued their good form at the annual Grant Khomo Week in Vanderbijlpark as they defeated the Pumas 38-7 in their second match of the tournament. Christo Hamman recorded a hat-trick of tries for the victorious team and also converted four of his side’s tries for a personal tally of 23 points in the match. 

Scorers: 

South Western Districts 38 (12) – Tries: Christo Hamman (3), Daine Kannemeyer, Don-MArco Samuels, Logan Stoffels. Conversions: Hamman (4). Pumas 7 (7) – Try: Siyabonga Khaliswayo. Conversion: Chris Hanekom.

Griqualand West Country Districts 57 (31) – Tries: Reinhard Hayes (3), Xavier Cloete (2), Dian Dry, Joe Willemse, Kylan Griqua, Wynand Terblanche. Conversions: Eben Nieuwoudt (6). Border Country Districts 3 (0) – Penalty: Mbasa Peza.

Free State 17 (7) – Tries: Adam Bezuidenhout, Daniel Rust, Tyrell Heyns. Conversion: Dawid Snyman. Valke 10 (7) – Try: Vuyo Nxele. Conversion: Irvin Ali. Penalty: Webster Swanepoel.

Griqualand West 24 (5) – Tries: Braam Venter (2), Algurand Heyns, Joshua Swarts. Conversions: Gert Nortje (2). Valke XV 16 (16) – Tries: David Nkosi. Conversion: David du Plessis. Penalties: Du Plessis (3).

Border 16 (10) – Tries: Luyolo Khuse. Conversion: Morgan Steyn. Penalties: Steyn (3). Boland 13 (3) – Try: Ashley Franse. Conversion: Adriaan van der Bank. Penalty: Van der Bank. 

Namibia 19 (12) – Try: Pieter Steenkamp. Conversion: Cliven Loubser. Penalties: Curtis de Koe (2), Loubser. Leopards 8 (5) – Try: Gerhard Steenekamp. Penalty: Johan Pelser.

Western Province 34 (31) – Tries: Taigh Schoor, Ryan Muller, Moegamat Cassiem-February, Keenan Abrahams, Jondre Williams. Conversion: George Lourens (3). Penalty: Williams. Eastern Province 22 (8) – Tries: Curwin Bosch, Heino Bezuidenhout, Yomelela Keswa. Conversions: Bosch, Denver Kleu. Penalty: Bosch.

Limpopo Blue Bulls 29 (8) – Tries: Zwihuya Mulaudzi, Tshegofatso Robinson, Sibusiso Mlangeni, Bjanyana Molokomme. Conversions: Duan Schoeman (3). Penalty: Schoeman. Zimbabwe 21 (7) – Tries: Shaun Snyder (2), Farai Murinye. Conversion: Snyder (2), Campbill Nyakudya.

The Golden Lions and the Blue Bulls have been given the honour of playing in the late game on day 2 of the Coca-Cola u-16 Grant Khomo Week in Vanderbijlpark on Tuesday after both teams produced stirring late comebacks to win their opening encounters.

The Bulls were 11-10 down to Eastern Province at the break, and 26-17 down three quarters of the way through the match before a flurry of late scoring saw them triumph 30-26.

The hosts, the Valke looked set for a major upset when they lead the Golden Lions 15-7 at the break, but the Lions turned it on in the second half to win 29-20.

Also impressive on day one was Western Province, who smashed the Leopards 50-12, and Border, who scored a rare win over Free State. Eastern Province are rewarded for their good showing against the Blue Bulls with a game against Western Province on Tuesday.

All the sides are in action again on Tuesday. Wednesday is a rest day and the teams play their third and last games on Thursday.

Day 1 Results

Western Province 50 Leopards 12, KwaZulu-Natal 16 Limpopo Blue Bulls 12, SWD 21 Griffons 10, Blue Bulls 30 Eastern Province 26, Valke XV 28 Border Country 3, Border 15 Free State 13, Boland 17 Pumas 10, Zimbabwe 15 Griquas Country 12, Namibia Griquas 9, Golden Lions 29 Valke 20.

Day 2 Fixtures

B Field

10.30am Border Country v Griquas Country, 11.45am Valke XV v Griquas, 1pm Leopards v Namibia, 2.15pm Zimbabwe v Limpopo Blue Bulls, 3.30pm KwaZulu-Natal v Griffons.

A Field

10.3-am Pumas v SD, 11.45am Valke v Free State, 1pm Border v Boland, 2.15pm W Province v E Province, 3.30pm Blue Bulls v Golden Lions.

Die Rosestad kan hom regmaak vir die grootste rugbytoernooi wat vanjaar hier aangebied word, berig Hannes Nienaber.

St. Andrew is van 5 tot 8 Julie gasheer vir die tweejaarlikse privaatskole-toernooi. Dié toernooi is verlede jaar deur Penryn-kollege in Nelspruit aangebied. Saints het egter besluit om die toernooi vanjaar saam met hul 150ste bestaansjaar-vieringe aan te bied.

Die gasheer het ook vir Hoërskool Sentraal as gas na die toernooi genooi. Tralies sal nou wel sonder hulle Vrystaatse Akademie-week spelers wees, maar in die gees van die week wat oor die spel gaan sal dit gepas wees.

Saints kom teen Clifton, St. Charles-kollege en St. Stithian-kollege in sy drie wedstryd op die fees te staan. Die wedstryd teen St. Charles-kollege van Durban sal die hoofwedstryd op die Hickling A-veld op Saterdag, 6 Julie wees.

Die Tralies kom teen St. Benedict-kollege van Johannesburg, St. Stithian-kollege en Michaelhouse in sy drie kragmetings te staan. Veral die kragmeting teen Michaelhouse behoort een van die hoogtepunte van die fees te wees.

Dit is jammer dat Grey-kollege ‘n uitnodiging van die hand gewys het. Saints en Grey het mekaar in die eerste rugbywedstryd ooit in die Vrystaat gepak en dit sou gepas gewees het as die land se voorste skool ?n span na die toernooi kon stuur. Grey is egter sonder meeste van sy spelers wat in die Cravenweek- en Akademieweek-spanne van die Vrystaat in hierdie tyd is wat ook gedurende hierdie tydperk in aksie is. Hulle sou dus met ?n derde span aan die toernooi moes deelneem.

Michaelhouse, St. John-kollege, St. Stithian-kollege en St. Alban-kollege is van die beste spanne wat op die toernooi in aksie sal wees.

St. Andrew se eerste rugbywedstryd was in 1882 teen Grey-kollege. Dit is ook dan nie vreemd dat die twee spanne in ?n hewige tweestryd in die vroee jare van die vorige eeu op die rugbyveld gewikkel was nie. Grey was 3-0 in die kragmeting baas. Die wedstryd is onder die Winchester-reels gespeel wat bepaal het dat ?n span uit tien voorspelers, twee doele (vervyfde driee), vier driekwarte en ‘n goal moet bestaan.

Saints het in 1918 sy eerste oorwinning oor Grey-kollege behaal toe 8-6 as oorwinnaars van die veld gestap het. Interresant is die feit dat St. Andrew se skoolhoof, Oubaas Storey in die span was wat Grey geklop het. Storey was van 1917 tot 1946 Saints se skoolhoof. Hy was ook dan as skoolhoof kaptein van die eerstespan en was ?n voorspeler.

Die toernooi se bepalings:

Vrydag, 5 Julie: A-veld: 09:00: Michaelhouse t. St. David-kollege; 11:00: St. Andrew t. Clifton; 13:00: St. Stithian-kollege t. St. Charles-kollege; 15:00: Sentraal t. St. Benedict-kollege. B-veld: 09:30: Upland-kollege t. St. John-kollege; 11:30: St. Alban-kollege t. Thomas More; 13:30: Penryn t. Somerset.

Saterdag, 6 Julie: A-veld: 08:00: Thomas More t. Clifton; 09:30: Somerset t. St. Alban-kollege; 11:00: Michaelhouse t. St. Benedict-kollege; 12:30: St. Andrew t. St. Charles-kollege. B-veld: 09:30: Sentraal t. St. Stithian-kollege; 11:00: Penryn-kollege t. St. John-kollege; 12:30: St. David-kollege t. Upland-kollege.

Maandag, 8 Julie: A-veld: 08:00: Uplands-kollege t. St. David-kollege; 09:30: St. Andrew t. St. Stithian-kollege; 11:00: St. Charles-kollege t. St. John-kollege; 12:30: Penryn-kollege t. Thomas More. B-veld: 08:00: Sentraal t. Michaelhouse; 09:30: Clifton t. St. Alban-kollege; 11:00: Somerset t. St. David-kollege.

The Coca-Cola under-16 Grant Khomo Week got off to an exciting start at the Isak Steyl Stadium in Vanderbijlpark on Monday with a cocktail of big victories and close encounters keeping spectators entertained.

Such was the competitiveness of the clashes on the opening day only Western Province, SWD and the Valke XV registered convincing wins, while the Blue Bulls, KwaZulu-Natal, Border and the Golden Lions were made to work hard for their victories.

The Cape-based team was particularly impressive as they crossed the chalk seven times against the Leopards for their 50-12 victory in a match that set the tone for a gripping tournament.

The Western Province forwards and backs combined well to produce a solid display, but it was their effectiveness at snuffing out gaps in the defence and creating point-scoring chances that put them in the driving seat. The match was particularly memorable for Taigh Schoor, who scored a hat-trick of tries, and Jondre Williams who contributed 15 points with the boot.

The clash between the Blue Bulls and Eastern Province, meanwhile, lived up to its billing as one of the top clashes of the day, as a last-minute try by Bulls scrumhalf Embrose Papier earned his team their 30-26 victory. The clash proved to be a close encounter from the start, with EP No8 Malan Marais crashing over the tryline in the fourth minute to open up the scoring. But the Bulls hit back minutes later with two penalties and a try to only one penalty by EP, which handed them an 11-10 lead at the break. The second half was equally tense as the teams each scored two tries in what proved to be a see-saw half. Papier’s try, however, in which he picked up the ball from the ruck and out-paced a few defenders to score under the posts, proved to be the decisive moment of the match.

Border also snuck through the back door for their 15-13 win against the Free State thanks to a last-minute penalty by Morgan Steyn, this despite scoring two tries to only one by the opposition, while Zimbabwe staged a strong second-half comeback from 12-5 down against Griquas Country Districts to register a well-deserved 15-12 victory.

The Lions, meanwhile, delivered a spectacular second-half display to recover from a 15-7 deficit at half time against the

Valke for a 29-20 bonus point victory. The team lifted the urgency and tempo in their performance significantly after a sluggish first half and used their pace to take advantage of the open spaces, which earned them three-second half tries.

Scorers: 

KwaZulu-Natal 16 (10) – Try: Robert du Randt. Conversion: Bader-Werner Pretorius. Penalties: Pretorius (3). Limpopo Blue Bulls 12 (7) – Try: Johann du Preez, Bjanyana Molokomme. Conversion: Donovan Pretorius. 

Western Province 50 (29) – Tries: Taigh Schoor (3), Gustav Marais, Keenan Abrahams, Ryan Muller, Zain Davids. Conversions: Jondré Williams (6). Penalty: Williams. Leopards 12 (12) – Tries: Anré O’Neill, Gerrit Bezuidenhout. Conversion: Johan Pelser. 

Blue Bulls 30 (11) – Tries: Embrose Papier, Hluma Zondani, Khwezi Mafu, Wayne van der Bank. Conversions: Wayne van der Bank (2). Penalties: Eduard Fouché (2). Eastern Province 26 (10) – Tries: Duan du Plessis, Malan Marais, Immanuel Libbok. Conversion: Denver Kleu, Curwin Bosch. Penalties: Bosch (2). 

South Western Districts 21 (8) – Tries: Albert de Wet (2), Renaldo Ferreira. Penalties: Logan Stoffels, JP Duvenhage. Griffons 10 (7) – Try: Karabelo Moleko. Conversion: Luan James. Penalty: James.

Border 15 (7) – Tris: Courtney Winnaar, Geraldo Joseph. Conversion: Morgan Steyn. Penalty: Steyn. Free State 13 (3) – Try: PR Serfontein. Conversion: Dawid Snyman. Penalties: Snyman (2). 

Namibia 13 (6) – Try: Desmond Gaseb. Conversion: Pieter Steenkamp. Penalties: Steenkamp (2). Griqualand West 9 (3) – Penalties: Lourens Steenkamp (3). 

Boland 17 (12) – Tries: Xolisa Guma, Andell Loubser, Adriaan van der Bank. Conversion: Van der Bank. Pumas 10 (10) – Try: Cyprian Nkomo. Conversion: Chris Hanekom. Penalty: Hanekom.

Zimbabwe 15 (5) – Tries: Anton Ciampi, Jeff Makoni. Conversion: Campbill Nyakudya. Penalty: Takudzwa Gamanya. Griqualand West Country Districts 12 (12) – Tries: Willrich Delie, Reinhard Heyns. Conversion: Lynthen Barties.

Golden Lions 29 (7) – Tries: Morne van den Berg (2), Willem Massyn, Junior Ntlhane. Conversions: Kyle Lues (3). Penalty: Lues. Valke 20 (15) – Tries: Charlton Bock (2), Xander Crause. Conversion: Crause. Penalty: Crause.

Valke XV 28 (21) – Tries: Wernich Human, David Keyser, David Joubert, David Bailey. Conversions: Human (2), David Henning (2). Border Country Districts 3 (0) – Penalty: Mbasa Peza.

Scorers: 

South Western Districts 38 (16) – Tries: Hendri Storm, Johan Steyn, Lenesteyo Nomdo, Ruan Barnard. Conversions: John Jackson (2), Dylan Beukes. Penalties: Beukes (2), Jackson (2). Golden Lions 33 (18) – Tries: Corné Greeff, Denzil Hill, Justin Bhana, Stefan Fitzgerald. Conversions: Ruan Conradie (2). Penalties: Conradie (3).  

Eastern Province 66 (33) – Tries: Robin Stevens (2), Jean-Jacque Kilian (2), Bantubonke Katshwa, Ernst van Niekerk, Lunathi Nxele, Thabani Mgugudo, Xavier Feliz, Penalty Try. Conversions: Darren Domingo (8). Blue Falcons 5 (0) – Try: Reinhard Stols.  

Limpopo Blue Bulls 19 (12) – Tries: Jino Moyo, Rinus Bezuidenhout, Thabang Mashaba. Conversions: Diederik Oberholzer. Border 19 (8) – Tries: Michael Brink, Yavela Sigenu. Penalties: Brink (3).  

Namibia 52 (26) – Tries: Gert Steenkamp (2), Jerome Beukes (2), Alastair Bock, Angelo Kotze, Lesley Klim, Rudi Pieters. Conversions: Stiaan van der Merwe (5), Brandon Dentlinger. SA LSEN 0.

Pumas 26 (5) – Tries: Bernhard Kotzenberg, Blessing Nxumalo, Phumi Simelane, Siyabonga Nkosi. Conversions: Lourens Basson (2), Lohan Bennett. Free State 22 (12) – Tries: Carel-Jan Coetzee, Themba Songelwa, Callie Janse van Vuuren. Conversions: André Swarts (2). Penalty: Swarts.

Western Province 93 (46) – Tries: Dante van der Merwe (3), Edwill van der Merwe (3), Jaco Willemse (2), Aidynn Cupido, Alwayno Visagie, Charl-Francois du Toit, Chris van Romburgh, Ryan Davids. Conversions: Cupido (10). Penalty: Cupido. Red Valke 0.  

Leopards 38 (31) – Tries: Pieter Roux (2), Reagan Williams (2), Lesesi Senunuhi. Conversions: Roux (4). Border Country Districts 0.

KwaZulu-Natal Country Districts 36 (17) – Tries: Blessing Nhlozi (2), Kwanele Ngema, Andre Olivier, Alex Booyse. Conversions: Booyse (5). Penalty: Booyse. Pumas Country Districts 22 (3) – Tries: Ray van der Lith, Nhlalala Sithole, Dewaldt Stander. Conversion: Jesse du Toit. Penalty: Du Toit. 

KwaZulu-Natal 54 (25) – Tries: Christopher Lines (2), Bradley Ellse (2), Chris Schoeman, Jacques Conradie, Lindokuhl Ntombela, Masikane Mazwi, Nkululeko Mcuma, Waelon Hippolite. Conversions: Lines (2). Leopards 20 (3) – Tries: Richard Larkins, Daniel Crafford, Albert Stander. Conversion: Johan Erasmus. Penalty: Erasmus.

Boland 13 (13) – Try: Done Davids. Conversion: Ronald Brown. Penalties: Brown (2). Blue Bulls 12 (3) – Penalties: Tinus de Beer (4).

KwaZulu-Natal XV 34 (17) – Tries: Robert Baldwin (2), Jordan Martin, Mabhutana Peter, Sam Matwane. Conversions: Lukas Booysen (3). Penalty: Booysen. Griqualand West Country Districts 0.

Griffons Country Districts 39 (15) – Tries: De Wet Ungerer (2), Juandre Kleynhans (2), Gerrie Muller. Conversions: Kleynhans (4). Penalties: Kleynhans (2). Griqualand West 25 (3) – Tries: Standon Bouwer, Morris Rossouw, JD Swanepoel. Conversions: Deon van Zyl (2). Penalty: Van Zyl. Drop Goal: Van Zyl.

Scorers: 

Sports development cannot succeed without the committed support of sponsors, and the case of Limpopo Blue Bulls Primary Schools Rugby and their partnership with Forever Resorts is a case in point.

The hospitality organisation decided to support Limpopo Blue Bulls primary schools rugby in 2007 as part of their commitment to social responsibility and rural development projects.

It was up to the Limpopo Blue Bulls needed to start a development project in a rural area – which they did in the areas of Hoedspriut and Bushbuck Ridge; to become one of the top sides at the the Coca-Cola under 13 Craven Week – which they achieved in 2011; and successfully bid host the tournament – which has happened this year.

The union set itself a time frame of 5 years to achieve these goals and they have done it in 4. As a result, Forever Resorts have renewed their contract with the Limpopo Blue Bull Union due the commitment that the union has shown in developing young players.

Christo Wagenaar, media liaison officer for Forever Resorts, explains that Hoedspruit and Bushbuck Ridge were chosen as the focus areas because of the support that Springbok Chiliboy Ralepele, the development programme’s ambassador, enjoys in those areas.

“The children around Hoedspruit wanted to follow their local legend but found it difficult due to the lack of a development program,” Wagenaar said. “The program has been around for 4 years and at this year’s tournament there are 5 children that have made the Limpopo Blue Bulls team that have come directly out of the project.”

A big problem with rugby in Limpopo is that only 36 Primary Schools play rugby in the province and they are spread very far apart. For Piet Burger, this year’s Coca-Cola under-13 Craven Week director to attend a local organising committee meeting he often had to drive 860 km

“For kids to play rugby frequently in Limpopo often they have to travel similar distances. If more schools played rugby then they would be able to play more schools closer to home and increase the talent pool,” Burger says.

Burger explains that the focus of the development project is not only on rugby, it is also on teaching kids camaraderie, friendship, sportsmanship, discipline and respect. “These players have a God-given talent. We want them to use it to promote the game, sportsmanship, mutual respect and to form new friendships.”

The reason why this tournament is being hosted in Bela-Bela is that the union and Forever Resorts believe in taking rugby to the community and not taking people out of the community to some rugby stadium in a big city.

“However, this created a lot of challenges,” Burger says. SARU do not compromise on the medical need of the kids. There are certain criteria that a hosting town needs to meet and most rural towns cannot meet those needs. “The Blue Bulls helped the Limpopo Blue Bulls work on meeting these requirements,” he explained.

The result has been a wonderful opportunity for the young players from around the country to experience true bushveld hospitality.

The generosity of tournament sponsors, Coca-Cola, and Limpopo Blue Bulls Primary Schools Sponsors, Forever Resorts has made that possible.