{"id":76654,"date":"2025-07-02T19:22:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T17:22:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76654"},"modified":"2025-07-02T19:22:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T17:22:06","slug":"sharks-draw-with-bulls-book-final-showdown-with-wp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76654","title":{"rendered":"Sharks draw with Bulls, book final showdown with WP"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Elgenio Oerson of the Sharks scores against the Blue Bulls at the Grant Khomo Week at St Albans College. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu\/Gallo Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Late drama on the second day of the 2025 Grant Khomo Week<\/strong> at St Alban’s College<\/strong>, in Pretoria, saw the defending champions, Western Province<\/strong>, and Sharks<\/strong>, book a showdown in the main match on Friday.<\/p>\n

Relive all the action on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a dramatic finish to 60 minutes of high intensity rugby, the Sharks fought back in spectacular fashion to snatch a 29-29 draw with the hosts, the Blue Bulls.<\/p>\n

A victory of 44-35 on the first day over the Golden Lions<\/strong> (44-35), who thrashed Boland<\/strong> 43-0 earlier today, ultimately secured the Sharks their spot to compete for ultimate honours. The side from KwaZulu-Natal would nevertheless be kicking themselves for the string of unforced errors, due to overeagerness as well as rock-solid defence by the opposition, during the first 45 minutes of their encounter with the Blue Bulls<\/p>\n

The Pretoria-based outfit, on the other hand, managed to turn opportunities into points, putting the men in black and white under early scoreboard pressure. Reuben Smith<\/strong>‘s performance at flyhalf had the majority of the large crowd at the Moshate Field believing the hosts had secured a second consecutive victory. At the time, Smith had scored a try and converted three, for the Bulls to lead 29-12.<\/p>\n

However, the Sharks refused to toss in the towel and wave after wave of attack finally paid dividends at the death.<\/p>\n

Left winger Lisa Sijadu<\/strong>‘s relentless runs, with him regularly beating the first defender, were rewarded with a desperately needed brace of tries that got his side back in the running, before Lwanzo Vyambwera<\/strong> dived over to level the score.<\/p>\n

Despite this memorable fightback, Afrikaanse Ho\u00ebr Seunskool lock, Keegan Fourie<\/strong>, delivered a rousing performance to walk away with the man of the match spoils.<\/p>\n

In the main match, Western Province<\/strong> handled a spirited South Western Districts<\/strong> side, claiming victory by 29-21 despite some lapses in judgement and poor discipline. The WP pack laid the foundation through their strong driving malls and physical dominance, with locks, James Swart<\/strong> and Peter Krige<\/strong>, the sons of former Springboks Justin Swart <\/strong>and Corn\u00e9 Krige<\/strong>, stealing the show upfront.<\/p>\n

Krige had to move to lock as a concussion replacement for the injured Rocco Buchanan<\/strong>, while Swart, despite receiving the week’s first red card, was named man of the match for an otherwise solid performance, especially at lineout time.<\/p>\n

On the Baloyi Field, the Griquas<\/strong> remained unbeaten with another good showing against Zimbabwe<\/strong>, with Ho\u00ebrskool Upington’s Stephan Fourie<\/strong> running in a brace. In addition, the No. 8’s tireless work ethic established the necessary platform from which Griquas could launch a 26-point onslaught in the second half for a 40-25 victory.<\/p>\n

Eastern Province<\/strong> did enough in the first half to secure a first victory of the week, handing the Pumas<\/strong> their second defeat (27-15) in as many matches. Tighthead prop, Entle Ngcaba<\/strong>, of St Andrew’s College in Mkhanda, was in rampant form, charging across for two well-deserved tries.<\/p>\n

Scorers:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moshate Field:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Western Province 29 (14)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Luka van der Westhuizen, Ziyaad Jappie, Jake Dave, Ridah Johnson. Conversions: Dave (3). Penalty: Dave.\u00a0South Western Districts 21 (7)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Reese Lewaa, Penalty Try (2).<\/p>\n

Blue Bulls 29 (15)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Reuben Smith, Kyle van Staden, Ethan Williams, Keegan Fourie. Conversions: Smith (3). Penalty: Liam de Jager.\u00a0Sharks 29 (12)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Lisa Sijadu (2), Elgenio Oersen, Mojalefa Mogale, Lwanzo Vyambwera. Conversions: Daniel Miskey (2).<\/p>\n

Baloyi Field:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eastern Province 27 (24)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Entle Ngcaba (2), Selunathi Mfundisi. Conversions: Nathan Trytsman (3). Penalty: Trytsman (2).\u00a0Pumas 15 (10)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Menzi Siyaya, Lihle Nkadimeng. Conversion: Kgontse Masilela. Penalty: Masilela.<\/p>\n

Griquas 40 (14)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Stephan Fourie (2), Jay-Dee Isaacs, Lee-Marquin Cronj\u00e9, Keanu Miles, Hanco Klopper. Conversions: Cronj\u00e9 (4), Isaacs.\u00a0Zimbabwe 25 (15)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Nicholas Mangwiro, Mukudzei Chisi, Miguel Mavera, Tafara Gara, Liam Britten.<\/p>\n

The fixtures for the final day, Friday, 04 July, are:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moshate Field:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

09:00\u00a0<\/strong>– Griffons vs Eastern Province
\n10:15 –\u00a0<\/strong>Golden Lions vs South Western Districts
\n11:30\u00a0<\/strong>– Blue Bulls vs Western Province XV
\n13:15 –\u00a0<\/strong>Western Province vs Sharks<\/p>\n

Baloyi A Field:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

09:00 –\u00a0<\/strong>Zimbabwe vs Namibia
\n10:15 –\u00a0<\/strong>Border vs Boland
\n11:30 – <\/strong>Free State vs Griquas<\/p>\n

Baloyi B Field:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

09:00 –\u00a0<\/strong>Border Country Districts vs Iqhawe XV
\n10:15 –\u00a0<\/strong>Pumas vs Valke
\n11:30 –\u00a0<\/strong>Leopards vs Limpopo Blue Bulls<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Late drama on the second day of the 2025 Grant Khomo Week at St Alban’s College, in Pretoria, saw the defending champions, Western Province, and Sharks, book a showdown in the main match on Friday. Relive all the action on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)\u00a0 In a dramatic finish to 60 minutes of high intensity rugby, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":76671,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}