{"id":76906,"date":"2025-07-04T15:46:52","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T13:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76906"},"modified":"2025-07-04T15:46:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T13:46:52","slug":"eagles-soar-on-final-day-of-grant-khomo-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76906","title":{"rendered":"Eagles soar on final day of Grant Khomo Week"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
WP’s Henre Valentyn prepares to tackle Franco Pienaar of SWD during the Grant Khomo Week at St Albans College in Pretoria. (Photo by Lefty Shivambu\/Gallo Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The South Western District<\/strong> Eagles recovered well from their 21-29 defeat at the hands of Western Province on the second day, to cap off a successful 2025 Grant Khomo Week<\/strong>\u00a0with a hard-fought 15-5 victory over the Golden Lions <\/strong>in Pretoria.<\/p>\n

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

The highlight of the intensely physical 60 minutes came shortly before the final whistle. Stepping up with the kicking tee, the Eagles’ loosehead prop, Keaton Olivier<\/strong>, showed why front-rowers regularly practice their goal-kicking before training sessions.<\/p>\n

Delivering the final blow, Olivier slotted his only penalty for the week, nearly from halfway, to secure a 10-point buffer for the Eagles to reign victorious. Apart from this unusual feat, Oliver was a standout performer on the attack for the side from the Southern Cape throughout the three days of action.<\/p>\n

The Eagles’ backline, marshalled superbly for one last time by flyhalf Tanwill Onkers<\/strong>, gave the Lions countless headaches through their entertaining brand of running rugby, which supporters at this year’s tournament had become accustomed to.<\/p>\n

Eastern Province<\/strong>, too, recovered well after their first-day loss against the Eagles (10-27), to achieve two from two in their following two encounters. The side from the Eastern Cape handled a dangerous Griffons<\/strong> side relatively comfortably, cruising to a 35-16 win. Grey High School’s Keanu Linch<\/strong> dived across twice for the first brace on the final day.<\/p>\n

Flyhalf Nathan Trystman<\/strong>, who was flown in for the injured Alexander Stewart<\/strong>, had a fruitful day with the boot, slotting three conversions and three penalties for a valuable contribution of 15 points.<\/p>\n

On the Baloyi A-Field<\/strong>, the Pumas thumped the Valke 29-0 to record their first victory of the week. Loose forwards, Marule Siphesihle<\/strong> (Uplands College) and Ho\u00ebrskool Middelburg No. 8, Menzi Siyaya<\/strong>, again produced standout performances, allowing their fluent backs acres of space with which to wreak havoc.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe<\/strong> reigned victorious in their international against Namibia<\/strong>, scoring five tries to Namibia’s one in a runaway victory of 34-5. Ethan Zhou<\/strong>\u00a0stole the limelight, crossing the whitewash twice.<\/p>\n

The Iqhawe XV<\/strong> recorded a historical victory, smashing Border Country Districts<\/strong> by 43-11 in the opener of the final day on the Baloyi B-Field, achieving their first ever victory at a National Week.<\/p>\n

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

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

South Western Districts 15 (7)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: A-Jay Julies, Rufagon Hendricks. Conversion: Tanwill Onkers. Penalty: Keaton Olivier.\u00a0Golden Lions 5 (5)\u00a0<\/strong>– Try: Ray-Nathin van Kolver.<\/p>\n

Eastern Province 35 (17)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Keanu Linch (2), Jarno Nel, Sibulele Ngebulana. Conversions: Nathan Trytsman (3). Penalties: Trystman (3).\u00a0Griffons 16 (7)\u00a0<\/strong>– Try: Jayden-Daniel Bienas. Conversions: Theuns van Rensburg. Penalty: Van Rensburg (3).<\/p>\n

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

Pumas 29 (15)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Ryan Blake, Marcel Lindeque, Menzi Siyaya, Thubelihle Marule. Conversions: Kgontse Masisela (2), Cornelius Erasmus. Penalty: Masisela.\u00a0Valke 0.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zimbabwe 34 (3)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Ethan Zhou (2), Liam Britten, Alexander Mubata, Miguel Mavera. Conversions: Maver (3), Gray van der Merwe.\u00a0Namibia 5 (5)\u00a0<\/strong>– Try: Mias Nieuwoudt.<\/p>\n

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

Boland 36 (24)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Ewan Alberts, Wernard de Villiers, Tristin Syster, Chris-Will du Toit, Ruan Nortj\u00e9, Chrisjan de Bod. Conversions: Ruan Nortj\u00e9 (3).\u00a0Border 12 (0)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Josh Wilkie, Rosh Els. Conversion: Wilkie.<\/p>\n

Iqhawe XV 43 (24)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Kungalo Mpambani (2), Wailin Papier, Abdul Isaacs, Tshegofatso Nkgame, Zacharius Zide, Kabelo Motlharo. Conversions: Luthando Marangxa (3), Emerick Oliver.\u00a0Border Country Districts 11 (6)\u00a0<\/strong>– Try: Kungawo Gabula. Penalties: Luke Groepe (3).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The South Western District Eagles recovered well from their 21-29 defeat at the hands of Western Province on the second day, to cap off a successful 2025 Grant Khomo Week\u00a0with a hard-fought 15-5 victory over the Golden Lions in Pretoria. Relive all the Grant Khomo action on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)\u00a0 The highlight of the intensely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":76674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76906","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\/76906","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=76906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}