{"id":77110,"date":"2025-07-07T18:33:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T16:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77110"},"modified":"2025-07-07T18:33:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T16:33:17","slug":"wp-looking-dangerous-on-day-1-of-academy-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77110","title":{"rendered":"WP looking dangerous on Day 1 of Academy Week"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Hannes Rossouw Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It only took the first half of their opening game at the 2025 Academy Week<\/strong> at Ho\u00ebrskool Middelburg<\/strong> on Monday for Western Province to establish themselves as early front-runners this year.<\/p>\n

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

With a solid display in the first half that yielded 28 points, the side from the Cape did enough to eventually see off Free State 33-20 despite a bit of siesta in the second half.<\/p>\n

Displaying early intensity, the Province pack set the platform for flyhalf Francois van der Merwe<\/strong> to unleash his dangerous backline, with No. 8, Thandolwethu Sithole<\/strong> of SACS, delivering a standout performance upfront. Sithole had the Free State defenders clutching at thin air on several occasions with his bulldozing runs and deceptive footwork, which earned him a brace of tries, while the dangerous Chadlin Sellidon<\/strong> also caused numerous headaches for the opposition on the attack.<\/p>\n

For Free State, openside flanker Henru Erasmus <\/strong>gave his all and kept coming at WP for the full 70 minutes, both with his strong carries and a valiant display on defence.<\/p>\n

Redemption was sweet for the Golden Lions<\/strong> XV<\/strong>, as they avenged last year’s loss by beating the Blue Bulls 31-26 in a seesaw battle this time around. The “Welpies” nevertheless still had to deal with Ronan Bastiaanse<\/strong>, who managed to accumulate 21 of his side’s 26 points.<\/p>\n

However, spearheaded by the energetic Llewellyn Vermaak<\/strong> and fellow Helpmekaar Kollege representative, Diandro Botha<\/strong>, who were both exceptional in the loose, along with Monument’s Siyabonga Ncube<\/strong>, the Lions were just too good at the end of the day and full value for their five-point victory. They led 16-15 at the break.<\/p>\n

Boland kicked off their campaign with a solid 36-26 victory over Border, thanks to braces from fullback Favian Arendse<\/strong> and Ho\u00ebrskool Porterville’s Nicolai Diedericks<\/strong>. Arendse’s two tries were richly deserved following a relentless attacking performance from the rear.<\/p>\n

The Limpopo Blue Bulls<\/strong> achieved a shock 27-24 victory over the hosts, the Pumas<\/strong>. Flyhalf Juan Randall<\/strong> led the way with a great performance from the tee, slotting three conversions and two penalties, and also weighed in with a try for a personal contribution of 17 points. Pumas’ Hanro Terblanche<\/strong> recorded the week’s first hat-trick of tries in a losing cause.<\/p>\n

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

Ho\u00ebrskool Middelburg B-Field:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Western Province 33 (28)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Thandolwethu Sithole (2), Lupo Makholiso, Harry Soboil, Luke Kent. Conversions: Francois van der Merwe (4).\u00a0Free State 20 (8)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Henru Marais, Tian Fourie, Thristan Maree. Conversion: Samson Lacjay. Penalty: Lacjay.<\/p>\n

Golden Lions XV 31 (17)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Diandro Botha, Siyabonga Ncube, Llewellyn Vermaak, Mkhile Dyakala. Conversions: Daniel Soekoe (4). Penalty: Soekoe.\u00a0Blue Bulls 26 (16)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Morn\u00e9 Coetzer, Ronan Bastiaanse. Conversions: Bastiaanse (2). Penalties: Bastiaanse (4).<\/p>\n

Boland 36 (21)<\/strong> – Tries: Favian Arendse (2), Nicolai Diedericks (2), Jano van Deventer. Conversions: Van Deventer (4). Penalty: Van Deventer.\u00a0Border 26 (14)<\/strong> – Tries: Khaka Xoeseni (2), Mivugo Kongela, Mahle Zinto. Conversions: Inganathi Mnunu (3).<\/p>\n

Ho\u00ebrskool Middelburg C-Field:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

LSEN XV 16 (8)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Rigen Chigose, Jean McEwan. Penalties: Yusuf Hannibal (2).\u00a0Border Country Districts 10 (0)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Legend Abrahams, Steven Lubowa.<\/p>\n

Limpopo Blou Bulle 27 (17)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Lourens Pieterse, Juan Randall, Jayden Enslin. Conversions: Randall (3). Penalty: Randall (2).\u00a0Pumas 24 (24)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Hanro Terblanche (3), Marius Volsoo. Conversions: John Duncan (2).<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe 42 (21)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Julian Nkikavaranda, Sibusiso Sibanda, Tapiwanashe Majuru, Curtis Mashoonganyika, Rukudzo Mayida. Conversions: Rukudzo Mayida (4), Penalties: Mayida (3).\u00a0Griquas 31 (17)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Dohan Dege, Amiel Soudens, Johannes Fleming, Hlompo Rooibaadjie. Conversions: JG van Heerden (4). Penalty: Van Heerden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It only took the first half of their opening game at the 2025 Academy Week at Ho\u00ebrskool Middelburg on Monday for Western Province to establish themselves as early front-runners this year. Relive all the action on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com) With a solid display in the first half that yielded 28 points, the side from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":77122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77110","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\/77110","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=77110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}