{"id":77375,"date":"2025-07-11T15:32:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77375"},"modified":"2025-07-11T15:32:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T13:32:42","slug":"viljoen-fires-lions-to-third-straight-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=77375","title":{"rendered":"Viljoen fires Lions to third straight title"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Golden Lions’ flyhalf Jaydon Viljoen dives across for the first try of the unofficial Academy Week final at Ho\u00ebrskool Middelburg in Mpumalanga. PHOTO: Frans Lombard\/Actionpix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jaydon Viljoen<\/strong> capped a memorable week in Middelburg as the tournament\u2019s leading points-scorer by guiding the Golden Lions<\/strong> to a third consecutive Academy Week<\/strong> title.<\/p>\n

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

The Ho\u00ebrskool Monument<\/strong> flyhalf once again starred, contributing 16 points towards his side\u2019s 31\u201320 victory over Western Province<\/strong> in Friday\u2019s final. It also marked the Lions’\u00a0ninth consecutive win at the Academy Week, maintaining an unbeaten streak that began with their first fixture of the 2023 edition.<\/p>\n

In addition to his reliable kicking, which was a highlight throughout the week, Viljoen also opened the scoring in the unofficial final with a try. Inside centre, Samuel Smith<\/strong>, delivered another commanding attacking display in midfield, and scored arguably the try of the match to seal the win for the red-and-whites.<\/p>\n

For Province, flyhalf Francois van der Merwe<\/strong> demonstrated class and vision to keep his team in contention. After the break, momentum briefly shifted as captain Sango Zangqa<\/strong> powered over through a driving maul, followed by tries by Eathon Williams<\/strong> and Deros Manya<\/strong>. It was too little, too late, though, as the Lions\u2019 defence stood firm during the latter stages to secure yet another title.<\/p>\n

In the curtain-raiser, the South Western District<\/strong> Eagles edged past the Lions XV<\/strong>\u00a0in a nail-biting encounter, preserving their unbeaten record with a 20\u201319 win.\u00a0Caleb Williams<\/strong>\u2019 mighty boot proved decisive, with two long-range penalty goals that extended the Eagles\u2019 lead beyond reach, although late tries from the Welpies’ Siyabonga Ncube<\/strong> and Juandr\u00e9 Ehlers<\/strong> nearly turned the tide.<\/p>\n

Eagles’ hooker Adrian Smith<\/strong> deserves a special mention for his tireless grafting and ball-carrying efforts that ignited his pack, even though he did not cross the whitewash himself.<\/p>\n

Eastern Province<\/strong> returned to winning ways in emphatic fashion, running in seven tries for a 45\u201324 victory over Boland. Nippy scrumhalf Oliver John<\/strong> opened the scoring and backed it up with a composed display behind a dominant pack. The solid platform provided to him and flyhalf Bulomko Kilani<\/strong>\u00a0enabled Eastern Province to play with freedom, unleashing their pacy outside backs who thrived in open space.<\/p>\n

In Friday\u2019s opening match, the Sharks<\/strong> mounted a remarkable comeback from 12-29 down to defeat the Blue Bulls<\/strong> 33\u201329. Hooker Theo Boshoff<\/strong> continued his rich vein of form behind the driving maul to conclude the week with a hat-trick of tries.<\/p>\n

The Bulls dominated the first half, with flyhalf Tilon Baron<\/strong> dictating play well, but were shut out in the second stanza. The Sharks controlled the final 35 minutes to convert the increased pressure into 21 unanswered points, with Cilermo Carolus<\/strong> scoring the match-winning try on the final hooter.<\/p>\n

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

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

Golden Lions 31 (24) <\/strong>– Tries: Jaydon Viljoen, Manuel Motsi, Samuel Smith, Michael Nwogwungwu. Conversions: Viljoen (4). Penalty: Viljoen.\u00a0Western Province 20 (3)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Sango Zangqa, Eathon Williams, Deros Manya. Conversions: Francois van der Merwe (2). Penalty: Van der Merwe.<\/p>\n

South Western Districts 20 (7)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Wayne Ganniwa, Hayden Luiter. Conversions: CT Volsoo (2). Penalties: Caleb Williams (2).\u00a0Lions XV 19 (0)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Francois Tonkin, Siyabonga Ncube, Juandr\u00e9 Ehlers. Conversions: Daniel Soekoe (2).<\/p>\n

Eastern Province 45 (21)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Oliver Johns, Moah Mbizi, Chuma Bloouw, Bradley Myburgh, Wendall Uithaler, Silinde Ntshokoma. Conversions:\u00a0Boland 24 (17)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Anwill Jacobs, Jano van Deventer, Favian Arendse, Morn\u00e9 Roos. Conversions: Van Deventer (2).<\/p>\n

Sharks 33 (12)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Theo Boshoff (3), Andrew Schnell, Cilermo Carolus. Conversions: Lwazi Mbebe (3), Lux Sonkononkono.\u00a0Blue Bulls 29 (24)\u00a0<\/strong>– Tries: Tilon Baron, Marko Kok, Ronan Bastiaanse, Justin Blom. Conversions: Bastiaanse (3). Penalty: Bastiaanse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jaydon Viljoen capped a memorable week in Middelburg as the tournament\u2019s leading points-scorer by guiding the Golden Lions to a third consecutive Academy Week title. Relive all the action on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com) The Ho\u00ebrskool Monument flyhalf once again starred, contributing 16 points towards his side\u2019s 31\u201320 victory over Western Province in Friday\u2019s final. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":77404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77375","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\/77375","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=77375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}