{"id":92936,"date":"2026-04-02T20:39:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:39:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=92936"},"modified":"2026-04-02T20:39:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:39:18","slug":"lions-invitational-xv-roars-with-shock-victory-over-welkom-gim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=92936","title":{"rendered":"Lions Invitational XV roars with shock victory over Welkom Gim"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Daniel Kruger, the blinkside flank of the Golden Lions Invitational XV, dives over for a long-range try after intercepting a pass in his side’s 38-36 victory over Welkom Gimnasium. Photo: Frans Lombard\/Actionpix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first fixture of the 2026 St John\u2019s Easter Festival delivered the first surprise of the Easter weekend, courtesy of the\u00a0Golden Lions Invitational XV<\/strong>, who stunned Welkom Gimnasium<\/strong> 38\u201336 on Burger Field, in Johannesburg, on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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

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In recent seasons, the Lions Invitational XV, regulars at the St John’s Easter Festival, have developed into a far more polished outfit, and this year they boast arguably one of their strongest lineups to date.<\/p>\n

The team is composed of leading talent from smaller schools across the Golden Lions region, with several schools contributing players capable of competing with the best on show at the festival.<\/p>\n

Flyhalf Gavi Graff<\/strong> marshalled proceedings effectively, bringing a dangerous backline into play. The platform for the invitational side’s victory, however, was laid by the outstanding loose forwards, flank Daniel Kruger <\/strong>and 8th-man Keith Ncube<\/strong>, who delivered outstanding and decisive performances.<\/p>\n

They both showed the Welkom Gim defence a clean pair of heels on multiple occasions, with both crossing from tries from long range. The Free Staters showed admirable heart. At one point, they trailed 17-33, but they fought back through their lively backline. Outside centre Gimo Nafta<\/strong> was the standout, dotting down twice to account for 10 of Welkom Gimnasium<\/strong>‘s 36 points.<\/p>\n

The St Joseph\u2019s Nudgee College<\/strong> 2nd XV followed with a 24\u201311 victory over the Grey and Blue<\/em> <\/strong>of St Alban’s College<\/strong>. The Australians set the tone physically and delivered a dominant defensive performance.\u00a0They capitalised on the pressure they created by turning errors into points.<\/p>\n

Tighthead prop Harry O’Hare<\/strong> thrived in the South African conditions, with his energetic performance being rewarded with the opening try of the match.<\/p>\n

The remaining three tries for the visitors came from their backs, with inside centre Joshua Andrews<\/strong> scoring the pick of the bunch, which effectively sealed victory.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

Golden Lions Invitational XV 38 (23) – <\/strong>Tries: Daniel Kruger, Junior Mthetwa, Luka Montana, Keith Ncube, Busa Tom. Conversions: Gavi Graff (2). Penalties: Graff (3). Welkom Gimnasium 36 (17) <\/strong>– Tries: Gimo Nafta (2), Vusi Ndayi, Caleb Botha, Matthew Venter. Conversions: Leano Williams (4). Penalty: Williams.<\/p>\n

St Joseph\u2019s College II 24 (14) <\/strong>\u2013 Tries: Harry O\u2019Hare, Samuel Coleman, Tom Gibb, Joshua Andrews. Conversions: Chilli Smith (2). St Alban\u2019s College 11 (6) <\/strong>\u2013 Try: Wandile Mbatha. Penalties: Thabiso Simelane (2).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first fixture of the 2026 St John\u2019s Easter Festival delivered the first surprise of the Easter weekend, courtesy of the\u00a0Golden Lions Invitational XV, who stunned Welkom Gimnasium 38\u201336 on Burger Field, in Johannesburg, on Thursday. Relive all the action on\u00a0SuperSport Schools – (www.supersportschools.com)\u00a0 In recent seasons, the Lions Invitational XV, regulars at the St […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":92977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92936","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\/92936","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=92936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/92977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}