Two of the three unbeaten teams in Craven Week 2022, played yesterday at Rondebosch Boys’ High School’s, namely hosts DHL Western Province and the Blue Bulls, and will play the final match of this year’s tournament on Saturday after the Pretoria team recorded an emphatic win over SWD on Thursday.
The Blue Bulls put in an impressive performance, defeating SWD 34-15 on a rainy day that required a very different skill set than earlier in the week when the games were played in clear weather. The Pumas, the only other unbeaten team in the tournament, put in an equally impressive performance as they defeated the Thepa Trading Motswako Griffons 48-18.
The Golden Lions bounced back from their opening loss to defeat Free State 30-22, making it two straight losses for the Bloemfontein side at the tournament.
In the opening game of the day, the Limpopo Blue Bulls defeated the Leopards 24-17 in a close encounter. The Limpopo team scored four tries to three in another entertaining game of the tournament that showed that despite their two-year absence, they have not lost the ability to excite the crowd and get the best out of the players.
The game between the Golden Lions and Free State was a close affair with the Gauteng team leading by two points at the break. The eight-point lead was largely thanks to the performance of their full-back JT Kapank, who converted three penalties at crucial moments of the game to keep the pressure on the scoreboard and give his side the win.
The Pumas outran the Griffons by eight tries to three. They dominated the game from the start, scoring three straight tries in the first half. Although the Welkom team put up some resistance in the second half, the Pumas got better and better and won clearly in the end.
The Blue Bulls put in a big performance against a tenacious SWD outfit that saw the Pretoria side mount huge pressure from their forwards which was backed up by pinpoint kicking from the halfbacks. In what proved to be greasy conditions underfoot, it was the The Blue Bulls who kept their composure the best as they blunted most of the SWD efforts.
Scorers on day four:
Pumas 48 (19), Thepa Trading Motswako Griffons 18 (3)
Pumas – Tries: Fumani Chauke, Francois Odendaal, Danny van Staden, Tyron Moolman, Grant de Jager, Rinkhals Smit (2), Philasande Ntshapela. Conversions: Hardus Visser (4).
Griffons – Tries: Jayleigh Arends, Kaleb Kriek, Ruben Kruger. Penalty goal: Nalie Kiewiet.
Golden Lions 30 (10), Free State 22 (8)
Lions – Tries: Ruan Welman, JT Kapank, Deon Groenewald. Conversions: Kapank. Penalty goals: Kapank (3).
Free State – Tries: Jermairon Ruiters, Ulrich Wahl, Penalty Try. Conversion: Bradley Giddy. Penalty goal: Giddy.
Limpopo Blue Bulls 24 (12), Leopards 17 (5)
Limpopo – Tries: Carl Dohse, Joy Ngobeni, Orediretse Rathokolo (2). Conversions: Tristan Brits (2).
Leopards – Tries: Zandro Bezuidenhout, Erich Snyman, Teboho Sekonyela. Conversion: Snyman.
Blue Bulls 34, SWD 15
Blue Bulls – Tries: De Wet Lottering (2), Abri van der Westhuizen, Mietie Erasmus. Conversions: Stehan Heymans. Penalty goals: Heymans (2).
SWD – Tries: Michael Lamont, Werner Groenewald, Conversion: John-Taylor Strydom. Penalty goal: Strydom.
