KZN rugby youngsters impress

Griquas and Border, meanwhile, played to a 31-31 draw in an epic clash to remain unbeaten in the tournament.

The second day’s play was exciting as a few teams registered convincing victories, while others were involved in hard-fought battles, which kept the passionate home crowd interested throughout the day.

In the main games KwaZulu-Natal defied the odds with a man down for most of the second half to defeat Western Province 19-17, while the Golden Lions thumped Boland 34-3 in a one-sided encounter and the Limpopo Blue Bulls defeated the Leopards 38-19.

Meanwhile, at the Coca-Cola Academy Week in Vanderbijlpark, Western Province, the Blue Bulls, KwaZulu-Natal CD, the Griffons and Griquas CD also secured back-to-back victories.

Western Province were in fantastic form and cruised to a 53-17 win against Eastern Province and the Blue Bulls defeated Free State 34-31 in the main games of the day, while KwaZulu-Natal Country Districts pipped the Griquas, the Griffons beat Border, and Griquas CD thumped the Leopards.

Namibia and SWD also remained unbeaten as Namibia played to a 21-21 draw against Pumas CD, while SWD defeated the Pumas 40-33.

The players will have Wednesday off to recover after two days of physical rugby, with the final round of matches at both tournaments being played on Thursday.

Western Province 17 (7) KwaZulu-Natal 19 (0)

The first half between Western Province and KwaZulu-Natal was a tight affair as the teams were closely matched on attack and defence. The Cape side did well to retain possession and tried to spread the ball wide, but the KwaZulu-Natal defence was effective at countering most of their efforts. Western Province, however, managed to force their way through the defence shortly before half time, which handed the side a 7-0 lead at the break. This bolstered the Cape side’s confidence as they came out firing in the second half and managed to cross the tryline for the second time after spreading the defence wide for a 12-0 lead. KwaZulu-Natal were dealt a heavy blow two minutes later as they were reduced to 14 men for tackling a player in the air. Western Province took advantage of this and touched down for their fourth try in the 36th minute. KwaZulu-Natal, however, refused to give up and scored two tries compliments of Dylan Richardson and Dylan Kruger to close in on Western Province at 17-12. They added another thanks to a strong forward performance and fantastic patience on attack, which pushed them 19-17 ahead with six minutes left on the clock. To their delight they held on for a surprise victory.

Scorers:

Western Province – Tries: Divan Enslin, Ian Kitwanga (2). Conversion: Durin Nasson.
KwaZulu Natal - Tries: Kasongo Ilunga, Dylan Richardson, Dylan Kruger. Conversions: Morne van Rensburg (2).

(File Photo: Gallo Images)

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