WP U18 girls take sevens
[caption id="attachment_41667" align="alignright" width="300"] HANDS OFF: EP's Lutho Sajini, right, tries to fight off Nomawethu Mabenge, of Border, in their U18 interprovincial girls' sevens rugby clash in Uitenhage at the weekend. Picture: FREDLIN ADRIAAN[/caption]
WESTERN Province emerged triumphant in the SA Rugby Union Girls' U18 South Sevens Interprovincial in Uitenhage at the weekend with a resounding 43-0 victory in the final against Boland.
The victory marked their fifth successive win in the series which was played on Friday and Saturday.
Border, meanwhile, thumped Eastern Province 29-0 to finish third for the bronze medal.
Western Province were in fantastic form from the outset as they opened with a convincing 38-0 victory against SWD. They then thrashed Free State 48-0 and beat Border 19-7 to dominate the opening day's play.
The Cape side's sister union, Boland, also made their presence felt on day one as they secured victories against Border CD, EP and Griquas respectively to remain unbeaten.
Both teams built on their strong starts on day two with Western Province defeating Eastern Province 19-10, while Boland beat Border 17-5 to book their places in the final.
In the third place playoff, Border, who showed encouraging signs on the opening day with a 45-0 victory against Free State and a 30-7 win against SWD, were too sharp for EP.
In the north section, KwaZulu-Natal cruised to victory after toppling the Blue Bulls in the final to remain unbeaten in the two-day series.
The Durban team set the tone for their dominant showing in their opening match on Friday as they thumped the Limpopo Blue Bulls 25-0. They built on this with a 19-0 victory against the Pumas and a 17-5 win against the Griffons.
The Blue Bulls A team also proved they could be a force to be reckoned with after overcoming a 5-5 draw against the Golden Lions in their opening match to defeat the Leopards 20-10 and their Blue Bulls B counterparts 37-0 on Friday.
These impressive results allowed the teams to finish day one at the top of the log standings of their pools.
KwaZulu-Natal maintained their winning momentum on the second day to topple the Leopards 12-0, while the Blue Bulls A side downed the Griffons 20-5 to book their places in the final.
The Durban side, however, absorbed the pressure well and capitalised on their point-scoring chances for a well-deserved 17-5 victory and the gold medal.
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KINGSWOOD produced some good performances when they took part in the Independent Schools Rugby Festival at Michaelhouse in KwaZulu-Natal early this month.
The festival was first held in 1983 as an opening event for the City Lords fields at Kingswood and was originally called the Invitational Schools' Rugby Festival. It was an initiative of former teacher and rugby coach at Kingswood, Naas Ferreira.
Catering for players U18 or younger, Kingswood returned with a draw, a win and a narrow loss in their three games. They drew 21-21 with St David's (Johannesburg), beat St John's 19-3 and suffered a 24-23 loss to Michaelhouse after a successful penalty by the hosts in the last moments of an exciting game.
