Western Province on top against Bulls at Grant Khomo Week
Western Province beat the Blue Bulls by 25-18 in the final match of the second day of the Grant Khomo Week to secure their spot in the main match on day three when they will be taking on the Free State after they beat the Lions 20-9.
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In a classic North/South derby, the Bulls and the Western Province traded blows in heavy rain as the lead, along with the momentum, shifted hands a couple of times during the game.
WP looked strong from the start and their scrumhalf from Wynberg Boys’ High, Morne Noble, showed great awareness to dart around a ruck for the first try of the game.
Even though the Bulls seemed to be under a lot of pressure, WP couldn’t score and the team from Pretoria scored two tries against the run of play, punishing WP for every mistake they made.
First, the Affies centre, Nicholaas Grobler, scored from inside his own half, then an error by WP on their goal line led to his schoolmate and fullback, Matthew Seymore, being able to pounce on the ball to give the Bulls a 12-7 lead.
Another Affies boy, Ruben Groenewald (flyhalf), then extended their lead to more than a single score away with a penalty and took the Blue Bulls to halftime with a 15-7 advantage.
After the break, WP regained the upper hand through two tries by their big centre from Paarl Gimnasium, Markus Muller.
Muller, who was initially selected for the Western Province XV team, was the standout player for WP in this match, running hard lines and being a menace on defence.
Groenewald’s trusty boot regained the lead for the Bulls momentarily with 10 minutes left, but WP’s Paarl Boys’ High fullback, Francios van der Merwe, regained it for them with a penalty conversion two minutes later before Gert Kemp, the flanker from Paul Roos, sealed their victory with a final try in the 59th minute.
Jadon Ocks (winger) from Boland Landbou and Josh Neill (eighth man) from Rondebosch Boys’ High also stood out for the Western Province team.
The Bulls will be devastated that they didn’t manage to pull off another late victory as they did in the 31-27 thriller against the Sharks on the first day, but players like the Affies boys Christiaan de Wet (lock) and Zirk Meyer (scrumhalf) put in a solid performance, despite the loss.
The Free State booked their spot in the main match of the final day with a 20-9 victory over the Lions in the penultimate game of the second day.
They will then have the chance to repeat their success from last year when they beat the Sharks 39-18 in the final game.
In an extremely physical and wet first half, neither team could cross the goal line, but the fullback from Noordheuwel, Jeandre Uithaler‘s accuracy from the kicking tee gave the Lions a 6-3 lead at the break.
A penalty try early in the second half, followed quickly by their big loosehead prop from Grey College, Luan van der Berg, barging over the line saw Free State pull away after halftime.
The speedster Grey College winger, Lamla Mgedezi, then sealed their fate later on with another try.
Thristan Maree, the Free State’s fullback who also goes to school at Grey College, stood out for the Bloemfontein-based team, seamlessly slotting into the backline with perfect timing when they were on the attack and directing play and relieving pressure with his educated kicking boot, as well as stepping up as the last line of defence on a number of occasions to help with the massive defensive effort that prevented the Lions from scoring a single try.
After a horrible start by the Sharks, receiving two yellow cards within 15 minutes of the kickoff they showed that they are able to score with only 13 men on the field, as long as one of them is Zekethelo Siyaya.
They did well to spend the majority of the first 30 minutes in the SWD Eagles‘ half of the field despite the handicap, but apart from the brilliant individual try by their fullback from Westville Boys’ High they were unable to convert the pressure into points.
Siyaya takes his tally for the Grant Khomo week up to three tries, following up on the brace he scored in the Sharks’ 31-27 defeat to the Blue Bulls on the first day.
The SWD Eagles kept themselves in the game to the very end, but the Sharks will feel like they could’ve won more comfortably if they seized all their opportunities, still, they will be happy with their 19-12 win.
The Griquas had to spend the final 15 minutes of their match against the Valke pinned to their own 5m line, but their brave defence secured the 10-5 win.
An early try by Jonathan Harding, their centre from Diamantveld, and a penalty conversion by Luiz Isaacs, the Upington High flyhalf, proved enough for the Griquas to get their first win of the festival.
Scorers:
Western Province 25 (7) – Tries: Markus Muller (2), Morne Noble, Gert Kemp. Conversion: Leighton Brinkhuis. Penalty: Francois van der Merwe. Blue Bulls 18 (15) – Tries: Nicolaas Grobler, Matthew Seymore. Conversion: Ruben Groenewald. Penalties: Groenewald (2).
Free State 20 (3) – Tries: Penalty Try, Luan van der Berg, Lamla Mgedezi. Penalty: Thristan Maree. Lions 9 (6) – Penalties: Jeandre Uithaler.
Sharks 19 (7) – Tries: Zekethelo Siyaya, Zander Vorster, Jadrian Afrikaner. Conversions: Stefan Moolman, Vorster. SWD Eagles 12 (5) – Tries: Ruan Swart, Reinhardt Viljoen. Conversion: Charles Vosloo.
Griquas 10 (10) – Try: Jonathan Harding. Conversion: Luiz Isaaks. Penalty Isaaks. Valke 5 (0) – Try: Lesego Moitse.
