Free State soars as Mgedezi and Adams star in Craven Week thriller
The Free State is back to winning ways on the third day of the 60th annual FNB u18 Craven Week hosted by Hoërskool Middelburg in Middelburg, Mpumalanga.
The Free Staters were fueled by a hat-trick of tries by their fullback, Lamla Mgedezi, as well as a brace of tries by their SA Schools centre, Ethan Adams, to down the Blue Bulls by 52-33.
Catch all the action live on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com).
Adams’ midfield partner, O’Ryan Kleyn, once again produced a solid performance, quietly becoming an unsung stalwart for the team.
Flyhalf, Darius Erwee, also found his rhythm again as he opened the Bulls’ defence with some wily running. He also slotted four conversions and three penalties for a personal tally of 17 points.
His father, Marius Erwee, was the scrumhalf for the Free State schools’ side when they smashed Northern Transvaal in 1992 in a curtain raiser for the match between the All Blacks and Free State in Bloemfontein. His schoolmate from Sentraal, Stephen Brink, scored 46 of the Free State schools’ side on that day.
The Blue Bulls will be licking their wounds, but also need to recover quickly before Saturday’s final day of the tournament. It was the team from Pretoria’s fourth successive defeat at the Craven Week. The first time ever since the inaugural tournament in 1964.
The Bulls did, however, have a worse run of form as they went for six matches without a victory from the last match in 1984 until 1986. The only reason they did not lose four in a row is the fact that they drew 15-all with Western Transvaal (now Leopards) in their final match of the 1985-edition of the tournament in Witbank.
In the Free State’s pack, both locks, AJ Meyer and Claude Steyn, also produced standout performances.
For the Bulls, their winger Thabiso Simelane showcased his pace and also put forward a solid claim for a place in the SA Schools’ side with a hat-trick of tries. Their captain and flyhalf, Ruben Groenewald, took possession a lot flatter than in their opening match against the Golden Lions, which unlocked the Bulls’ backline much more efficiently.
In the opening match of the third day in Middelburg, the Limpopo Blue Bulls came out on top by 49-44 against the Griffons in an exciting clash that produced 13 tries in total.
The winning side’s hooker, Ziahn Lombaard, recorded the first hat-trick of tries. And in the spirit of the game, not from rolling mauls. Their fullback, Ryno Mienie, also produced a kicking masterclass as he converted all seven of his side’s tries.
The quality of rugby produced by the Limpopo Blue Bulls under Corstiaan Vermaak (coach) is without a doubt a huge improvement by the union from their performances during previous weeks in recent history.
The Griffons suffered their second defeat, but will feel better about this performance than their first outing against Western Province XV. Their eighthman, Emile Mahlelebe, caused Limpopo problems with his bullocking runs. He was also rewarded with a brace of tries for his performance.
Other performances of note were by Joze Draghoender (fullback) and Sedwin Gysman (inside centre).
Scorers:
Free State 52 (27) – Try: Lamla Mgedezi (3), Ethan Adams (2), O’Ryan Kleyn, AJ Meyer. Conversions: Darius Erwee (4). Penalties: Erwee (3). Blue Bulls 33 (19) – Try: Thabiso Simelane (3), Junaide Stuart, Luan Potgieter. Conversions: Ruben Groenewald (4).
Limpopo Blue Bulls 49 (21) – Tries: Ziahn Lombaard (3), Tumi Ramohale, Anzio Swartbooi, Gehan Hendricks, Stephan Janse van Rensburg. Conversions: Ryno Mienie (7). Griffons 44 (31) – Tries: Emile Mahlelebe (2), Joze Draghoender, Sedwin Gysman, Xander Wiltshire, Qlin Booyse. Conversions: Olereko Sebatana (3), Draghoender. Penalties: Sebatana (2).
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