Free State clinical during third day of Craven Week, while SWD stole their victory over the Valke
GEORGE. – The Free Staters were clearly more than a bit angry after their record fifth successive defeat at the Craven Week when they took the field at Outeniqua Park for their second clash of the 58th edition of the tournament here.
Free State defeated the Western Province XV comprehensively by 54-14 in their second clash of the tournament. This after the team from Bloemfontein suffered a shock defeat of 23-26 against Eastern Province during Day 1.
Free State’s pack of forwards laid the foundation for the victory as they completely overpowered Western Province in the physical exchanges during the match.
This came mostly due to their locks, Jaco Grobbelaar and Marno Stopforth, as well as the flanker, Keegan Scholtz, and captain and eighthman, JJ Theron.
Free State already had the game in the bag by half-time with a comfortable lead of 42-0. Their flyhalf, Ian van der Merwe, also packed his kicking boots as he converted seven of his sides eight tries. Van der Merwe was also named Man of the Match after his kicking performance as well as the way that he dictated play.
It would probably be the correct description to state that the hosts, South Western Districts, stole their 22-19 victory over the Valke in the first match of Day 3 of the tournament. Their inside centre, Kurt Coetzee, scored the winning try in the last movement of the match with a mere 40 seconds left on the clock to give his side the lead for the first time in the match at 20-19.
The Valke led by 11-5 at the break with flyhalf, Duan du Toit, slotting two penalties and outside centre, Lynghe Pretorius, scoring his side’s try. Pretorius was later red carded for a dangerous tackle.
Flankers, Divan du Plooy and Andre Roux, also both got yellow carded in the second half which meant that the Valke played most of the half with only 13 players.
Du Toit had an opportunity to stretch his side lead to 22-10 with a fourth penalty but struck the upright. Less than a minute later Keenan Jantjies scored for the home side to get his side within touching distance to be able to grab the victory.
SWD’s winger Jay-Jay Daters was once again in superb form for his side, while flanker Dewald Gerber also deserves a pat on the back for his performance.
The Valke’s lock Reon Pretorius put in a massive performance for his side. He was well-deservedly named Man of the Match after putting his body on the line but would probably rather swop his award for a Valke-victory.
Scorers:
Free State 54 (42) – Tries: Christiaan van der Westhuizen, Ranon Fouche, JJ Theron, Jean-Henri Smit, Pieter van der Merwe, Stefan Venter, Keagan Scholtz, Phiwe Mkunjana. Conversions: Ian van der Merwe (7). Western Province XV 14 (0) – Tries: Daniel van der Merwe, Louw du Toit. Conversion: JT George (2).
South Western Districts 22 (5) – Tries: Brendon Gouws, Jay-Jay Daters, Keenan Jantjies, Kurt Coetzee. Conversion: Elgernon Meyer. Valke 19 (11) – Tries: Lynghe Pretorius, Oregopotse Shilubane. Penalties: Duan du Toit (3).
