Free State manage to end their Academy Week on a high with victory over Boland
Free State ended on a high as they beat Boland 50-19 in their last game of the Academy Week hosted by Jeppe High School for Boys in Johannesburg.
The Bloemfontein-based team put up a champaigne performance from the get-go. Erich Visser was at the fore front of the onslaught with an impressive hat-trick of tries.
The Grey College-man delivered a superb performance, providing quick and clean ball for the danger men at the back. He was well backed up by Dailen Geldenhuys who had yet another solid outing in the 10-jumper.
Upfront, Calvin Bolt (eight man), lead the physical battle and was ferocious with his strong ball-carries and solid defence.
It was a tough outing for the Boland team, but they had a shining light in the form of their twinkle toes utility back Jordan Abels.
Abels continued his great form shown through the week and could cross the whitewash to add another try to his tally of the week and succeeded to convert two of his teams’ three tries.
Zimbabwe pushed Namibia all the way in the annual unofficial test match between the two countries.
Second rower Claus Otto was instrumental in his teams’ victory of 27-25, crossing the try line twice and continuously breaching the advantage line with ball in hand. His colleague Delano van der Berg (hooker) was also in the thick of things upfront and was a thorn in the side of the Zimbabweans at ruck time.
This set the platform for the burly inside centre, Stefan Gildenhuys, to run rampant amongst the defenders from the neighbouring country. Gildenhuys secured a well-deserved victory with his visit behind the try line.
For the Zimbabweans Kudzai Chenda (outside back), led the fight back after a 16-point deficit at the break. Chenda broke the Namibian defence twice in a matter of minutes to contribute 10 points to his teams’ tally but it seemed to little too late, with the Namibians holding on to their lead to finish their week strong.
The Pumas nearly pulled off a comeback for the books scoring 28 points in the second half. The man from Nelspruit Reghardt Vermaak (hooker), put in a massive shift upfront and scored twice for his team, but his efforts were in vain as the consistency of the Blue Bulls back line, in particular, their scrumhalf, Zian Cilliers proved to be to good for the Pumas on the day.
South Western Districts came out on top 28-19 against the Limpopo Blue Bulls. It was scrumhalf, Sachin Wagenaar, who proved to be vital in his teams’ victory. Wagenaar had another good outing as he delivered clean ball and was a constant threat around the fringes.
SWD managed to hold on to their lead of 23 points at the break, conceding 19 unanswered points in the second half as the men from up North kept knocking on the door to try and secure a full house for the week.
Scorers:
Free State 50 (31): Tries: Erich Visser (3), Ayanda Qinisa, Dailen Geldenhuys, Calvin Bolt, Qwyd Koen, Martin Botha. Conversions: Geldenhuys (5). Boland 19 (7): Tries: Kailen Kotze, Jordan Abels, Johan Coetzee. Conversions: Abels (2)
Namibia 27 (24): Tries: Claus Otto (2), Delano van der Berg, Stefan Gildenhuys. Conversions: Michael Koopman, Waldre Kotze. Penalty: Kotze. Zimbabwe 25 (8): Tries: Kudzai Chenda (2), Shammah Jackson. Coversions: Ethan Chaponda (2). Penalties: Brennan Watt, Chaponda.
South Western Districs 28 (28): Tries: Sachin Wagenaar, Louwrens van der Linde, JC van Wyk, Henro Kuhn. Conversions: Luca Potgieter (4). Limpopo Blue Bulls 19 (5): Tries: Aza Mabe, Chadwin Storm, Prince Sekoboane. Conversions: Vincent Luckhoff.
Blue Bulls 35 (29): Tries: Zian Cilliers, Johan Hattingh, Ruan Lippold, Aiden King, Ruan Enslin, Anwill Prins. Conversions: Ruben Pienaar, Bradley Jansen. Penalties: Pienaar (2). Pumas 28 (0): Tries: Reghardt Vermaak (2), Zak Loock, Zulu van Niekerk. Conversions: Timothy Ntshangase (4).
