Velties take the spoils at Loftus to be crowned Frogfoot Champions of Champions
Duineveld returned to Upington with the Champion of Champions trophy after a riveting day of sevens rugby on the Loftus Versveld B-field in Pretoria.
Their performance on Saturday earned them top honours in the annual Frogfoot Sevens Series, after a thrilling final against Strand.
Watch all the games again on SuperSport Schools – Register now – Link to the tournament
The Western Cape side were worthy finalists, but it took only two minutes for Duineveld’s speedy flanker, Alek Andrianatos, to breach their defences, as he went over for a try converted by Jacquin Jasson.
Gregon Jansen, who was selected as the player of the tournament for his tireless contributions over the weekend, then increased the advantage for the Velties, scoring just before the break to put his team 12-0 up at halftime.
A few choice words by their coaches during the break seemed to do the trick for Strand as they raised their intensity in the second half and scored almost immediately after play resumed.
Jasson and Jansen then combined well again for Duineveld’s final try, which gave them just enough breathing room to see out the remainder of the game, as Strand kept asking questions to the bitter end.
Although they came up short in the final, Strand will, no doubt, be proud of their boys’ accomplishments over the weekend, with players like Chrisma Prinsloo, Justin Phillips and Ashraf Fanie catching the attention with man-of-the-match performances during their pool games.
Unblemished in the group stages, Duineveld asserted their dominance with impressive victories to reach the final. They convincingly outscored Swartland (34-12) and Ben Viljoen (33-26) to lay claim to the top spot in their pool.
Then, in their cross-pool encounter, they continued their winning streak by putting up 29 points and blanking Die Wilgers.
In the semi-final, they had to get past Grey High School. The team from Gqeberha came into the tournament as one of the favourites and lived up to those expectations in the early going.
In a contest worthy of a final, Grey High produced a skilful showing, but Duineveld cut their campaign short with a 25-19 victory.
Last year’s champions, Secunda, were unlucky to run into Strand in the group stage which meant they were relegated to contending for the Bowl. There, they squeezed by Swartland in an epic clash to win the final by a single point (28-27), with Zander Scheepers producing a phenomenal performance for the winners.
Pietersburg went on to hand Grey their second loss of the weekend in the Plate final by 26-12 and Ligbron beat Menlopark by 27-17 to lift the Shield.
All the results:
Pool A: Secunda 38, Die Wilgers 0; Strand 31, Die Wilger 0; Strand 26, Secunda 0.
Pool B: Duineveld 34, Swartland 12; Duineveld 33, Ben Viljoen 26; Swartland 22, Ben Viljoen 5.
Pool C: Grey High School 17, HTS Tom Naudé 5; Grey High School 26, Ligbron 12; HTS Tom Naudé 28, Ligbron 17.
Pool D: HTS Drostdy 24, Menlopark 19; Pietersburg 31, HTS Drostdy 19; Pietersburg 22, Menlopark 12.
Cross-pools: Ben Viljoen 26, Strand 24; Ligbron 34, Pietersburg 28; Secunda 21, Swartland 12; HTS Tom Naudé 17, Menlopark 17; Duineveld 29, Die Wilgers 0; HTS Drostdy 28, Grey High School 10.
Semi-finals
Shield: Menlopark 35, Die Wilgers 0; Ligbron 31, Ben Viljoen 24.
Bowl: Secunda 31, HTS Drostdy 19; Swartland 24, HTS Tom Naudé 22.
Cup: Strand 21, Pietersburg 14; Duineveld 25, Grey High School 19.
Finals
Shield: Ligbron 26, Menlopark 17.
Bowl: Secunda 28, Swartland 27.
Plate: Pietersburg 26, Grey High School 12.
Cup: Duineveld 19, Strand 14.
