Western Province dominant on the opening day of Craven Week in George
GEORGE. – It is clear that the side who want to take top honours as the 58th Craven Week in George will have to first get past Western Province.
Western Province produced a dominant performance in the main match of the opening day at Outeniqua Park to defeat the hosts, South Western Districts, by 42-12.
It was Western Province’s tenth successive victory at the Craven Week. The team has been crowned the non-official champions at the last three tournaments (2022, 2019 and 2018).
Flanker Divan Fuller showed that he is without a doubt a player to look out for in future. He was superb on the ground as well as troubling the home side’s defence with some bullocking runs.
Fuller will without a doubt have received more than a couple of ticks from the SA Schools selectors after this performance.
The other standout performance came from outside Gino Cupido who also appeared on the pitch after half-time. He sliced through SWD’s defence almost at will. Cupido represented the SA Schools A-side as a winger in 2022.
Flyhalf, Kyle Smith, dictated play with some excellent tactical kicking as well as providing his backline with quality opportunities throughout the game. The eighthman, Aidan Norris, also has a monster of a match supporting Fuller in the physical aspects of the match.
SWD was better than what the scoreline reads. The home side created more than enough opportunities to score but squandered almost all of them. The tighthead prop, Juan Kleinhans, put forth a solid performance for the Ostrich farmers, while winger JJ Daters was probably his side’s standout performer on the day.
The Sharks produced an impressive performance to down the Western Province XV by 34-24 in their clash on the opening day. The team from KwaZulu-Natal managed to built up a more than comfortable 22-5 lead at half-time.
The backline was in top form as fullback, Jaco Williams, managed to create ample space for his side’s wingers, Siyabonga Ndlozi and Luyanda Kunene, to cause havoc to Western Province’s defence. Ndlozi scored a brace of tries, while Kunene also rounded off one of his side’s movements.
The Sharks’ flyhalf, Chris Horak, could also feel more than happy with his performance as his distribution and game management was excellent. Outside centre, Campbell Ridl, also had a good day at the office. He stands 1.96m tall in his socks but showed why he is rated as the top outside centre in KwaZulu-Natal. Pure class.
Scorers:
Western Province 42 (23) – Try: Zeke January, Cilliers Viljoen, Albie Bester, Haashim Pead, Xola Nyali, Gino Cupido. Conversion: Kyle Smith (3). Penalties: Smith (2). South Western Districts 12 (7) – Tries: Ashwen Damons, Andrew Stopforth. Conversion: Elgeron Meyer.
Sharks 34 (22) – Tries: Siyabonga Ndlozi (2), Campbell Ridl, Jaco Williams, Luyanda Kunene. Conversions: Chris Horak (3). Penalty: Horak. Western Province XV 24 (5) – Tries: Enslin Claasen, Juma Amissi, HB Odendaal, Torren February. Conversions: Daniel van der Merwe (2).
