Another day of classy rugby at Craven Week

It was another day of classy rugby action at Grey College in Bloemfontein on Tuesday as the U18 SA Rugby Craven Week launched into full swing with the teams that watched from the sidelines on Monday taking to the field in their first round of matches.

The SA Rugby Craven Week matches were competitive throughout the day with a few late tries alleviating the pressure on some of the sides.

The Western Province XV, Assupol Blue Bulls, their Assupol Blue Bulls XV counterparts, New Vaal Griquas and Thepa Trading Griffons would be pleased with their victories, which saw them kick off their campaigns on a strong note.

The SA Rugby Academy Week also produced its fair share of entertainment with the Thepa Trading Griffons and Phakisa Pumas cruising to big wins, while it also proved to be a good day for Border, Griquas CD, the Blue Bulls XV, Bidvest Golden Lions Academy XV and Valke.

The day's action took the points scored in the first two days of the SA Rugby Craven Week to 414, with 81 tries, and 498 points and 77 tries in the SA Rugby Academy Week.

MATCH SUMMARIES

The Blue Bulls overturned a 17-10 halftime deficit against Border in an entertaining clash to secure a 35-24 victory.

The first half was a tight tussle with both sides relying on their forwards to give them the edge, but the Pretoria outfit's strong second-half display, in which they stepped up the quality of their attack and ran hard on attack, nudged them into a convincing lead as they outscored the East London outfit six tries to four.

Nsuku Baloyi (wing) made a valuable contribution as he touched down twice.

Griquas survived a strong second-half fightback from Limpopo Blue Bulls in a physical encounter to secure a 35-24 victory after leading 14-0 at halftime.

In the end the Kimberley outfit scored five tries to their Limpopo counterpart's four, but their accurate goal-kicking, which saw them land all five conversions, allowed them to build up a comfortable lead on the scoreboard for a morale-boosting opening win.

The Gauteng derby between the Blue Bulls XV and Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions XV proved to be a gripping affair as both teams threw everything at one another, but the Pretoria side did well to take advantage of their point-scoring chances for a 32-21 victory.

Both sides tried to use their forwards to force their way onto the front foot and backed this up with enterprising play by their backs, which resulted in a tightly fought match until the end.

The Blue Bulls XV's five tries to three by their neighbours, however, sealed the win, with flyhalf Justin Cross making a valuable contribution with his try, two conversions and penalty goal.

Golden Lions XV flyhalf Seb Watney earned 11 points for his team, but even this could not help his team a win.

In stark contrast, Griffons kicked a last-minute penalty goal to edge EP Elephants 28-24 in a nail-biting clash.

It was a physical affair as both teams' forwards got stuck in, while the backs were solid in support.

The Welkom side took a narrow 13-7 lead at the break, but Eastern Province fought back with intent, and they found themselves level on four tries in the dying minutes.

Two penalty goals by the Griffons to add to their conversion, however, cancelled out the Eastern Cape side's two conversions.

TheWestern Province XV held on for a hard-fought 18-14 victory against the Golden Lions in a thrilling finale to the day's action.

Both sides threw everything at one another with their forwards and backs, but with the teams being closely matched on attack and defence, the game was always going to come down to the wire.

Such was the closeness of the game, no points were scored in the second half.

The teams each scored two tries, with the men from Johannesburg converting both, but it was a fine display by the Capetonians' flyhalf, Kian Meadon, that earned his side the win as he scored a try, conversion, penalty goal and drop goal in a solid display of his skills.

DAY 2 RESULTS

New Vaal Griquas 35-24 Unitrans Limpopo Blue Bulls

Assupol Blue Bulls XV 32-21 Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions XV

EP Elephants 24-28 Thepa Trading Griffons

Assupol Blue Bulls 35-24 Border

Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions 14-18 DHL Western Province XV

WEDNESDAY'S FIXTURES

11am – Phakisa Pumas v Leopards (A Field)

12:30pm – Boland v NWU Valke (A Field)

2pm – SWD Eagles v Cell C Sharks (A Field)

3:30pm – Bizhub Free State Cheetahs v DHL Western Province (A Field)