Eastern Province and Western Province maintained their impressive records on day three of the Craven Week at Outeniqua Park in George.
EP continue to stand out at the 2023 edition of the annual U18 tournament. Two days after claiming a 26-23 win against a more-fancied Free Side, they racked up a 40-26 victory over Boland, with flanker De Wet Fourie scoring two of their six tries.
WP went into the fixture against the Sharks on the back of a convincing win against SWD. The clash between the two coastal giants on Wednesday lived up to the hype, with WP emerging as 35-24 victors.
CRAVEN WEEK: Tries galore on eventful second day
Earlier in the day, hosts, the South Western Districts edged the Valke 20-19 to record their first win of the competition. Free State also bounced back from their recent defeat, scoring eight tries in their commanding 54-14 victory over the WP XV.
The Craven Week action will continue on Thursday, with Griquas meeting the Limpopo Blue Bulls in the first game of the day, with the last encounter a Gauteng derby between the Lions and Bulls.
Day 3 results:
Valke 19 (11) – Tries: Lynhge Pretorius, Oregopotse Shilubane. Penalty goals: Duan du Toit (3).
SWD 20 (5) – Tries: Brendan Gouws, Keanon Jantjies, Jay-Jay Daters, Kurt Coetzee.
WP XV 14 (0) – Tries: Louw du Toit, Daniel van der Merwe. Conversions: Leejay Petersen (2).
Free State 54 (42) – Tries: Ranon Fouche, Stefan Venter, Jean-Henri Smit, Keegan Scholtz, JJ Theron, Christiaan van Der Westhuizen, Pieter van der Merwe, Pharrel van Wyk. Conversions: Ian van der Merwe (7).
EP 40 (20) – Tries: De Wet Fourie (2), Burrie van Heerden, Aiden de Villiers, Imaani Pemba, Dominic Malgas. Conversion: Lucraine Muggels. Penalty goal: Muggels.
Boland 26 (12) – Tries: Petrus Coetzee, Carick Kustoor (2), James Daniels. Conversions Luan Giliomee (3).
WP 35 (27) – Tries: Justin Amos, Haashim Pead, Jameel De Jongh, Gilermo Mentoe. Conversions: Yaqeen Ahmed (3). Penalty goals: Ahmed (3).
Sharks 24 (14) – Tries: Phiwo Kubheka, Liam Terblanche, Maurice Willemse. Conversions: Chris Horak (3). Penalty goal: Horak.
Day 4 fixtures:
10:30am: Griquas v Limpopo Blue Bulls
12pm: Border v Pumas
1:30pm: Griffons v Leopards
3pm: Golden Lions v Blue Bulls
Photo: SA Rugby website