RUGBY NEWS - The U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week and Coca-Cola Academy Week tournaments continued to entertain at St Stithians College in Johannesburg on Tuesday, with big victories dominating an action-packed day’s play.

The Sharks registered an impressive 53-33 victory against the Blue Bulls, while Namibia overpowered the Valke 52-36, the Leopards outplayed Old Mutual Zimbabwe 72-17 and GWK Griquas defeated Eastern Province CD 42-20 in the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week.

In the Coca-Cola Academy Week, meanwhile, the Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions XV overpowered Old Mutual Zimbabwe 62-14, while Valke Platteland defeated Border CD 51-12 and the SA LSEN (Learners with Special Education Needs) team earned a convincing 57-36 win against Tshepa Trading Griffons CD.

There were, however, a few close encounters in both tournaments, with SWD defeating Eastern Province 27-22 in the flagship tournament, while Pumas CD pipped Namibia 16-15, the Blue Bulls beat the Free State 26-23 and the Pumas defeated the Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions 23-22 in the Coca-Cola Academy Week.

Outside of the results, it was notable day in the U18 Coca-Cola Craven Week as female referee Aimee Barrett-Theron became the first woman to take charge of a match in the tournament.

U18 Coca--Cola Craven Week

SWD held off a strong challenge from Eastern Province for a 27-22 victory, with their prop Dian Bleuler scoring a brace for his team.

The team’s packs were closely matched, but the talented SWD backline handed them the edge to outscore the Port Elizabeth team four tries to three after taking a 19-10 lead at the break.

The Sharks, meanwhile, used their solid foundation up-front to dominate the first half against the Blue Bulls, which paved the way for their six tries and an encouraging 38-7 halftime lead.

The Blue Bulls fought back strongly in the second half and closed the gap to 38-28 as the Sharks reduced to 14 men for a dangerous charge into a ruck.

The coastal side, however, stuck to their game plan to retain possession and earned the rewards as they two more tries to their tally and a penalty goal, which ensured that the Pretoria side’s four second-half tries were insufficient to push them into the lead.

The match was particularly special for Sharks scrumhalf Sanele Nohamba who scored a try, a penalty goal and five conversions.

Namibia staged a strong comeback against the Valke in the opening match of the day from 19-0 down to register a rewarding 52-36 victory in their first match of the tournament.

The Namibian forwards laid a solid foundation for the team as they dominated the scrums, while the side did well to spot the gaps in the defence and take advantage of them, with centre Gerswin Mouton earning a hat-trick.

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