In Tuesday’s Coca-Cola Academy Week, taking place at St Stithians College in Johannesburg, 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.
The 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.
The Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions outplayed Old Mutual Zimbabwe completely as they ran in 10 tries for a 62-14 victory after leading 36-0 lead at the break. The home team’s flyhalf Tristan Oosthuizen was in fine form as he slotted over six conversions and scored a try for a personal total of 17 points.
The Valke Platteland delivered an equally effective performance against Border CD as they forced their way up-field with pick-and-goes and spread the ball wide wisely, which saw them cross the tryline eight times for a 51-12 victory. They led 22-0 at the break and then lifted the tempo to take control of the match, while their effective defence allowed the Eastern Cape side to score only tries.
The SA LSEN (Learners with Special Education Needs) team retained possession and produced a solid attacking performance against the Tshepa Trading Griffons CD to outscore the opposition eight tries to two. The SA LSEN team had a strong start and led 38-17 at the break, which set them up for the victory despite a much tighter second half.
The clash between Namibia and Pumas CD was gripping as the teams gave everything, resulting in the local side registering a narrow 16-15 victory. Such was the closeness of the game, Pumas CD led 13-10 at halftime as each side scored two tries while Pumas CD added two penalty goals. The only points scored in the second half was a try by Namibia and a penalty goal by Pumas CD, which proved to be enough to seal the win.
The Blue Bulls, meanwhile, overturned a 13-10 halftime deficit against the Free State to register a narrow 26-23 victory as they outscored the Bloemfontein side four tries to two. A solid performance by Free State flyhalf Alex-Zander Du Plessis, meanwhile, kept them in the match as his try, two conversions and three penalty goals earned him 18 points. His heroics, however, were not enough in the end.
In a fantastic finale to the day’s play the Pumas slotted over a penalty goal on the stroke of fulltime to defeat the Bidvest Waltons Golden Lions 23-22 in a gripping match. The hosts led 10-7 at the break, but the Pumas’ two converted tries and three penalty goals were sufficient to cancel out the home team’s four tries.
http://www.grocotts.co.za/2017/07/18/558883/
