Good Iqhawe week for Lions while SWD win final Lion’s u.15 held their own at Iqhawe week
Iqhawe Week for u.15's, offers players from smaller schools to play for their provinces.
HOSTS of the 2016 Iqhawe week, the Golden Lions, won two of their allotted three matches at the u.15 week, but had to be spectators for the final as Southern Western Districts (SWD) and Western Province (WP) fought it out for the laurels.
In a tightly-contested final SWD’s Eagles held their nerve against 2015 finalists, WP, for a 13-8 victory at Johannesburg’s Bill Jardine Stadium.
It was the fourth edition of the development tournament. The Carfind.co.za Iqhawe Week was established in 2013, as a joint venture between SA Rugby and the SA Rugby Legends Association. It offers u.15 players from rural, lower-league and non-traditional rugby schools an opportunity to participate in a high-level provincial competition; with the objective of creating a pathway for them to advance through SA’s rugby structures.
The Golden Lions meanwhile, scored a late try in their last of three matches to secure a 15-10 victory against a determined Border outfit. The home side showed promise on attack throughout the match, but mistakes at crucial times prevented them from stamping their authority with any conviction. Both sides scored a try and penalty goal in the first half, but a successful conversion by Border pushed them 10-8 ahead. The hosts were the better side on attack after the break and to their delight, they recovered from several handling errors to score the winning try five minutes before the final whistle.
The Eagles defeated Boland and Eastern Province on the opening two days and built on that with the efficient performance against Western Province, as they put their skill and pace to good use in an exciting closing match.
The victory allowed them to complete the tournament as one of only two unbeaten teams; the other was the Pumas – who defeated Griquas, the Blue Bulls, KwaZulu-Natal respectively.
The final day (Thursday October 6) results were:
Eastern Province 24-12 Griffons
Falcons 0-36 Leopards
KZN 7-7 Free State
Golden Lions 15-10 Border
Pumas 17-7 Griquas
Boland 12-22 Blue Bulls
SWD 13-8 Western Province.
