Lions overpower SWD

A dominant forward pack and the accurate boot of fullback Garth April earned the Golden Lions a well-deserved 34-6 victory of the SWD 'Jong Arende' in a Day 1 Craven Week encounter on Monday afternoon.

The Lions took a little while to get any fluidity going, but in the end had far too much for the South Western Districts boys.

The Lions struck almost immediately from the kick-off, with wing Andries Oosthuizen finishing well in the corner for a 2nd minute try. Fullback Garth April made a fantastic conversion for an early 7-0 lead for the team from up north.

The rest of the half was frustrating for players and spectators alike, as neither team looked very threatening with the ball in hand. SWD gained some ground back through a penalty from the boot of flyhalf Jaco van Tonder.

But the Lions controlled territory and possession and April kept the scoreboard ticking with three well-taken penalties. This made the score 16-3 at halftime. 

After the break, Van Tonder reduced the deficit to ten points with another penalty. But this would be the last of the scoring from the Arende as the Lions pack began to assert their authority on the match.

April added another penalty before an impressive maul by the Lions ended with towering loosehead prop Louwrens van Heerden crossing the whitewash.

From then on, it was all Lions. The superiority of the Lions forwards at the collision points proved crucial, and the SWD players began to tire after defending for much of the match.

The Arende toiled away and tried to mount the odd attack, but as was this case for many of the teams on the day, the movements were lateral and basic mistakes all too frequent.

The Lions, made up mainly of players from Monument and KES, started to open the game up in the final quarter and tries from flank Jean-Pierre Le Grange and Lincoln Koopman sealed the comfortable victory.

Scorers:

For Golden Lions:
Tries: Oosthuizen, van Heerden, Le Grange, Koopman
Cons: April
Pens: April 4

For SWD:
Pens: van Tonder 2

Squads:

Golden Lions: 15 G April (Florida), 14 L Koopman (Jeppe), 13 B Moolman (Monument), 12 J Meyer (KES), 11 A Oosthuizen (Monument), 10 J Taute (Monument), 9 N Kruger (Monument), 8 S Yaka (Monument), 7 JP le Grange (Monument), 6 J Hughes (Monument), 5 F Booysen (Florida), 4 R Venter (Monument), 3 W Kamanga (Marais Viljoen), 2 S Ntubeni (KES), 1 LJ van Heerden (Monument), 16 B Janse van Vuuren (Monument), 17 A Perreira (KES), 18 V Jobo (KES), 19 S Nel (Monument), 20 D Eyre (KES), 21 L Ruiters (KES), 22 L Ntleki (KES)

South Western Districts: Martin Boonzaaier (Oakdale), Acker van der Merwe (Outeniqua), André Labuschagne (Outeniqua), Japie Bothma (Oakdale), Ben Jacobs (Outeniqua), Rudger van Wyk (Outeniqua), Karel Liebenberg (Langenhoven Gimnasium), Franco Geldenhuys (Outeniqua), Graham September (Outeniqua), Jaco van Tonder (Outeniqua), Henry Gordon (Oudtshoorn), Riaan Botha (Outeniqua), Adriaan Fransman (Outeniqua), Doveno Bowers (Oudtshoorn), Warren Ekstraat (Langenhoven Gimnasium), Wayne Khan (PW Botha), Gerhard Baard (Outeniqua), Peet van der Walt (Outeniqua), JJ du Toit (Oakdale), Ivan Ludick (Oakdale), Ruwayne Beekman (Outeniqua), Rowel Fielding (Outeniqua)

Date: Monday, July 13
Venue: Border Rugby Union Stadium, East London
Kick-off: 14.10 (12.10 GMT)
Referee: Archie Sehlako

By Tim Human