Craven Week climax

THE 53rd anniversary of Craven Week will come to a close today when Western Province and the Golden Lions meet in the final game of the tournament.

There is, of course, no official champion of Craven Week. It is purely a festival of rugby, but everyone knows that, in most years, the two top sides are given the honour of playing in the last game. And the winner of that encounter has the bragging rights until the following year.

And no one who was at Kearsney College this week will argue with the choice of sides to appear in today’s showpiece fixture.

They both won their first two games comfortably and they both played scintillating running rugby. Province beat Boland 41-20 and hosts KZN 60-5. The Lions accounted for SWD 59-24 and the Blue Bulls 41-14.

Both have a number of players in their ranks who must be in contention for SA Schools honours when the squad is named next week, and the two undoubted stars of the week will be in action when the teams meet today: fullback Gianni Lombard, of Province, and Lions centre Wandisile Simelane.

The Bulls will meet unbeaten Free State in the main curtain-raiser, and the only other unbeaten team, the Pumas, will take on the hosts.

The two teams featuring in the main game are among those who have made the most appearances in the week’s showpiece fixture over the years. Province have played in the main game more times than any other team, by quite a long way.

They have made 23 finalgame appearances down the years, followed by Free State with 17. The Lions are next on the list with 13 appearances, and the Bulls have played in the week’s concluding fixture nine times.

This is Province’s seventh appearance in the past 10 years, and the Lions’ sixth. Province’s most recent, and most successful, appearance in the main game was last year, when they beat Eastern Province 95-0.

As far as main-game victories are concerned, Province head the list with 12, followed by Free State on eight and the Bulls on six.

Craven Week main-game results since 2010: 2010 Free State 42 W Province 21, 2011 Free State 28 Golden Lions 17, 2012 Blue Bulls 47 Golden Lions 0, 2013 W Province 45 Golden Lions 29, 2014 E Province25 SWD 7, 2015 W Province 95 E Province 0.

This year, for the first time, the under-18 Academy Week has been running concurrently with the Craven Week. Province also feature in that competition’s main game today. Their opponents the Blue Bulls.