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July 6 - World-wide, there is no schools structure stronger than South Africa’s – and the Craven Week that starts in Kimberley on Monday is the showcase of South Africa’s rugby talent. To play - and win - in the final match on the Saturday is therefore no mean feat, but that is what the Golden Lions have set as their goal.
The Golden Lions go into the week with confidence but are well aware of the battle ahead. They come off a good preparation phase and despite a tough start against Eastern Province on Tuesday should give a good account of themselves. “We’ve just completed our second training camp,” said Golden Lions head coach Wynand Moolman on Tuesday. “We’re having another training match against a junior side from Roodepoort consisting of Under-19s and Under-21s tonight (Tuesday). We’ve had some in jury problems but they have been cleared, and generally we’re ready to go.”
The Lions did well against the very strong Free State team in the annual Bondedag, outscoring them with tries but losing the match 29-26 because of five missed kicks from nine attempts.
“We played well, and despite the loss we’ve taken a lot of confidence from that match,” said Moolman.
And rightly so. The Free State over the past number of years have been perennial finalists and as recently as last year won the final match in Day Three 42-21 against Western Province to be crowned unofficial champions.
Last year the Golden Lions started off poorly against WP, losing 20-3 in their first match. They then beat the Blue Bulls 23-20 in the second match and beat the Pumas 28-11 in their final match.
Although there are no official logs and play-offs, a win for the Lions on Tuesday will most probably see them pitted against the winner of the other top match on Tuesday between KZN and WP. The fixtures for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be decided on as the week progresses to ensure teams of equal strength are pitted against one another.
The fixtures for the first two days are:
July 11
10:25 Leopards vs Namibia
11:45 EP CD vs Valke
13:05 Boland vs Blue Bulls
14:25 Free State vs Pumas
15:45 Griquas vs SWD
July 12
10:25 Zimbabwe vs Border CD
11:45 Griffons vs Limpopo
13:05 Lions vs EP
14:25 WP vs KZN
15:45 Griquas CD vs Border
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