Westville Boys’ High chose to contest the second round of the Clover High School Sevens Series at Hoërskool Pionier this year, having previously skipped the event. They made it count, with Westville teams filling all four places in the U17 and U15 finals.
The closest any team came to Westville before the final of the U17 competition was 29 points in a Cup quarterfinal win over HS Vryheid. Then, in the final, they were given a good workout by their development team, the Griffins, winning 26-15.
The Griffins contested Pool B, which delivered the tightest competition of the event. In fact, the Griffins drew their first match, finishing 12-12 against Amajuba. They subsequently comfortably beat Sarel Cilliers 36-5 before earning a hard-fought 17-12 win over HS Vryheid.
Matters were even tighter against Ferrum in the Cup quarterfinals, with the Griffins winning 21-17.
The margin tightened to only three points in the semi-finals, with the Griffins edging out Sarel Cilliers 17-14. Westville, the defending national champion, outplayed the Pionier Sevens’ defending champion, Hentie Cilliers, 36-5.
Ferrum won the Plate, scoring a convincing 17-point win over Pionier, Newcastle defeated Pongola Akademie in the Bowl final, and Dundee downed Sarel Cilliers 2 in the Shield final.
No team came close to challenging Westville in the U15 competition. They scored 232 points in only five matches, averaging over 46 points per game, and surrendered only one try in a big 50-7 win over Vryheid Landbou in the semifinals.
The Griffins enjoyed a smooth path to the semifinals, where, at last, they were stretched, eventually defeating HS Vryheid 26-19 to secure their place in the final.
There, it was one-way traffic as Westville won 34-0, which was, however, their smallest margin of victory.
Like their U17 side, Ferrum’s U15s also won the Plate with a win over Pionier. Newcastle added a second Bowl title, beating HS Vryheid 2 in the final, and Pongola Akademie claimed the Shield after a 10-0 win over Amajuba.
RESULTS
U17
Pool A
Ladysmith 31-7 Pionier 2
Hentie Cilliers 12-7 Vryheid Landbou
Ladysmith 12-7 Vryheid Landbou
Hentie Cilliers 48-0 Pionier 2
Pionier 2 17-7 Vryheid Landbou
Hentie Cilliers 33-5 Ladysmith
Pool B
Westville 38-5 Ferrum
Newcastle 27-5 Dundee
Ferrum 36-7 Newcastle
Westville 35-0 Dundee
Ferrum 33-7 Dundee
Westville 54-0 Newcastle
Pool C
HS Vryheid 38-10 Sarel Cilliers 2
Griffins 12-12 Amajuba
HS Vryheid 33-19 Amajuba
Griffins 36-5 Sarel Cilliers 2
Griffins 17-12 HS Vryheid
Amajuba 33-7 Sarel Cilliers 2
Pool D
Pionier 42-0 HS Vryheid 2
Sarel Cillier 45-5 Pongola Akademie
Pionier 47-0 Pongola Akademie
Sarel Cilliers 61-0 HS Vryheid 2
Sarel Cilliers 22-7 Pionier
Pongola Akademie 19-0 HS Vryheid 2
Cup Quarterfinals
Hentie Cilliers 19-14 Pionier
Sarel Cilliers 28-7 Ladysmith
Westville 36-7 HS Vryheid
Griffins 21-17 Ferrum
Shield Semifinals
Dundee 19-12 Vryheid Landbou
Sarel Cilliers 2 29-12 HS Vryheid 2
Bowl Semifinals
Newcastle 40-7 Pionier 2
Pongola Akademie 28-14 Amajuba
Plate Semifinals
Pionier 28-12 HS Vryheid
Ferrum 24-5 Ladysmith
Cup Semifinals
Griffins 17-14 Sarel Cilliers
Westville 36-5 Hentie Cilliers
Shield Final
Dundee 28-14 Sarel Cilliers 2
Bowl Final
Newcastle 26-5 Pongola Akademie
Plate Final
Ferrum 38-21 Pionier
Cup Final
Westville 26-15 Griffins
u15
Pool A
Westville 36-0 Ferrum
Ferrum 22-5 Vryheid 2
Westville 59-0 HS Vryheid 2
Pool B
Vryheid Landbou 41-7 Amajuba
Vryheid Landbou 38-12 Sarel Cilliers
Sarel Cilliers 66-0 Amajuba
Pool C
HS Vryheid 29-0 Newcastle
Gelofte 19-14 Newcastle
HS Vryheid 31-10 Gelofte
Pool D
Pionier 25-17 Pongola Akademie
Griffins 42-0 Pongola Akademie
Griffins 35-14 Pionier
Cup Quarterfinals
Westville 53-0 Sarel Cilliers
Vryheid Landbou 22-7 Ferrum
HS Vryheid 19-7 Pionier
Griffins 40-7 Gelofte
Bowl Semifinals
HS Vryheid 2 46-0 Amajuba
Newcastle 24-12 Pongola Akademie
Plate Semifinals
Ferrum 22-7 Sarel Cilliers
Pionier 31-14 Gelofte
Cup Semifinals
Westville 50-7 Vryheid Landbou
Griffins 26-19 HS Vryheid
Shield Final
Pongola Akademie 10-0 Amajuba
Bowl Final
Newcastle 17-7 HS Vryheid 2
Plate Final
Ferrum 26-5 Pionier
Cup Final
Westville 34-0 Griffins
