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Eastern Province carved their name in the history books of the Learners with Special Educational Needs (LSEN) U18 Craven Week as they achieved the rare feat of a three-peat in the competition.
They did so by beating Western Province 15-12 in the unofficial final at Baysville School of Skills in KuGompo City on Monday.
EP’s points came through a converted try by lock Justine Plaatjies, five-pointer from winger Rylan Hawkins and a penalty from flyhalf Zaynodeen Bennie.
This was the third consecutive final which the coastal teams had tussled in, but the boys from the Western Cape came up short again, with EP, as in 2024 and 2025, narrowly snatching a victory.
In windy conditions, the teams were slow to come out the blocks.
Though they would get into each other’s 22m areas in the opening stages, they were let down by finishing.
The EP team, which is made up of four schools — Baysville in KuGompo City, Bergsig in Kariega, and Cape Recife and Westview from Gqeberha, showed understanding in each other as they were more dominant in the set piece.
Their bulky forwards pushed over WP scrums quite easily and in the lineouts they were spot on.
Plaatjies’ dot-down was straight from the training grounds.
From a lineout, EP faked as if they were setting up for a driving maul, then they shifted the ball to Plaatjies, who broke from the maul to cross the whitewash.
WP did not waste any time in responding.
They scored through their backline player, Chandley Jacobs, to level the score at seven points apiece.
On the stroke of halftime, EP extended their lead with Hawkins finishing up a brilliant interchange of passes on the right far side of the ground.
The teams went to the halftime interval with the home side leading 12-7.
WP came from their dressing room chat more eager to get more points.
They kept on bashing the EP defence, which stood resolute under attack.
Bennie extended EP’s lead with a long-range three-pointer which shifted the momentum back to them.
Fullback Yusuf Hannibal scored a try for WP seconds before the sound of the hooter, but it was too little, too late as EP were crowned champions again.
In the earlier games on Monday, the Golden Lions dismantled the Pumas 54-0, the Valke had a 22-7 win over Free State, and the Griffons sneaked a 10-0 win over the Leopards.
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