U19: Coastal sides make headway

The Sharks and Western Province this past weekend gained invaluable momentum in the Under-19 provincial championship as they registered important victories to keep up with the pace-setters as the pool stages approaches a close.

The Sharks hopped into second place on the standings above the Golden Lions, although the Johannesburg team has a game in hand, and Western Province moved up into fourth place following victories this past weekend. With only five weeks of matches remaining and six teams still in the running for semifinal places, these victories will be invaluable.

The Sharks defeated the Golden Lions 25-9 at Ellis Park, while DHL Province registered a 45-36 victory against the Leopards in Potchefstroom and Free State edged Border 28-20 in Bloemfontein.

Golden Lions 9-25 Sharks

At Ellis Park, the Sharks outscored the Golden Lions three tries to none, with the home side having only three penalties to show for their efforts.

Sharks flyhalf Jean-Luc du Plessis was in particularly good form and scored points in every possible way. His personal tally of 15 points included a try, two conversions, a penalty and a drop goal, which assisted in placing his team on the front foot.

While the Lions will be disappointed with their defeat, they produced a solid second-half display and did well to shut out the Sharks. But they struggled on attack as they battled to breach the visitors’ defence.

Scorers:

For the Golden Lions

Pens: Hewit 3

For the Sharks:

Tries: Du Plessis, Cloete, Williams

Cons: Du Plessis 2

Pen: Du Plessis

DG: Du Plessis

Teams:

Golden Lions: 15 Barend Herbst, 14 Chad McKay, 13 Koch Marx, 12 Daniel Arries, 11 Carlisle Nel, 10 Brandan Hewit, 9 Akhona Sihunu, 8 Jano Venter, 7 Kyle van Dalen, 6 Sikhumbuzo Mabuza, 5 Jean-Pierre Du Preez, 4 Victor Sekekete, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylan Smith (Captain).

Replacements: 16 Rynard Snyman, 17 Francois van Heerden, 18 Quinton Terblanche, 19 Simon Linsel, 20 Steven du Plessis, 21 Gabriel du Toit, 22 Calvin Smith, 23 Malwande Mhamhe.

Sharks: 15 Colin Willemse, 14 Michael Cloete, 13 Wion Robbertse, 12 Nkululeko Marwana, 11 Alrin Eksteen, 10 Jean-Luc Du Plessis, 9 Lotter Pretorius, 8 Thembalethu Williams, 7 Barend Potgieter, 6 Joseph Jones, 5 Pieter Grobler, 4 Hendrik Botha, 3 Stefan van Schalkwyk, 2 Christopher De Beer (Captain), 1 Stephan Morkel.

Replacements: 16 Roan Dalzell, 17 Waldo Weideman, 18 Bartholomeus le Roux, 19 Philip Odendaal, 20 Jonas Mikalcius, 21 Arnoldus Vosloo, 22 Riaan O`Neill, 23 Sipho Mkhize.

Leopards 36-45 Western Province

The clash in Potchefstroom was a spectacle as the Leopards and Western Province scored a combined total of 11 tries. Western Province, however, had an edge with six tries. The teams were neck-on-neck in the first half with the Leopards taking a 26-24 lead, but three tries to two by Western Province after the break and better goal-kicking allowed the Cape side to secure their third victory of the season. The Leopards, however, managed to secure a bonus point for racking up more than four tries.

Scorers:

For the Leopards:

Tries: Du Plooy, Stokes 2, Greeff 2, Steenkamp

Cons: Boddington 3

For Western Province:

Tries: Naude, Van der Smit, Haznar, Schoonraad, Samuels 2

Cons: Smith 4, Worrall, Morris

Pen: Smith

Teams:

Leopards: 15 Shandro Issel, 14 Andries du Plooy, 13 Lourens Boddington, 12 Lloyd Greeff, 11 Dean Stokes, 10 Cornelius Swart, 9 Chriswill September, 8 Jeandre Rudolph (Captain), 7 Sias Koen, 6 Estehan Visagie, 5 Gerhard Cloete, 4 Marcus Brand, 3 Dirk Botha, 2 Roche Steenkamp, 1 Kwena Moremi.

Replacements: 16 Thomas Dreyer, 17 Jackson Hulley, 18 Werner Haman, 19 Derek Taylor, 20 Janko Barnard, 21 Gysbert van Wyk, 22 Blessing Makhavhu, 23 Jandre Venter.

Western Province: 15 Jason Worrall, 14 Dewald Naude, 13 Jarryd Sage, 12 Michal Haznar, 11 Dalen Goliath, 10 Christopher Smith, 9 Pieter Schoonraad, 8 Ramone Samuels, 7 Luke van der Smit, 6 Ruan Rossouw, 5 Sebastian Negri, 4 Sebastian Ferreira (Captain), 3 Liam Hendricks, 2 Chad Solomon, 1 Wesley Adonis.

Replacements: 16 Gareth Ehret, 17 Michael van Tonder, 18 Nathan Gogela, 19 Attie van Rensburg, 20 Steven Meiring, 21 Solomon Ferreira, 22 Jonathan Bredell, 23 Jason Morris.

Free State 28-20 Border

In Bloemfontein, Free State built up a 14-3 lead thanks to two first-half tries. But Border showed great determination to make their presence felt in the second half, which paid off as they outscored Free State three tries to two. The Bloemfontein team’s flyhalf Pieter Jordaan also did his bit to secure the victory as he slotted over all four conversions to add to his two tries, to keep his team ahead on the scoreboard.

Scorers:

For Free State:

Tries: Venter, Oosthuizen, Jordaan 2

Cons: Jordaan 4

For Border:

Tries: Mabinda, Brockschmidt, Jonker

Con: Barnard

Pen: Barnard

Teams:

Free State: 15 Barend Bornman, 14 Len le Roux, 13 Stephan Janse van Rensburg (Captain), 12 Nicolaas Lee, 11 Charlton Koopman, 10 Pieter Jordaan, 9 Mthokozisi Mkhabela, 8 Jan Venter, 7 Sihle Ngxabi, 6 Stefan Koen, 5 Pieter Venter, 4 Casper Fourie, 3 Henco van der Westhuizen, 2 Cameron van Heerden, 1 Marthinus Oosthuizen.

Replacements: 16 Markus Odendaal, 17 Petrus Senekal, 18 Awie Thompson, 19 Jean-Luke van Zyl, 20 Louis Venter, 21 Warren Potgieter, 22 Donavan Gissing, 23 Zybrand Lombaard.

Border: 15 Devon van Eeden, 14 Sthembisa Ngwenya, 13 Sibanye Bukani, 12 Riaan Esterhuyzen (Captain), 11 Athenkosi Mabinda, 10 Werner Barnard, 9 Johan Gericke, 8 Oliver Cracknell, 7 Conor-Terrah Brockschmidt, 6 Luke Brown, 5 Charl Swanepoel, 4 Russel Weavill, 3 Johannes Jonker, 2 Bryce Rennie, 1 Patrick Sikhosana.

Replacements: 16 Jason Viviers, 17 Ntando Mpofana, 18 Johannes Crouse, 19 Funani Mabala, 20 Siphamandla Dama, 21 Iwan Swart, 22 Dylan Rust, 23 Johannes Liebenberg.

Under-19 provincial championship log (under headings played, won, lost, drew, points for, points against, points difference, tries for, tries against, loss bonus, tries bonus, points):

Division A

Blue Bulls: 7 – 7 – 0 – 0 – 298 – 95 – 203 – 42 – 11 – 0 – 5 – 33

Sharks: 8 – 6 – 2 – 0 – 234 – 154 – 80 – 28 – 19 – 0 – 3 – 27

Golden Lions: 7 – 5 – 2 – 0 – 152 – 123 – 29 – 19 – 15 – 1 – 3 – 24

Western Province: 8 – 3 – 4 – 1 – 236 – 177 – 59 – 32 – 23 – 3 – 3 – 20

Leopards: 8 – 3 – 5 – 0 – 204 – 270 – -66 – 30 – 35 – 2 – 5 – 19

Free State: 8 – 2 – 5 – 1 – 162 – 244 – -82 – 21 – 34 – 0 – 3 – 13

Border: 8 – 0 – 8 – 0 – 87 – 310 – -223 – 11 – 46 – 0 – 0 – 0  

Top points scorers:

91 – Jean-Luc du Plessis (four tries, 13 conversions, 14 penalties, one drop-goal)

86 – Kobus Marais (three tries, 28 conversions, five penalties)

77 – Christopher Smith (one try, 21 conversions, 10 penalties)