U19: Home semifinal at stake

The four semifinalists in the Under-19 provincial championship have been determined, but one of the two home semifinals are still up for grabs with one pool round remaining.

In an exciting penultimate round, the Leopards, who earned two log points for scoring four tries but losing within seven points, cemented their semifinal berth alongside the Blue Bulls, Golden Lions and the Sharks, while the Lions, who eliminated defending champions Western Province, leaped into second place on the log table above the Sharks.

But with the Durban side only one point back, either team could secure the remaining home semifinal. The Blue Bulls already secured top spot a couple of weeks back.

The Golden Lions defeated Western Province 21-13 in Cape Town on Saturday, and on Friday Free State beat the Leopards 27-20 in Potchefstroom and the Blue Bulls registered a 23-13 victory against the Sharks in Pretoria.

Western Province 13-21 Golden Lions

In Cape Town, the Golden Lions found their rhythm after a tightly-fought first half against Western Province in which they managed to score only six points, compliments of two penalties by flyhalf Brandan Hewit.

Western Province, meanwhile, were forced to settle for a penalty by Christopher Smith and a Jason Worrall try on the stroke of half-time for their eight points.

The second half was equally close as the teams gave their all, but another penalty by Hewit and two tries by Carlisle Nel and Kock Peter Marx to only one try by Western Province prop Wesley Adonis cancelled out the home team’s efforts and allowed the Lions to hop up a place on the log. The defeat for Western Province, meanwhile, knocked them out of the semifinal race.

The scorers:

For Western Province:

Tries: Worrall, Adonis

Pen: Smith

For the Golden Lions:

Tries: Nel, Marx

Con: Hewit

Pens: Hewit 3

Teams:

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

Replacements: 16 Joshua Moon, 17 Liam Hendricks, 18 Nathan Gogela, 19 Attie Francois van Rensburg, 20 Johan de Villiers, 21 Jonathan Bredell, 22 Dalen Goliath, 23 Shane Grundlingh.

Golden Lions: 15 Barend Herbst, 14 Chad McKay, 13 Koch Marx, 12 Daniel Arries, 11 Carlisle Nel, 10 Brandan Hewit, 9 Christiaan Meyer, 8 Jano Venter, 7 Cyle Brink, 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 Estian Enslin, 19 Kyle van Dalen, 20 Steven du Plessis, 21 Gerdus van der Walt, 22 Sampie Hearn, 23 Lukas Gouws.

Referee: Christie du Preez

Leopards 20-27 Free State

The clash in Potchefstroom between the Leopards and Free State was also tight, despite the Bloemfontein team starting off strongly with two tries in the first 23 minutes for a 12-0 lead. The Leopards clawed their way onto the scoreboard two minutes before half-time as captain Jeandre Rudolph crashed over for their first try.

Both teams stepped up their attack in the second half, which resulted in five tries being scored in 35 minutes. Rudolph had the first say after the break as he scored his second five-pointer two minutes in, which Marchell Hattingh and Sias Koen backed up with two more tries to secure their bonus point.

Free State also dotted down two tries in the second half to increase their tally to four, but the team’s superior goal-kicking, which earned them two conversions and a penalty proved to be the difference on the scoreboard.

The scorers:

For the Leopards:

Tries: Rudolph 2, Hattingh, Koen

For Free State:

Tries: Bornman, Gissing, Van Zyl, Venter

Cons: Jordaan, Potgieter

Pen: Potgieter

Teams:

Leopards: 15 Marchell Hattingh, 14 Blessing Makhavhu, 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 Thomas Dreyer, 1 Zander Schlemmer.

Replacements: 16 Roche Steenkamp, 17 Damain Burns, 18 Werner Haman, 19 Derek Taylor, 20 Shandro Issel, 21 Gysbert van Wyk, 22 Andries du Plooy, 23 Jandre Venter.

Free State: 15 Barend Bornman, 14 Donavan Gissing, 13 Stephan Janse van Rensburg (captain), 12 Nicolaas Lee, 11 Carel-Jan Coetzee, 10 Pieter Jordaan, 9 Louis Venter, 8 Jan Venter, 7 Jean-Luke Armand van Zyl, 6 Stefan Koen, 5 Pieter Venter, 4 Francois Jones, 3 Henco van der Westhuizen, 2 Markus Odendaal, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements: 16 Cameron van Heerden, 17 Petrus Senekal, 18 Awie Thompson, 19 Jean-Claude Fourie, 20 Mthokozisi Mkhabela, 21 Warren Potgieter, 22 Naldo Meyer, 23 Zybrand Lombaard.

Referee: Rodney Bonaparte

Blue Bulls 23-13 Sharks

In Pretoria, the Blue Bulls delivered a strong second-half showing and overcame a late red card to stretch their winning run in the competition to 11 matches. The home side found themselves trailing 8-5 at the break after each side crossed the try-line once, and had to work hard to breach the Sharks’ defence after the break.

But they managed to break through with Leighton van Wyk and Duncan Matthews scoring tries 20 minutes apart and Marais adding a penalty to build up a decent lead. Barend Potgieter of the Sharks, however, earned his team a five-pointer with 17 minutes to go, but with the Blue Bulls’ defence holding, those were the only points they accumulated in the second half.

The scorers:

For the Blue Bulls:

Tries: Kriel, Matthews, Van Wyk

Con: Marais

Pens: Marais 2

For the Sharks:

Tries: Potgieter, Cloete

Pen: Willemse

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Jesse Kriel (captain), 14 Duncan Matthews, 13 Daniel Kriel, 12 Leighton-Ras van Wyk, 11 Keagon Gordon, 10 Kobus Marais, 9 Juan-Phillip Smith, 8 Abraham Swart, 7 Cornelius Cooper, 6 Ngwako Ralepelle, 5 Jean Droste, 4 Justin Basson, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Arno van Wyk, 1 Petrus Strauss.

Replacements: 16 Wilmar Arnoldi, 17 Nqoba Mxoli, 18 Arthur de Wee, 19 Ettienne du Plessis, 20 Cameron Anthony, 21 Ganfried May, 22 Marcus Kleinbooi, 23 Dayan van der Westhuizen.

Sharks: 15 Riaan O`Neill, 14 Michael Cloete, 13 Wion Robbertse, 12 Nkululeko Marwana, 11 Alrin Eksteen, 10 Colin Willemse, 9 Lotter Pretorius, 8 Ayron Schramm, 7 Barend Potgieter, 6 Thembalethu Williams, 5 Pieter Grobler, 4 Hendrik Botha, 3 Bartholomeus le Roux, 2 Christopher de Beer (captain), 1 Stephan Morkel.

Replacements: 16 Roan Dalzell, 17 Waldo Weideman, 18 Stefan van Schalkwyk, 19 Joseph Jones, 20 Jonas Mikalcius, 21 Cameron Wright, 22 Stewart Jacobs, 23 Sipho Mkhize.

Referee: Tahla Ntshakaza

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: 11 – 11 – 0 – 0 – 450 – 135 – 315 – 63 – 15 – 0 – 7 – 51

Golden Lions: 11 – 7 – 4 – 0 – 247 – 222 – 25 – 30 – 29 – 2 – 4 – 34  

Sharks: 11 – 7 – 4 – 0 – 295 – 226 – 69 – 37 – 29 – 1 – 4 – 33

Leopards: 12 – 5 – 7 – 0 – 297 – 367 –70 – 45 – 46 – 4 – 8 – 32

Western Province: 11 – 4 – 6 – 1 – 301 – 251 – 50 – 41 – 33 – 3 – 4 – 25   

Free State: 11 – 4 – 6 – 1 – 246 – 324 –78 – 33 – 47 – 1 – 5 – 24  

Border: 11 – 0 – 11 – 0 – 113 – 424 –311 – 13 – 63 – 1 – 0 – 1

Top points scorers (Division A):

102 – Jean-Luc du Plessis (five tries, 13 conversions, 16 penalties, one drop-goal)

97 – Christopher Smith (one try, 25 conversions, 13 penalties, one drop-goal)

94 – Kobus Marais (three tries, 29 conversions, seven penalties)