U21: Down to the wire

The round-robin stages of the Under-21 provincial championship looks set for a grand finale this weekend as the venue of second semifinal and the fourth semifinalists has yet to be determined.

Western Province, with 10 victories in 11 matches, have booked the top spot on the log for their home semifinal, but either the Sharks and Blue Bulls will host the other semifinal.

Lower down on the log the Golden Lions and Free State are still in the running for the fourth semifinal berth, meaning the competition will come down to the wire.  

In the weekend’s matches, Western Province thumped the Golden Lions 39-5 in Cape Town, Free State beat the Leopards 38-29 in Potchefstroom and the Sharks defeated the Blue Bulls 35-29 in Pretoria.

Western Province 39-5 Golden Lions

The clash at Newlands was one-sided from the outset as the home team outclassed the Golden Lions to register another convincing victory.

Such was the effectiveness of the Cape side’s play, they built up a 20-5 half-time lead thanks to balanced effort on attack and defence, with their bonus point being bagged in the first half. The Lions’ only points came from a sole try by fullback Marais Schmidt in the 28th minute.

The home side continued this dominance in the second half although the Lions produced a solid spell in the opening 10 minutes to deny Western Province extra points. But the Cape side’s class shone through as the half progressed, as they added three more tries to take their total for the match to seven, while denying the Johannesburg team a single point in the half.

The scorers:

For Western Province:

Tries: Barry, Williams 2, Benn, Howard 2, Smid

Cons: Leyds 2

For the Golden Lions:

Try: Schmidt

Teams:

Western Province: 15 Dillyn Leyds , 14 Craig Barry, 13 Patrick Howard, 12 Kobus van Wyk, 11 Devon Williams, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Godlen Masimla, 8 Rayn Smid (captain), 7 Sikumbuzo Notshe, 6 Justin Benn, 5 Gerbrandt Grobler, 4 Ruan Botha, 3 Jacobus Swanepoel, 2 Michael Willemse, 1 Oliver Kebble.

Replacements: 16 Stephan Coetzee, 17 Justin Ackerman, 18 Jean Kleyn, 19 Jurie van Vuuren, 20 Frederik Nel, 21 Johnny Kotze, 22 JP Lewis.

Golden Lions: 15 Marais Schmidt, 14 Peter-John Walters, 13 Jacques Nel, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Damian Engledoe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Ruan Janse van Rensburg, 8 Ruaan Lerm (captain), 7 Fabian Booysen, 6 Stephan de Wit, 5 Lourens Erasmus, 4 Jannie Stander, 3 Dirk Kotze, 2 Rikus van Niekerk, 1 Pieter Bothma.

Replacements: 16 Theunis Reynolds, 17 Deucullen van der Merwe, 18 Gideon Muller, 19 David Oosthuizen, 20 Chris Newman, 21 Vian van der Watt, 22 Ashlon Davids.

Referee: Jaco van Heerden

Assistant referees: Christie du Preez, Marc van Zyl

TMO: Shaun Veldsman

Leopards 29-38 Free State

A strong first half by Free State set them up for a bonus-point win against the Leopards in Potchefstroom last Friday, with the team crossing the try-line three times in the first 15 minutes for a 19-0 lead.

The Leopards, however, reduced the deficit thanks to tries by Jaco Jordaan and Eugene Pettite, but this was cancelled out by another two Free State tries before the break.

The Leopards bounced back strongly in the second half with a tighter defensive structure and a more effective effort on attack, which earned them three tries, while they managed to limit Free State to only one. But these efforts were insufficient to win the match due to Free State’s big lead.  

The scorers:

For the Leopards:

Tries: Duvenage, Pettit, Buys, Jordaan, Loots

Cons: Du Plessis, Smith

For Free State:

Tries: Venter, Claassen, Jordaan, Du Toit, Griesel, Burger

Cons: Marais 4

Teams:

Leopards: 15 Louis Vorster, 14 Eugene Pettit, 13 Rowayne Beukman, 12 Tiaan Loots, 11 Cornè Duvenage, 10 Ryno Smith, 9 Jaco Grobler, 8 Jaco Buys, 7 Marno Redelinghuys, 6 Jaco Jordaan, 5 Erno Nagy, 4 Ettienne Smith, 3 Cayle Denner, 2 Wian Fourie, 1 Arno Ebersohn (captain).

Replacements: 16 Jandre Conradie, 17 Johannes Ferreira, 18 Dean Basson, 19 Johannes Coetzee, 20 Sarel Smith, 21 Jacobus du Plessis, 22 Ryno Pienaar.

Free State: 15 Marco Mason, 14 Maputha Dolo, 13 Tertius Kruger, 12 Niel Marais (captain), 11 Jan de Klerk, 10 Noel Marx, 9 Stephen Griesel, 8 Niell Jordaan, 7 Henco Venter, 6 Tienie Burger, 5 Neil Claassen, 4 Pieter Matthee, 3 Carl van Heerden, 2 Ockert du Toit, 1 Chase Morison.

Replacements: 16 Wickus Deysel, 17 Ignis Nagel, 18 Wikus Davis, 19 Henco Greyling, 20 Kevin Luiters, 21 Pieter Morton, 22 Francois Pretorius.

Referee: Gerrie de Bruin

Blue Bulls 29-35 Sharks

In Pretoria, the Sharks recovered from a two-point deficit at half-time against the Blue Bulls to register their eighth victory of the season and hop into second place on the log standings.

Their two-point lead over the third-placed Blue Bulls will give them an edge with an eye on securing the remaining home semifinal. However, this will require either a victory in their remaining game or the Pretoria team has to suffer a defeat in their final match.

The Sharks entered the break 15-13 down at Loftus Versfeld, but two tries in the third quarter bolstered their confidence and pushed them into the lead.

The Blue Bulls managed to close the gap thanks to a try by Nardus van der Walt in the 62nd minute, but another two tries by the visitors in the last six minutes sealed the victory for the Durban side.

The scorers:

For the Blue Bulls:

Tries: Odendaal, Rossouw, Van der Walt, Adendorff

Cons: Jantjies 3

Pen: Jantjies

For the Sharks:

Tries: Dell, Esterhuizen, Meikle, Du Preez

Cons: Campbell 2, Du Preez

Teams:

Blue Bulls: 15 Jacques Rossouw, 14 Kefentse Mahlo, 13 Dries Swanepoel, 12 Christopher Bosch, 11 Travis Ismaiel, 10 Tony Jantjies, 9 Rudi van Rooyen, 8 Ruan Steenkamp (captain), 7 Clyde Davids, 6 Shaun Adendorff, 5 Irne Herbst, 4 Johannes Kirsten, 3 Hencus van Wyk, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Justin Forwood.

Replacements: 16 Jan-Frederik Enslin, 17 Stephanus Gabriel Du Toit Genis, 18 Dennis Visser, 19 Nardus van der Walt, 20 Carlo Engelbrecht, 21 Lwandile Sompontsha, 22 Burger Odendaal.

Sharks: 15 Sean Robinson, 14 Kotaro Matsushima, 13 Garath Meikle, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Alcino Izaacs, 10 Duncan Campbell, 9 Hanco Venter, 8 Johan Meyer, 7 Wade Elliot, 6 Khaya Majola, 5 David Fisher, 4 Wiehan Hay, 3 Nico van Dyk, 2 Franco Marais (captain), 1 Allan Dell.

Replacements: 16 Gregory Bauer, 17 Marne Coetzee, 18 Murray Bondesio, 19 Dylan Nel, 20 Stefan Ungerer, 21 Robert du Preez, 22 Michael Bernardt.

Referee: Quinton Immelman

Assistant referees: Tahla Ntshakaza, Attie Buitendag

TMO: Deon van Blommestein with Willie Vos in training

Under-21 provincial championship log (under headings played, won, lost, drew, points for, points against, points difference, tries for, tries against, loss bonus, tries bonus, points):

Group A

Western Province: 11 – 10 – 1 – 0 – 427 – 169 – 258 – 60 – 22 – 1 – 8 – 49

Sharks: 11 – 8 – 3 – 0 – 399 – 250 – 149 – 52 – 32 – 1 – 6 – 39

Blue Bulls: 11 – 7 – 4 – 0 – 420 – 255 – 165 – 57 – 30 – 2 – 7 – 37  

Golden Lions: 11 – 6 – 5 – 0 – 316 – 329 –13 – 41 – 40 – 2 – 5 – 31

Free State: 11 – 6 – 5 – 0 – 305 – 331 –26 – 40 – 45 – 0 – 5 – 29

Leopards: 12 – 2 – 10 – 0 – 321 – 500 –179 – 42 – 69 – 1 – 6 – 15  

Border: 11 – 0 – 11 – 0 – 221 –575 – 354 – 32 – 86 – 0 – 3 – 3

Top points scorers:

125 – Marais Schmidt (Golden Lions – four tries, 27 conversions, 17 penalties)

120 – Tim Swiel (Western Province – three tries, 33 conversions, 12 penalties, one drop-goal)

108 – Robert du Preez (Sharks – four tries, 23 conversions, 14 penalties)