DHL Western Province U21 fought hard in windy conditions at City Park but went down 20-12 against Xerox Golden Lions U21.

The Xerox Golden Lions had taken a 10-7 lead into half-time and added two more unconverted tries in the second half to seal the win.

The home side were playing into the wind in the first half, but still made a determined start and opened the scoring with a try from scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies.

The visitors drew level with a try of their own and then added a penalty with the strong wind at their backs to go 10-7 up.

The DHL Western Province U21 defence was tested as the Johannesburg side threw everything at them and they were struck a further blow when flank Zain Davids was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.

However, the hosts held out and went into the half-time breaking trailing by just three points.

The visitors were reduced to 14 men when wing Madosh Tambwe was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle early in the second half.

The second half was a hard-fought affair, with neither team able to find the finishing touch in the windy conditions.

The Xerox Golden Lions U21 took their lead out to 15-7 with a try from replacement prop Steven Bashera with 15 minutes left to play.

They added to that with a third try in the final stages before DHL Western Province hit back with a late try from replacement Cornel Smit.

The scorers:

For DHL WP U21:
Tries: Jantjies, Smit
Con: Swanepoel

For Golden Lions U21:
Tries: Thain, Bashera, Beckerling
Con: Fouche
Pen: Fouche

DHL Western Province U21: 15 Tiaan Swanepoel, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Michaine Fick, 12 David Brits, 11 Edwill van Der Merwe, 10 Tristan Leyds, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Nyasha Tarusenga, 7 Ernst van Rhyn (captain), 6 Zain Davids, 5 Ruben de Villiers, 4 Eddie Zandberg, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Percy Mngadi, 1 Wikus Groenewald.
Replacements: 16 Matt Wiseman, 17 Lee-Marvin Mazibuko, 18 David Meihuizen, 19 Daniel Maree, 20 Paul de Wet, 21 Cornel Smit, 22 Joshua Vermeulen.