DHL Western Province’s Under-19 team suffered a 32-41 defeat to the Blue Bulls in 2015 Absa Provincial Under-19 action in Pretoria, but they did manage to grab a four-try bonus point in the process.
Province, the reigning Absa Provincial Under-19 champions, found themselves staring down the barrel at 0-20 down after 22 minutes at Loftus Versfeld only to launch a spirited comeback.
Tries from big lock Jaco Willemse and flanker Mitchell Carstens either side of half-time – after the visitors trailed 13-20 at the break – saw the scores level at 20-20 with 32 minutes left in the match.
However, the Bulls hit back with their fourth try just four minutes later to go back into the lead at 27-20, before grabbing their fifth try to lead by 34-20 with 16 minutes left on the clock.
Again, the DHL Western Province Under-19s did not take things lying down and a try by inside centre Edrich Venter – from a brilliant Duncan Saal pass on the goalline – saw them edge back into the contest for the umpteenth time.
The Bulls, however, had time for one more score, before the Province Under-19s grabbed a valuable fourth try on the full-time hooter, skipper Jaco Coetzee doing brilliantly off the back of a five-metre scrum.
Flyhalf Aidynn Cupido landed the conversion from the touchline to leave them just nine points adrift in the final analysis – a result which could have been a bit different had the team in Blue & White hoops not conceded those three tries inside the opening 22 minutes.
A yellow card to inside centre and vice-captain Edrich Venter did not help matters in the opening exchanges, as Bulls inside centre Franco Naude and right-wing Coneree Poole crossed for three tries between them.
However, the DHL WP U19s showed great guts to fight their way back into the game, initially through the boot of fullback Tiaan Swanepoel, with two penalty goals, before Willemse’s try shortly before half-time had them snapping at the Bulls’ heels.
The scorers:
For the Vodacom Blue Bulls Under-19:
Tries: Naude 2, Poole, Van der Westhuizen, Rossouw, Owen
Cons: T de Beer 4
Pens: T de Beer
For DHL Western Province Under-19:
Tries: Willemse, Carstens, Venter, Coetzee
Cons: Swanepoel 2, Cupido
Pens: Swanepoel 2
The teams:
Blue Bulls Under-19: 15 Divan Rossouw, 14 Coneree Poole, 13 JT Jackson, 12 Franco Naude, 11 Ruan de Beer, 10 Tinus de Beer (captain), 9 Stephan Enslin, 8 Denzel Hill, 7 Dean van der Westhuizen, 6 Justin Meintjies, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Aston Fortuin, 3 Jaco Holtzhausen, 2 Alandre van Rooyen, 1 Gavin van den Berg.
Replacements: 16 Franco van den Berg, 17 Madot Mabokela, 18 Wynand de Necker, 19 Sam Mitchell, 20 Luigy van Jaarsveld, 21 Dale Hendricks, 22 Brendan Owen, 23 Curtley Prins.
DHL Western Province Under-19: 15 Tiaan Swanepoel, 14 Duncan Saal, 13 Eduan Keyter, 12 Edrich Venter (vice-captain), 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Aidynn Cupido, 9 Paul de Wet, 8 Jaco Coetzee (captain), 7 Daniel Maree, 6 Mitchell Carstens, 5 Eduard Zandberg, 4 Jaco Willemse, 3 Michael Kumbirai, 2 Ruan Brits, 1 Derrick Marais.
Replacements: 16 Jacques van Zyl, 17 Adriaan Geldenhuys, 18 Jerome Korf, 19 Gary Porter, 20 Iver Aanhuizen, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Justin Heunis, 23 Gerard Pieterse.
Referee: Ricus van der Hoven