The EP Kings Under-19 team continued their dominance in the 2015 Absa Under-19 Provincial Championship’s Premier Division, as DHL WP’s Under-19s won away from home once again.
The Kings scored four tries against Toyota Free State in their 29-10 win in Port Elizabeth on Friday and extended their log points to 41, seven clear of second-placed Vodacom Blue Bulls.
The Pretoria side stayed in second spot, thanks to a great second half against the Xerox Golden Lions. Trailing 17-0 at half-time, the Blue Bulls won 22-20 in an exciting affair.
Third-placed DHL Western Province scored an important away win over the Cell C Sharks in Durban on Saturday. Province won 21-8 and handed the Sharks’ U19 side their seventh loss of the competition.
In the B-Division, the Steval Pumas are still dominating and remained the only unbeaten side in the competition. They outplayed ORC Griquas this time around, beating them 36-0 in Witbank.
The Down Touch Griffons kept their second place on the log safe with a close 36-26 win over Limpopo Blue Bulls in Welkom. The Hino Valke scored the biggest win of the weekend, beating Boland 45-0 in Kempton Park.
In East London, SWD finally broke their duck, beating the home side Border 36-17. The Eastern Cape side remains winless after five rounds of play.
Division A:
Vodacom Blue Bulls 22 (0) Xerox Golden Lions 20 (17)
Two tries in the opening ten minutes and another just before the break by the visiting Golden Lions team rocked the Blue Bulls, who had no answer to the onslaught of their opponents.
The Blue Bulls delivered a much more polished second half performance though as they used their possession much better and used their pack of forwards to great effect.
Trailing 20-0 early in the half, they dominated the last 30 minutes of play and scored the winning points five minutes from time, with JT Jackson kicking the decisive penalty.
Scorers:
Blue Bulls. Tries: Luigy van Jaarsveldt (2) Dean van der Westhuizen. Conversions: JT Jackson (2). Penalty: JT Jackson.
Golden Lions. Tries: James Venter, Jaydrin Kotze, Wynand Botha. Conversion: Hendrik Mulder. Penalty: Hendrik Mulder.
Cell C Sharks 8 (3) DHL Western Province 21 (14)
It was a tight affair in Durban, with the visitors getting the result due to better goalkicking and finishing off their try-scoring opportunities.
Duncan Saal scored just before the break, but the home side responded with their first try soon after the restart.
DHL WP did get another, but it was rather the accurate kicking of fullback Tiaan Swanepoel that saw them clear, as the marksman kicked three penalties to secure another good win for coach Nazeem Adams and his side.
Scorers:
Sharks. Try: S’busiso Nkosi. Penalty: Tristan Tedder
DHL Western Province. Tries: Duncan Saal, Eddie Venter. Conversion: Tiaan Swanepoel. Penalties: Tiaan Swanepoel (3).
Eastern Province 29 (17) Toyota Free State 10 (3)
The Kings were in control throughout the match. They dictated play and scored two tries in the first half hour to lay the foundation for their ninth win on the trot.
They faltered in the last quarter of the match though as the Free State came back at them and could only secure the bonus point try three minutes from the end. The visitors were outplayed, but showed great determination in their performance.
Scorers:
Eastern Province. Tries: Athi Mayinje, Jordan Koekemoer, Junior Pokomela (2). Conversions: Michael Brink (3). Penalty: Michael Brink.
Free State. Try: Ruan Wasserman. Conversion: Ruan Wasserman. Penalty: Ruan Wasserman.
Division B:
Steval Pumas 36 (17) ORC Griquas 0 (0)
Scorers:
Pumas. Tries: Ettiene Matthys, Ian Truter (2), Ruben Opperman, Tiaan Potgieter. Conversions: Johannes Harmzen (4). Penalty: Johannes Harmzen.
Down Touch Griffons 36 (22) Limpopo Blue Bulls 26 (14)
Scorers:
Griffons. Tries: Benji Muller, Domenic Smit, Ezrick Alexander, Gift Dlamini, Jonathan April. Conversions: Luan James (4). Penalty: Penalty: Luan James.
Limpopo Blue Bulls. Tries: Aaron Sawu, Lean Claasen, Renier Appelgryn, William Thomson. Conversions: Dane Kotze (3).
Hino Valke 45 (14) Boland 0 (0)
Scorers:
Valke. Tries: Armandt Jordaan, Attie Jansen van Vuuren, Bercho Botha, Dawid Kleynhans, Kobus Kleyn, Magiel Buitendag, Willem Dreyer. Conversions: Conrad Engelbrecht (5).
Border 17 (12) SWD 36 (19)
Scorers:
Border. Tries: Nathan Church, Sarel van Loggerenberg, Siphelele Zono. Conversions: Darren Domingo.
SWD. Tries: Caae-Jay Ferendale, Justin Williams (2), Schavon Laws, Shaun Booysen (2). Conversions: Nathan Kemp (3).